Rumor Carousel of Progress in Trouble?

[Andrew25]

While I'm a fan of the current CoP, it certainly needs refurb desperately. Do I see Disney investing the amount of cash required to do a proper enhancement? No. So putting a Walt animatronic and marketing the show as The Carousel of Progress with Walt Disney, might get approved.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Its not a matter of IF its a matter of WHEN they will close CoP.

I would not be surprised if they eventually closed CoP and replaced it with NOTHING.

It will just add to the list of awful attraction decisions made.

Absolutely nothing would surprise me and I have long ago gave up trying to rationalize the decisions that are made.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

the more i think about this…integrating Walt as the narrator of the show..i kind of love it. COP is arguably one of the most visibly outdated attractions in WDW. this would feel like a proper use of a Walt figure and really drive home some of his core beliefs when it came to progress and the future.

Plus, he’s in the outdoor video preshow already, which they can integrate into his spiel.

 

[Tha Realest]

Its not a matter of IF its a matter of WHEN they will close CoP.

I would not be surprised if they eventually closed CoP and replaced it with NOTHING.

It will just add to the list of awful attraction decisions made.

Absolutely nothing would surprise me and I have long ago gave up trying to rationalize the decisions that are made.

As much as I hate to agree, I think the answer can be found by asking this question: will any $$/ effort here be offset by LL revenue?

No.

But they do stuff like this at Disneyland, one might retort. Walt won’t increase LL revenue there.

Yes. But they care more about such things there be WDW.

 

[mergatroid]

Its not a matter of IF its a matter of WHEN they will close CoP.

I would not be surprised if they eventually closed CoP and replaced it with NOTHING.

It will just add to the list of awful attraction decisions made.

Absolutely nothing would surprise me and I have long ago gave up trying to rationalize the decisions that are made.

That's true of every attraction though. At the moment it's an educated guess based on several factors unless you know more than that?

 

[EagleScout610]

Its not a matter of IF its a matter of WHEN they will close CoP.

I would not be surprised if they eventually closed CoP and replaced it with NOTHING.

It will just add to the list of awful attraction decisions made.

Absolutely nothing would surprise me and I have long ago gave up trying to rationalize the decisions that are made.

Me when they do close COP watching them rip out another "untouchable" attraction for the 10th time in 5 years:

 

[Disstevefan1]

That's true of every attraction though. At the moment it's an educated guess based on several factors unless you know more than that?

Just a guess on my part and also because I love CoP and Disney always takes away things I love like the Osborne lights.... That did it!

 

[BasiltheBatLord]

Its not a matter of IF its a matter of WHEN they will close CoP.

Not saying you're wrong, but I've been hearing this since the early 2000s. Not gonna pay much attention to this rumor unless something concrete gets announced.

 

[AdventureHasAName]

I have no doubt that at some point in my lifetime (I'm 50), Disney will get rid of the COP. And I will hate it. But now I'm resigned to simply hoping that they will sell it to a millionaire Disneyphile collector instead of destroying it. It should exist somewhere. Hell, donate it to the Smithsonian.

 

[CoastalElite64]

I think CoP is one of the safer classic attractions since its only found at WDW.

 

[mergatroid]

For those interested in COP, here's a video of what it actually looks like where all the mechanical workings are

 

[Mr. Sullivan]

If the issue the tweets in the OP speak about is true....that's not a very complicated or expensive fix. Turn tables and rotating stages may have been somewhat cutting edge when this was new, but this technology is very routine today. It would not take a lot of time, money, or effort to fix. That's not to say they would have the will to, but it most definitely would not be because it's not doable or affordable.

 

[donaldtoo]

Yep. It’s not optimal, but the fourth act has an inherently problem given the time jumps and the need to constantly update it. Putting a believable Walt animatronic where he is the central narrator while the original 1960’s version of the family goes about its day in the backdrop would work. He likely also spoke extensively about the attraction so cobbling together a coherent script from his recorded interviews shouldn’t be too heavy a lift.

In the almost 13 years I’ve been a member of this site, I’ve made the same suggestion several times, regarding the final scene.
Every time they’ve “updated” it, it has just become more and more chronologically disjointed from the third scene.
IMO, they just need to take the final scene back to the original 60’s theme, and do a nice, clean refurb on the whole attraction.
The addition of Walt’s voice as the main narrator, again, IMO, would only enhance the historical significance of the attraction, and continue to educate younger guests as to the history and vision of the man that started it all.
I would be whole-heartedly in favor of something like this.

 

[Smiley/OCD]

If the issue the tweets in the OP speak about is true....that's not a very complicated or expensive fix. Turn tables and rotating stages may have been somewhat cutting edge when this was new, but this technology is very routine today. It would not take a lot of time, money, or effort to fix. That's not to say they would have the will to, but it most definitely would not be because it's not doable or affordable.

YES! If they were able to fix the mag-lev on the People Mover, they can fix CoP…

 

[Disstevefan1]

Not saying you're wrong, but I've been hearing this since the early 2000s. Not gonna pay much attention to this rumor unless something concrete gets announced.

Let’s all hope it’s just a rumor, and someone in the Disney organization has the common sense to keep CoP open and operating.

It will take a while to restore my faith after the awful, terrible, ugly planter with broken in ground lighting we got in the failed “renovation” of Future World in EPCOT that we are now stuck with for decades to come.

With RoA now closed, here we go again, I hope whatever they are trying to do there turns out to be good and does not get scope cut to oblivion and ends up to garbage like the EPCOT planter.

 

[Tha Realest]

Let’s all hope it’s just a rumor, and someone in the Disney organization has the common sense to keep CoP open and operating.

It will take a while to restore my faith after the awful, terrible, ugly planter with broken in ground lighting we got in the failed “renovation” of Future World in EPCOT that we are now stuck with for decades to come.

With RoA now closed, here we go again, I hope whatever they are trying to do there turns out to be good and does not get scope cut to oblivion and ends up to garbage like the EPCOT planter.

My worry is the company seems to have difficulty in recent years doing something with “theater in the round” or these type of pavilions like COP. It’s a tight configuration that doesn’t seem to take up a big enough footprint to build out a complete new replacement.

 

[Basil of Baker Street]

As a Disney fan, I feel like I should be more attached to COP than I am... I would be much more upset if they removed HM PP or Pirates. Speedway wouldn't upset me either.