Changes

Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress

19 bytes added, 00:11, 11 November 2015
/* Post General Electric 1985-Present */
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 Disney had planned to remove the Carousel of Progress and replace the show with a new "Flying Saucer" attraction <ref name= "Martin"/>. It was eventually decided however, to keep the attraction and on August 16, 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.