Changes

The concept for the Carousel of Progress began in the late 1950s. Walt Disney was planning on expanding Main Street USA in Disneyland, and one of the expansions proposed would have been known as Edison Square. The main attraction of this new area was going to be a show hosted by an "electro-magnetic man", named Wilbur K. Watt, who would have chronicled the evolution of electricity in the home, from the late 19th century and beyond. The attraction would have consisted of a number of stationary scenes which progressed through time. After guests had finished watching one of the scenes, they would get up and move to the next one<ref> http://www.mouseplanet.com/9833/A_Visit_to_Edison_Square_1959 </ref>. Although the attraction would have been sponsored by General Electric (GE), technological limitations at the time and time constraints made the show impossible. Thus, the idea for the new attraction and the Edison Square expansion in general never came to fruition.

Although the Edison Square concept never saw the dawn of day, General Electric was still interested in partnering with Disney. They approached Walt, and asked him to create an attraction for the 1964 World's Fair in New York. Walt reached back to his old idea, and once again pitched General Electric on the idea of an electrical progress show. GE loved the idea, and agreed to sponsor the new attraction<ref> http://blog.silive.com/goofy_about_disney/2015/01/disney_goes_to_the_fair_carousel_of_progress_saw_a_number_of_firsts_outside_the_ge_pavilion.html </ref>.

A big advancement in the development of the General Electric attraction was the fact that WED Engineers finished the Audio Animatronic technology that they had been working on. Although the new technology was not yet perfect, it was good enough to start creating a show, which would eventually become the Carousel of Progress. Imagineers, including Disney legends Roger E. Broggie and Bob Gurr also devised what they called a "Carousel Theater", a theater which actually rotated clockwise allowing guests to move on to the next scene without having to stand up<ref> http://modernmouseradio.com/2012/04/19/its-a-great-big-beautiful-tomorrow/ </ref>.

Since there would be a time lapse between when one scene ended and another started, Walt asked the Sherman Brothers to write a song that would bridge the scenes together. Walt was so excited about the show when he told them about it, his enthusiasm stuck with the Sherman Brothers as they worked on the song. The song that the brothers composed was an upbeat and optimistic song about the bright future on the horizon titled [["It's A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow"]]. The Sherman Brothers later remarked, that they felt "It's A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" was like Walt's theme song because it featured the same kind of optimism about the future that he had<ref> http://www.thedisneyproject.com/2013/03/theres-great-big-beautiful-tomorrow.html </ref>.

In order to create the characters for the Carousel of Progress, a series of models and voice actors were brought in. The model for the father of the show was actor Preston Hanson, with Rex Allen as his voice. Another model was brought in to pose for the mother, while her voice was done by Rhonda Williams. Casts were made of Disney designer Harriet Burn's arms, which were used for both the mother and the daughter. The son and teenage daughter in the show were based on Disney designer Chick Mill's 8 year old son and 18 year old daughter. Disney Imagineer Richard Irvine's daughter also posed for the teenage daughter role <ref name="Korkis"> http://www.mouseplanet.com/9835/The_Carousel_of_Progress_Cast</ref>.

The Robbins robins that sit outside the window in the first scene, were the same Robbins that Harriet Burns created for Marry Poppins<ref name=Korkis />. The robins came from a Los Angeles museum, and were acquired in exchange for Disneyland tickets. Clarence Nash, the original voice of Donald Duck supplied the Robbins's chirping. Walt Disney himself came up with the idea for the family’s dog (he was also the one who suggested the dog change color and breed every scene). Walt was also personally involved in the creation of Cousin Orville, who is seen sitting in a bathtub during the second scene. The character was originally designed by Marc Davis for inclusion in the Edison Square attraction, but it was Walt who modeled his actions (Walt also came up with Orville's dialog as he was acting the character out). The famous voice actor Mel Blank supplied the voice for both Orville and the parrot that can be seen in the first scene. Blaine Gibson, who sculpted all of the characters, said that the grandmother in the attraction was based on his wife's grandmother. Her voice was done by Barbra Luddy<ref name= Korkis />.

The show opened at the 1964 World Fair inside General Electric’s Progressland Pavilion, and it was one of the most visited attractions at the fair. The show consisted of scenes featuring the 1890s, 1920s, 1940s and 1960s<ref> http://www.nywf64.com/genele01.shtml </ref>. The unloading and unloading scenes featured the "kaleidophonic screen" which dazzled guests with various colors. After the show, guests were invited to go to the second floor of the pavilion and see the "Skydome Spectacular". Here, images of nature and energy were projected on the pavilion's domed roof (like a planetarium). The Skydome Spectacular also showcased how GE products were used to help get energy from the sun, and protect the environment.

Progressland was a huge hit with visitors, and even though nearly 200 people were loaded into the Carousel every four minutes, the wait usually hovered around an hour<ref> http://www.nywf64.com/genele04.shtml </ref>. Based on this success, the Progressland show returned for the 1965 World's fairFair <ref> http://www.nywf64.com/genele01.shtml </ref>. This time, a large covered queue was constructed to protect guests from the sun. Due to its continued popularity, after the World’s Fair had ended, it was decided that the Carousel of Progress would be moved to Disneyland<ref name= "Yesterland">http://www.yesterland.com/progress.html </ref>.

On July 2, 1967, the attraction re-opened as the Carousel of Progress in Disneyland. Since the show had proved to be such a hit, General Electric decided to sponsor the attraction for ten years. A new theater was constructed in Disneyland, with the scenes being directly transported from the World's Fair<ref name= "Yesterland"/>. Although the show remained essentially the same, a few changes were made. A new voice was recorded for "Sarah (the mother)", and the 1960's scene which was originally set during New Years was updated. Another minor change was the fact that in the 1940's scene, the father now sat on a bar stool instead of a kitchen bench. Also of note, all references to GE's failed "Medallion Home" campaign were dropped from the attraction.

After the conclusion of the show, guests could board a speed ramp and go to the second floor of the attraction. This floor consisted of a four minute post show, narrated by Sarah and John (the mother and father from the attraction) and it also held a large model that Disney had created for [[Progress City]]. The model was based on Walt Disney's original concepts for the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT), as well as the rest of Florida Project. <ref name= "Yesterland"/>

In the early 1970's the attendance of the Carousel of Progress began to dwindle. General Electric decided that it was not getting enough advertising from the attraction. Their research also showed that 80% of the people who saw the Carousel of Progress were from California and that most had seen the attraction numerous times. After getting this information, General Electric asked Disney to move the attraction to the newly opened Walt Disney World. Disney agreed, and on September 9, 1973 they closed the Carousel and moved it to Florida<ref name= "Korkis2"> http://www.mouseplanet.com/9818/A_Carousel_of_Progress_Christmas </ref>. The Progress City model was also moved with the show (a portion of the original model it is now housed above [[Stitch's Great Escape!]] and can be seen on the [[Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover]]). When the attraction moved to Disney World, a new show building was constructed in Tomorrowland. Unlike the minor changes that occurred when the show had moved to Disneyland, major changes were made to the Carousel's show. For starters, the dazzling Kaleidophonic Screens that entertained guests while they were loading and unloading were removed. The screens had been experiencing many technical difficulties, so they were replaced with silver curtains and a GE logo. General Electric also asked the Sherman Brothers to write a new song for the attraction, since they decided that they did not want guests to wait for "A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow"; instead they wanted them to buy their products now. After getting these instructions, the Sherman Brothers created a new song for the attraction called "The Best Time of Your Life" (often mistakenly referred to as "Now Is Time"). Instead of talking about how great the future would be, the new song focused on the present<ref name= "Korkis2"/> .

The 1975 version of the Carousel of Progress featured a new voice cast as well as an update of the New Year's scene. Instead of being set in the 1960s, the setting was changed to the 1970s. The daughter, son, grandmother and grandfather were also added to the scene (instead of only being referenced to as was previously the case). In 1981 the final scene was once again updated in order to keep up with the changing times. The new scene was (fittingly) known as New Year's in the 1980s.<ref name= "Korkis2"/>

When General Electric's contract ran up on March 10, 1985, they chose not to renew. The Carousel was then closed for a period of time to remove all references to General Electric. The General Electric logos which were featured on the outside of the attraction were changed to a new logo, which showed the blueprint of the six carousel theaters and stages. Inside, the General Electric logos that were featured in the loading and unloading theaters were also removed. These were replaced with the blueprint logo and the name Carousel of Progress<ref name= "Yesterland"/>. Although all of the major references to General Electric were removed, some of the household appliances still read “GE” to this day.

In 1993 the Carousel of Progress closed for another major refurbishment. In conjunction with the rest of the "New Tomorrowland", the attraction was given a new mechanical theme. The blueprint logo was replaced with a new "cog logo", and a series of large cogs were painted on the outside of the building. The attraction's final scene was also updated, now taking place in the year 2000. A new voice cast re-recorded the show's dialog, including Rex Allen (who voiced the Father in the original show) who now voiced the grandfather in the final scene. A four minute preshow video, explaining the history of the attraction was also added during the refurbishment. When the Carousel of Progress reopened in 1994, its name was changed to Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress, and a contemporary version of "It’s A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow " was also reinstated as the show's theme song<ref> http://allears.net/tp/mk/mk_cop.htm </ref>.

Following a decrease in attendance after the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Carousel of Progress was closed. The attraction later re-opened but was listed as a "seasonal" attraction<ref> http://www.wdwradio.com/2005/04/tomorrowland-then-and-now-a-world-on-the-move/ </ref>, leading many to speculate that it would soon close for good. Since 2003, however the Carousel has been open nearly every day <ref> http://anopensuitcase.com/carousel-of-progress-by-contributing-author-corey-applegate/ </ref> and Disney states that it has no plans to remove the attraction.