Last Sunday, the Carousel of Progress as we know it shut its doors. But not forever, just to continue moving forward into new eras. With this change happening, I thought it was a good time to look at where Carousel of Progress came from as well as where it’s headed! This attraction may just be a place to catch some AC and a nap for a lot of people but it has a great history and story behind it. It’s a great big beautiful tomorrow for this attraction, we hope!
A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow
The Carousel of Progress follows a family through years of electronic progress. The original started at the turn of the century, 1900 with gas lamps, hand cranked washing machines and an ice box during Valentines Day. Act 2 depicted the Fourth of July in the 1920’s showcasing electric lights, the radio and refrigerators. Next we travel to Halloween in the 1940’s with TV’s, electric mixers and automatic dishwashers. The final act is the only one that has really changed over the years. It has always been Christmas or New Years Eve but has been the 1960’s, 70’s, 80’s and the last one was the imagined version of the 00’s from the view in the 90’s. The premise of the show was to showcase how technology advancements have changed our daily lives and continued to move progress forward in our homes.
The family has stayed the same over the years and it has been stated it will remain the same in the new version coming in 2027. John, the father has also been the narrator, Sarah is the mother, a son named Jimmy and daughter, Patricia make up the core family. We also see Grandpa and Grandma, Uncle Orvil and a mystery girl that only shows up in one scene, has no name and disappears after that!
The Original Plan
Back in the late 50’s, after Disneyland had opened, Walt had ideas of expanding Main Street USA. There were going to be two sections added, International Street and Edison Square. The main attraction in Edison Square was going to be called Harnessing the Lighting and would be hosted by an animatronic named Wilbur K. Watt. Like kilowatt, get it? This would have been the first version of the Carousel of Progress only without the carousel part since guests would have walked from scene to scene. This Main Street expansion never happened but this idea stayed in Walt Disney’s mind and would come back at another venue.
The 1964 World’s Fair
When the 1964 World’s Fair rolled around, General Electric approached Walt about creating a show for their pavilion at the expo. Walt could now leverage GE’s bankroll to develop the technology needed to pull off his idea! He pitched the idea of electrical progress from the turn of the century onward and they loved it! Through this project, Disney Imagineers like Bob Gurr perfected the audio animatronic.
Creating Carousel of Progress
This would lead to a lot of the more advanced animatronics we would see in rides and attractions in the parks. The imagineers also developed the carousel theater so guests could stay seated for the entire show instead of walking to the next scene. In a lot of ways this really was a Carousel of Progress because so much new technology was developed and old technologies perfected to make it happen! We got to sit in a whole panel about this World’s Fair at D23 in 2024 and my nerd heart was so happy!
Rex Allen, the singing cowboy was hired to record the voice of the father who would take us through all the era’s of electric progress. He later mentioned he didn’t really know what he was getting into with the project. And no good Disney project is complete without a great theme song that becomes stuck in your head forever! The Sherman Brothers wrote “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow” for this attraction. They were noted as saying it was Walt’s theme song because of how optimistic and excited for the future he was.
The Carousel of Progress opened in Progressland at the World’s Fair and was one of the most popular attractions at the fair! Guests could wait in line for up to an hour for the attraction. And the Carousel of Progress was the first Disney ride to have a posted wait time sign out front! At the 1965 World’s Fair they would add a covered queue line since the wait times were so long in the hot sun. Maybe a little foreshadowing to Florida’s park?
Carousel of Progress Goes To Disneyland
On July 2, 1967, just seven months after Walt’s death, the Carousel of Progress opened in Disneyland. There were not a lot of changes from the original on this version. Guess you could say this was the first hottest 4th of July in years and now we’ve had the last. The carousel style theater had to be constructed but was basically identical to the original. All of the animatronics and sets were the exact same as what was used at the World’s Fair.
A new voice was recorded for the mother. And the final scene “Christmas in the 1960’s home” was updated to reflect a more modern set and technologies. While General Electric was still the sponsor, a lot of references to the company or its projects were removed from the script. After guests exited the theater they would go up to the second level of the attraction. Here they would see a presentation about Progress City, Walt’s original plan for EPCOT. Parts of one display are what you see now on the People Mover in Magic Kingdom! The Carousel of Progress in Disneyland would close on September 9, 1973. But only to be packed up and moved to Disney World in Florida!
Carousel of Progress Goes To Disney World
The next version of the Carousel of Progress would open in the Magic Kingdom on January 15, 1975. This opened in conjunction with Space Mountain in Tomorrowland. There were extensive changes made tot he attraction at this point. There used to be “Kaleidophonic Screens” that stretched from one wall to the other at the entrance and exit to the theater. But after years of issues with those they were removed and replaced with the silver curtains we know today. The worst part of this refurbishment? They replaced “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow” with a new theme song called “The Best Time of Your Life”. The Sherman brothers also wrote this song but always said they felt the original was the better fit.
What’s New?
All new voice actors and some new animatronics were added to the Magic Kingdom edition. This included Andrew Duggan as the voice of father. The only changes to the first three scenes were minor set changes. But the finale was updated to reflect New Year’s Eve in the home of the 1970’s. Rover the dog also got a breed update. In 1981 the finale would change again. This time to New Year’s Eve in the home of the 1980’s. The rest of the show would stay unchanged. Funny that these used to be the final, futuristic scenes and now they will be part of the past!
Goodbye GE
In March of 1985 General Electric chose not to renew as the sponsor of the attraction so more changes came. At this time they were just to remove all references or signage reflecting GE’s involvement with the attraction. You can still spot the GE logo on some of the appliances in each scene though! In August of 1993 the Carousel of Progress would close for yet another refurbishment. This was part of the larger change to New Tomorrowland happening in the park.
More Updates!
There was speculation that the Carousel of Progress would be replaced by a flying saucer ride and there were even blueprints! But ultimately the attraction was kept, updated and renamed Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress. The final scene was one again reimagined to show Christmas in the 2000’s home, again part of the past now. It was funny to see now what 1994 envisioned for the 2000’s home!
Another new voice cast was reordered for the family. Including Jean Shepard as the father and the narrator. Rex Allen was brought back as the grandfather. You might remember he was the voice of the original father in Disneyland. You might say that was a full circle for the carousel…..hahaha! The pre-show that played out front while you wait was added. And the original theme song returned to its rightful place! The Carousel of Progress reopened on November 23, 1994 and was the first thing to reopen in New Tomorrowland. Since then it has had minor cosmetic and mechanical changes but has remained mostly the same since 1994.
The Current Refurb
In August of 2025 at Destination D23 it was announced that some more changes were coming for the Carousel of Progress. At the time I was excited about this. Because they only announced that a new intro scene featuring a Walt Disney animatronic. He would be introducing the attraction from his World’s Fair announcement. But then in May of 2026 Disney dropped the bomb on us that the whole thing is getting redone! It is expected to reopen in 2027 and will be a whole new experience.
What’s To Come
In this new iteration of the Carousel of Progress we will have that new intro scene with Walt Disney which is great! But then instead of starting at the turn of the century we will follow the family from 1969 onward. We will see them in 1969 witnessing the moon landing. Is this the family from Spaceship Earth now? Next we will travel to 1985 on Halloween night with mom Sarah showing us all the new gadgets. Apparently Uncle Orville will still be in the bathroom getting no privacy! Then we head into 1999 and the countdown to the year 2000.
And finally a distant future in the final scene inspired by Imagineer John Hench’s original concept art of his imagined ideas of the future. Basically all the final scenes will become the old time scenes. Boy does that make me feel old! This new version should open in 2027 and will follow the same family through these new times.
Conclusion
While I am very sad to see this version, my version of the Carousel of Progress go, I do get it. I am sure if Walt were still here he would also update this attraction to keep moving forward. It would be nice if we could just keep adding new scenes but I suppose that is not realistic. I really enjoyed seeing the world I never lived in on this attraction. A simpler time and a drastic difference in the modern conveniences we have now.
Now it will be a look back into the times I DID live through. Which I guess could be cool too! A chance for our kids to see the times they never lived in. I hope they do it right and stay true to Walt’s vision for the carousel but I do think it could be really good. That wholesome charm needs to stick around, we don’t need edgy here. I guess all we can do is wait and see and hope for another great big beautiful tomorrow for the Carousel of Progress! Now go and have a great big magical today!