MAJOR changes are coming to a classic Disney Attraction, and many fans – – myself included – – are a bit torn on it.
Carousel of Progress
Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress has been operating in one form or another since its debut at the 1964 New York World’s Fair. The animatronic stage show initially followed a family through the technological advancements of the early 1900s through the mid-1900s, ending in a 1960s-vision of the near future. Following the Fair, the show was moved to Disneyland for about a decade before being shipped back across the country to Walt Disney World.
Over the years, the attraction was intermittently updated, with the most recent major upgrade coming in 1994. While the show has its fans – – myself VERY much included – – it is fair to say that the show has been feeling a bit stale for a while now. After all, the “near-future” ending sequence still name-drops the upcoming turn of the millennium.
Carousel of Progress
That’s why many films welcomed the 2025 announcement that Carousel of Progress would be undergoing a refurbishment. At the time, it was confirmed that the show would include a Walt Disney animatronic in the introduction similar to the one seen at Disneyland, though few other details were announced at the time.
©Disney
After months of waiting, Disney finally released more details on the refurbishment, and it’s much bigger than most Disney fans anticipated. To keep the Carousel of Progress “relatable for today’s audiences,” the entire show is being reworked, with a new structure featuring acts based on the 1960s (itself harkening back to the decade the show originally debuted), the 1980s, the 1999-turn of the millennium, and a “possible future” that will imagine a time where “extraordinary innovation has become part of life and proves that a beautiful tomorrow is just a dream away.” According to Disney, the attraction will close on July 6th for its transformation, with an estimated reopening in 2027.
©Disney
When I first heard the details of the refurbishment, like many Disney fans, I was a bit taken aback. As a Disney fan who’s admittedly a bit of a classicist, I was initially turned off. While I did think that the finale needed to be replaced (sorry, Flying Ace Granny), I was a bit concerned about the rest of the show. As I wrote at the time, “… the attraction has been both a progress-focused look at the future, while at the same time being a nostalgic look at the past. That latter element has become even more important to the presentation in the last three decades, as the show has been treated almost as a museum-style tribute to Walt Disney. My slight fear is that, while some changes are necessary, Disney may alter the first three acts of the show so much that they don’t resemble the classic version of the show, and in turn lose that aforementioned museum-like tribute quality. This would be especially ironic considering the addition of the Walt animatronic.”
What will the future bring?
However, as I read about the upcoming changes and Disney’s reasoning for them, I have admittedly done a 180-degree turn. Mainly because, while there are elements of the classic Carousel of Progress that I will miss for nostalgia’s sake, I do believe that the attraction’s message of a hopeful future is one that needs to be relatable to modern audiences, and right now it’s not.
©Disney
The 1960s are as far away from the 2020s as the early 1900s were from the 1960s when the original debuted. Modern audiences have their own time periods to look back on, and their own “Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow” to look forward to.
The “Resident Flying Ace” is about to be grounded.
Disney is making major changes to the Carousel of Progress beginning this July. Stay tuned to DFB for further updates on this project.
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I am very turned off by this announcement….what’s wrong with just adding to the Carousel of Progress, to include a few more modern day scenes?? Children of today should know how life was back in the early 1900’s, etc…..it’s too bad that we have to lose the classics to make room for the modern…they should all be included. We have been Disney guest many times, and this is really a sad thing to me….perhaps when we go with our grandchildren, in November 2026, this will just be our last time!