Carousel of Progress refurb?

[Disgruntled Walt]

Third scene had some issues on our trip that ended two weeks ago.

 

[jannerUK]

What issues?

 

[FutureCEO]

It's closing

Spoiler

BWHAHAHA

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

What issues?

The turntable lighting was not working, so you couldn't see beyond the scrim. There were also some lights out in the main scene. I believe the sound for one of the turntables was also not-working. It was super quiet.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

In all fairness, the Carousel of Progress, or its' current iteration should have been put out of its' misery years ago. Whenever I see news about this show, it's always negative. The figures and show scenes are in desperate need of overhaul. Excluding the turning mechanism for the theatre, the animatronics are always falling apart. Unusually more for Disney's other Audio-Animatronic shows both past and present. The Final Act is terribly dated. John doesn't even look the same in the past three acts. The children have aged, but the grandparents haven't. The staging from the Sixties looked better. The writing is stale and feels forced. Instead, Disney is more focused on seating and references to Food Rockz.

To me, Carousel of Progress was always the weakest of the carousel shows. America Sings was entertaining and visually appealing. Meet The World was a technical marvel and informative.(Again, it's a shame it never found a home at Epcot.) Carousel of Progress was just a twenty minute ad for GE appliances. I like the version that Walt created. Granted, he made Sarah insufferable in the Final Act. The 1975 and 1993 versions of the show are just awful. Disney just needs to put this show out of its' misery because I don't think they're capable of giving it the overhaul it deserves.

Counterpoint: The animatronics at CoP work much more frequently than the animatronics at TBA.

 

[lewisc]

Obviously motors can be replaced. The question (rumor maybe just speculation) is that the motors are no longer a stock item. Can Disney order more? Do they have to be manufactured in quantity 1? Do the existing motors have to be overhauled as an alternative. How many times.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Disney has custom parts manufactured by in-house engineers or contracted out all the time.

Look how WDW refurbished the monorail cars. You're not going to find replacement parts on Amazon.

 

[Rhinocerous]

Disney has custom parts manufactured by in-house engineers or contracted out all the time.

Look how WDW refurbished the monorail cars. You're not going to find replacement parts on Amazon.

Etsy, obviously.

 

[esskay]

Obviously motors can be replaced. The question (rumor maybe just speculation) is that the motors are no longer a stock item. Can Disney order more? Do they have to be manufactured in quantity 1? Do the existing motors have to be overhauled as an alternative. How many times.

Motors aren't a technically challenging thing to make. In the (highly unlikely) event they can't get something appropriate off the shelf it's a fairly trivial part to have made. Chances are it could even be done in house. They operate a huge range of rides, transportation, buildings, etc. Having custom parts is part and parcel of the operation.