Carousel of Progress refurb?

[pax_65]

Sigh... this is a tough one. I always argue that we have to be willing to change and update classic rides because the park was never intended to become a museum/shrine to the past - it was always intended to be cutting-edge. That's especially true with Tomorrowland.

That said, CoP is one of my FAVORITE rides and I'd hate to see it change. So I'd say we keep it the way it is for as long as possible and THEN...

Update the ride to look at how technology is affecting the current generation. It's no longer about automobiles and kitchen appliances. It's about communication technology that puts us constantly in touch. On a new CoP, you could START in 1960 with telephones and televisions, go to 1980 with early computers and video games, to today with the Internet, cell phones, etc and maybe glance at what the future may hold.

Like the original, the focus should be on how this technology is affecting people (and specifically the family) - for better or worse. There's a great blog that's going viral that wonders how the heck people today survived without all our technology. It really makes you think about how this technology has changed (and is changing) how we interact with the people around us.

http://forevertwentysomethings.com/...ere-in-their-20s-before-cell-phones-internet/

 

[El Grupo]

JMO...I'd rather see CoP moved to EPCOT. Possibly replace WoL with a combined CoP and Horizons attraction.

 

[Goofyernmost]

My take on "fixing" the CoP decade issues:

1.) Restore the attraction to it's 1964 version. Obviously GE references will need to be removed. All audio and music is on master tapes. A new cast would need to be hired to read the script and sing the song.

2.) Act IV, currently the year 2000 as envisioned in 1994, should become the 1960s ending once again.

3.) Take the unload theater and turn it into Act V. This is a brand new "tomorrow" scene that can always be changed when needed.

4.) Use the load theater as the theater that guests load and unload from, similar to what is done at numerous other theaters on property i.e. philarmagic, etc.

5.) Create a backstory to fit into the tomorrowland community theme: The building looks like a flying saucer, so why can't a new pre show on bigger tv screens explain to guests that the tomorrowland metro retro historical society acquired the carousel of progress and is taking it on tour throughout the galaxy to show human life in the 20th century from a great visionary- Walt Disney, and that guests will be seeing the original show created by walt disney with an additional ending created by the TMRHS.

6.) Every so many years the new bonus ending/ Act V, is updated. A new cast is hired to read from the new script of that scene as well as the set-in-stone script for acts 1-4 so that their voices remain consistent throughout.

7.) Rover plush and merch.

That would not only mess up the timing, big time, it would also be never ending. The future changes everyday. When first conceived it was fairly simple to predict what was coming, now, with the speed of technology, it is nothing short of an impossibility.

Horizons was built to carry on from where CoP left off. You cannot see the history of progress without seeing what was in the past. Horizons is, of course, gone and nothing has replaced it. Based on what I just said, it isn't likely either because by the time the would get the future imagined and built, it will have changed completely. CoP needs some TLC in upkeep and mechanical upgrading, but, in my opinion it must remain a historical part of the experience. We know what today is and no one knows what tomorrow will bring, so why not just use it as a jumping off point for our own imaginations. We can guess as well as they can.

 

[LeRaposa]

Disney can keep the same scenes but the thing needs a massive upgrade. The last update was 1993. They need to replace the animatronics with newer ones and maybe even redo the scenery.

 

[dannyboyindc]

Disney can keep the same scenes but the thing needs a massive upgrade. The last update was 1993. They need to replace the animatronics with newer ones and maybe even redo the scenery.

Just update the laptop, virtual reality game and get rid of the "laser discs" and "car phone" lines already!

 

[dinodak]

I literally laughed out loud when I heard those two references the last time I rode!!

 

[Zipadeelady]

I think they need to change up some of the other scenes as well because it has a huge gap where it goes from the 1940s aaaalllll the way to the not-too-distant future. Here's what I feel they should do:

-Keep turn of the century the same
-Change 1920s to 1950's (even with the time changes, the same basic things happen in the acts)
-Change 1940s to either the 780s, 80s, or 90s.
-The obvious one is updating the not-too-distant future scene.

NOOOOOOO!! Sorry but I disagree! I wouldn't want to see any changes to any of the scene's except for maybe the last scene.

 

[Monorail_Red_77]

I think that they should leave the first three scenes the same and just update the last scene somehow. Not really sure but it needs to be presented in such a way that it does not look dated but also would not need to be update at least as far as the technology in it. Maybe change it so that the narrator of the scene tells the audience what decade they are in. this way it would not appear dated as currently you kinda think they are supposed to be talking about today. However, outside of the updates on content and timeline. They need to at the least do the regular maintenance and updates on the animatronics, carpeting, seats, scenery. Geeze, where do I stop. I still love the ride in spite of all of the neglect. I don't think that all rides need to be modern and high tech. There needs to be variety in the parks. A nice mixture of high tech, low tech, and classic rides. Currently I make a game out of trying to count all of the broken animatronics in each scene. Though I should not have to do this. Nor should I have to count all of the missing dolls or non-functioning dolls in small world. But that's another topic all together.

 

[imagineer boy]

NOOOOOOO!! Sorry but I disagree! I wouldn't want to see any changes to any of the scene's except for maybe the last scene.

Why? The huge half-century jump between the 40s and near future is simply too big. Like I said, you can keep the same basic events of those scenes just change the time periods.

 

[djkidkaz]

People always say that the parks weren't meant to become museums or shrines and that is true but I also don't think Walt realized what this park and his inventions we're going to mean to the world YEARS later. Now that he's gone I think we as a society have decided that some parts of what he created should be kept the way they were for future generations to understand and see what the man had created.

 

[WondersOfLife]

I watched CoP twice at MK this last valentines weekend and noticed what it said at the beginning of the show.. "Walt wanted to create a family that would go through changes in the 20th century" ... Sooo.. Technically the show ISN'T outdated when it gets to the "2000s" scene.. TECHNICALLY... That scene is pretty accurate!

The show itself doesn't really need to change.. The audio system needs work, and maybe put in a brand new audio animatronic upgrade to be VERY lifelike! I mean.. It's an animatronic SHOW. So if the only thing you CAN look at is the audio animatronics.. Make them impressive! Like Hall of Presidents and American Adventure! And the Jack Sparrow animatronics!

Heck.. Even all of the AAs used in Stitch are in muuuch better condition.

 

[Zipadeelady]

Why? The huge half-century jump between the 40s and near future is simply too big. Like I said, you can keep the same basic events of those scenes just change the time periods.

I thinking adding a 60's scene would be fine but getting rid of the earlier scene's would be horrible. That's the whole premise of the ride. Progress.... seeing where we came from and how far we have come. I'm all for changes at Disney but not with the COP. How else are my kids supposed to learn history. I do agree with others that audio and animatronics could use much improvement.

 

[imagineer boy]

I thinking adding a 60's scene would be fine but getting rid of the earlier scene's would be horrible. That's the whole premise of the ride. Progress.... seeing where we came from and how far we have come. I'm all for changes at Disney but not with the COP. How else are my kids supposed to learn history. I do agree with others that audio and animatronics could use much improvement.

I'm not saying they should get rid of the earlier scenes, the scene will be kept the same with the same elements (like Uncle Orville still staying in the bath tub, just only in the 50s) only the surrounding time period is changed with some allusions to it.

 

[DisneyGentleman]

Haven't you heard the news? Apple is building the Futurama version of CoP. There are 500+ scenes and the ride takes a week to complete.

 

[dstrawn9889]

Haven't you heard the news? Apple is building the Futurama version of CoP. There are 500+ scenes and the ride takes a week to complete.

and cost 1000x what it should, with similar hardware and a different theme...

 

[BrerJon]

I really think they should trash the 90s scene and replace it with a 70s or early 80s scene, with an emphasis on the dawn of the personal computer and the communications revolution.

Then the ride would tell a cohesive tale of progress in the 20th century from the first spark of electricity to the igniting of the digital revolution, and you wouldn't have to regularly update it because - unlike when the ride debuted - it would no longer be a 'story so far', but instead be a self-contained tale from the past with a beginning and an end.

Add a closing line about nobody knowing what progress will be made in the future, and how we must always look to new horizons, and the ride would be perfect.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Just update the laptop, virtual reality game and get rid of the "laser discs" and "car phone" lines already!

I literally laughed out loud when I heard those two references the last time I rode!!

We need to think about that... Did you laugh out loud when they mentioned iceboxes or pumps in the kitchen for water or how about electric lights and washing machines that only take 4 hours instead of 2 days to finish the laundry? The last scene is representative of a time very close to today. A time when laser discs and car phone's were an actual thing that we lived with day to day. It is a print of life at the time and is no longer a blueprint for the future. Just leave it the way it is and think of it in that way. Young children of today, do not have any knowledge that the stuff they are showing ever existed. It's the same revelation that my children had when they found out the color television didn't always exist from the beginning of time.

 

[MaryJaneP]

Possibly keep the "turn of the century" first scene (keeping Walt's contribution). Make second scene a 1950's flavored examination of the "progress" we have made. The third scene could be the 1990's (maybe re-use the current "final scene", scene 4). The new final scene should be the present with a prediction of the future that can be updated as needed. Essentially each jump would represent two generations. Unlikely to ever happen though.

 

[jasonfresta]

my opinion is that if they're going to change anything.. you can change the last scene and keep the integrity of the ride. but don't change it to something OLDER...no offense to anyone.. but that is an experience that will only appeal to a generation that is...well on their way out. Disney would most likely rather get younger people interested in the ride and relate to their future.
what's the obsession with keeping the eras evenly spaced out? if you think about it... while the technology became more sophisticated between the decades of the late 50s and 2000....the ideas and technology itself didn't change all that much compared to 1900 to 1950.

"well...here we are in the 1970s... our refrigerator has become bigger and boxier... and everything is this horrific orange and pea soup green color. i'm still commuting to my dead end job and my son is a pothead. we have color TV now.. and that's cool... but if i want to watch VHS tapes i have to spend $1200 on a vcr. our neighbor, Schwartz just stopped by in his new leisure suit. his wife just left him and he invited us both to... what are they calling it nowadays, Sarah??..a...swingers party? ahh well...that's the 70s in a nutshell. can't wait until my mobile phone doesn't require a car battery and it's own shopping cart to get around. oohhhhhh it's a great big beautiful tomorrowww...."

anyway... leave the first three scenes in tact... and give us a REAL look at the future. robots.. holograms.. they have imagineers...not so that they can imagine us back into the 50s.

 

[roj2323]

Haven't you heard the news? Apple is building the Futurama version of CoP. There are 500+ scenes and the ride takes a week to complete.

Thats if everyone stays seated =)