Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress
Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress is an attraction located in Tomorrowland.
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Attraction History
The concept for the Carousel of Progress began in the late 1950s. Walt Disney was planning on expanding Main Street USA in Disneyland. One of the expansions would have been known as Edison Square. The main attraction of this new area was going to be a show hosed by an "electro-magnetic man", named Wilbur K. Watt. The show would have chronicled the evolution of electricity in the home, from the late 19th century and and beyond. There would be 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. The show was going to be sponsored by General Electric, however technological limitations at the time made the show impossible. The idea for the new attraction, and the Edison Square expansion in general never came to fruition.
The 1964 & 1965 Worlds Fairs
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. Walt reached back to his old idea, and once gain pitched General Electric on the idea of a electrical progress show. GE loved it, and agreed to sponsor the new attraction.
Around the time that the ride was being developed, Disney Imagineers finished the Audio Anamatronic technology that they were working on. Although the new technology was not yet perfect, it was good enough to start creating what would become the Carousel of Progress. Imagineers, including Disney legends Roger E. Broggie and Bob Gurr also devised what they called a "Carousel Theater". The theater in which guests sat in, actually rotated clockwise, allowing them to move to the next scene without having to stand up.
Since their 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, that they created a new song with this enthusiasm in mind. The song that the wrote was titled, [["It's A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow"]. The song was an upbeat and optimistic song about the bright future on the horizon. 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.
The show opened at the 1964 World Fair as Progressland, and was one of the most visited attractions at the fair. The show consisted of scenes featuring the 1890s, 1920s, 1940s and 1960s. 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 pavilions domed roof (like a planetarium). The Skydome Spectacular also showcased how GE products were used to help get energy from the sun, and protect nature.
The attraction was a huge hit, and even though nearly 200 people were loaded into the Carousel every four minutes, the wait to get in was usually around an hour. The Progressland show returned for the 1965 World's fair. This time, a large covered queue was constructed to protect guests from the sun. After the Worlds Fair had ended, it was decided that the show would be moved to Disneyland.
Move to Disneyland 1967
On July 2, 1967, the attraction re-opened as the Carousel of Progress in Disneyland. Since the show had proved to be so popular, 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. Although the show remained essentially the same, a few changes were made. A new voice was recorded for "Mother", and the 1960's scene that was set during Christmas was updated. Another minor change was the fact that in the 1940's scene, the father now sat on a bar stool instead of rather than a kitchen bench. Also of note, all references to GE's failed "Medallion Home" campaign were dropped.
After the show was over, guests could board a speedramp and go to the second level of the attraction. The second level consisted of a four minute post show, narrated by Mother and Father. The second level also held the large model that Disney had created for Progress City. Progress City was based on Walt Disney's original concepts for the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT), as well as the rest of Disney World.
Move to Walt Disney World 1973
In the early 1970's attendance at the Carousel of Progress begin to dwindle. General Electric decided that it was not getting enough advertising from the attraction. Their research showed that 80% of the people who saw the Carousel of Progress were from California and 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 Disney World. The Progress City model was also moved, and is now housed above Stitch's Great Escape! and can be seen by guests riding the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover.
A new building for the show was constructed in Disney World's Tomorrowland. Unlike the minor changes that occurred when the show 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 experience many technical difficulties, and were replaced with silver curtains and a GE logo. General Electric also asked the Sherman Brothers to write a new song for the attraction. GE decided that they did not want guests wait for "A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow", they wanted guests to buy products now. With this idea in mind, the Sherman Brothers created another 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.
In 1975, The Disney World version of the Carousel of Progress also featured a new voice cast. Beside minor cosmetic changes, the only major change in the show was an update of the final Christmas scene. Instead of being set in the 1960's, the Christmas scene was changed to be set in the 1970s. In 1981, the final scene was once again updated. This time only the script was changed.
Post General Electric 1985-Present
When General Electrics contract ran up on March 10, 1985 they chose not to renew it. The Carousel was 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 was change to show a blueprint of the six carousel theaters and stages.
Inside, the General Electric logo that was featured in the loading and unloading theaters was also removed. It was replaced with the blueprint logo and the name Carousel of Progress. Although all of the major references were removed, some of the household appliances still read GE.
In 1993 the Carousel of Progress closed for a 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 Carousel. The attraction's final scene was also updated, now taking place in the year 2000. A new voice cast also re-recorded the dialog, including the Tex Ritter (who voiced the Father in the original show) as the grandfather in the final scene. A four minute preshow video, explaining the history of the attraction was also added.
When the Carousel of Progress reopened in 1994, the name was changed to Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress. And a contemporary version of It's A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow was reinstated as the shows theme song.
Following a decrease in attendance at the September 11, 2001 attacks, the Carousel of Progress was closed. The attraction later re-opened but was listed as a "seasonal" attraction, leading many to speculate that it would soon close for good. Since 2003, however the Carousel has been open nearly every day and Disney states that it has no plans to remove the attraction.
