Carousel of Progress

[Bravo 229]

I think it should be left alone, except for the final scene. Maybe they should import some of the ideas from its sequel, Horizons, and give the future a better look. And they might want to fix the seats in the theatre, because they were not very comfortable last time I went in there.

 

[DisneyPrincess5]

The biggest problem with an update to the last scene is that it only furthers the time gap between Scene 3 and Scene 4. It used to be that the number of years passed was equal, now we just keep getting a bigger and bigger span that is not evenly represented.

So true. It's too bad another scene can't be added hmm...

 

[Graham9]

Can't someone just change the song? That stupid tune gets stuck in my head all day!!!

:brick:

 

[Evil Genius]

Can't someone just change the song? That stupid tune gets stuck in my head all day!!!

:brick:

Blasphemy! Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow is an outstanding Sherman Bros tune!

 

[gerryu21220]

how to fix the carousel of progress:

repaint the building and enhance it's facade to better tie in the with the 1994 tomorrowland architecture

have signs and video with a better preshow explaining what the attraction is, it's ties to walt disney, and that it was aquired by the tomorrowland metro retro historical society

have the load theater be both the load and unload theater....audiences are heading through the left doors while audience are filing through the right doors


get acts 1-3 as close as they were to 1964.....turn act 4 back to christmas ithe 1960s...have a new cast of voices to read off a script as close as possible to the original 1964 script

take what was formerly the unload theater and turn that into a bonus ending where the tomorrowland metro retro historical society goes beyond what walt disney predicted at the world's fair, and now shows us an up to date vision of the future


have the bonus ending updated every couple of years....a new cast may need to be hired, but the set in stone script for acts 1-4 will already be there, and all they need to do is read off a new script for the bonus ending


that way none of the remaining original acts from 1-3 are destroyed, the original walt disney version is presented as closely as possible, a future ending can always exist and doesn't effect the original part of the show.

You've been reading my mind! However, I would go back to the original recordings for the four main scenes. Just delete the General Electric references. Then add the fifth section using the EPCOT model and Progress City dialog. 90% of it is still relavent today, and much of it hasn't happened yet. Perhaps have someone add a line that this was Walt's original vision for EPCOT or something like that.

That would be my dream version of CoP.

 

[ccw7759]

Blasphemy! Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow is an outstanding Sherman Bros tune!

I totally agree. Soooooo Walt!! it stays in my head for hours after seeing CoP ! "There's a great big beautiful tomorrow"....!!

 

[jato4x4]

Shining at the end of everyday...

 

[gerryu21220]

Can't someone just change the song? That stupid tune gets stuck in my head all day!!!

:brick:

That is precisely the point. "You don't walk away from an attraction whistling the architecture."

 

[cowanfamily]

Can't someone just change the song? That stupid tune gets stuck in my head all day!!!

:brick:

That song IS the COP. Without it, scrap the whole project!

 

[Buried20KLeague]

I never really understood why that last scene has to continue with the same characters, personally. Why couldn't the last scene be the children or grandkids completely grown up, spending more time reflecting on how things changed for their family than covering the "technology of today"?

It could be done in a way that would keep the scene from becoming dated fairly easy, it would seem.

Instead of "laser disks" and "car phones" and "voice response ovens", it could be about looking back. I think it's the only way Disney would update that scene, because technology just moves too fast these days to do much else.

Plus, that would help explain the huge gap between scenes 3 and 4... To make it the next generation looking back, as opposed to Father... Who not only has a christmas tree whose lights respond to his voice, but has also apparently stumbled upon the secret of everlasting life. :lookaroun

 

[trr1]

I totally agree. Soooooo Walt!! it stays in my head for hours after seeing CoP ! "There's a great big beautiful tomorrow"....!!

if you think that song sticks in your head then ride IASW

 

[PhilharMagician]

I never really understood why that last scene has to continue with the same characters, personally. Why couldn't the last scene be the children or grandkids completely grown up, spending more time reflecting on how things changed for their family than covering the "technology of today"?

It could be done in a way that would keep the scene from becoming dated fairly easy, it would seem.

Instead of "laser disks" and "car phones" and "voice response ovens", it could be about looking back. I think it's the only way Disney would update that scene, because technology just moves too fast these days to do much else.

Plus, that would help explain the huge gap between scenes 3 and 4... To make it the next generation looking back, as opposed to Father... Who not only has a christmas tree whose lights respond to his voice, but has also apparently stumbled upon the secret of everlasting life. :lookaroun

The Fountian of Youth is supposedly in FL somewhere. Maybe after the light go out in the evening the family goes out for a little drink?




I have always hoped that the unload theater would become a 5th scene and they would combine the load/unload in the same room. Back up Christmas to 1960's era and scene 5 to be updated to cutting edge tech. Unfortunately I do not see this happening since there are no capacity issues with COP.

 

[ZipADeeSarah]

Why not just do the last scene in the same way the rest of tomorrowland is done. With the "future that never was"? I think it'd be pretty funny some of the stuff they could do. Why does it have to be an accurate version of the present or future. I LOVE how tomorrowland is the utopian future that never happened, why not extend that to the last scene?

This, IMO, seems to be the EASIEST permanent fix for COP (which happens to be my favorite "show" at the park after the demise of many of my childhood favorites.) If done correctly, you never have to update again, and just have to keep it fresh with maintenance if it stays in the park indefinitely.

OR, in the preshow, say that the COP has been restored to an approximation of the state that it was in when presented at the World's Fair (minus the sponsors it had then.) It is brought to you by The Tomorrowland Historical Society, blah blah blah. Then it's a historical piece, and ready to go to the Smithsonian if that rumor ever becomes true. I would HATE for that to happen, unless it was maintained in working order at the Museum of American History. (Meaning you could still experience it, just in another city.)

I worry about the "combining exit and entrance" idea. If you have people with mobility issues trying to exit and enter at the same time, unless you've got multiple cast members helping them out, you'll end up emergency stopping the show and disrupting the flow. I don't know if that ever happens now, but it has never happened in the many times I've experienced it.

Did they outfit COP in WDW with breakaway walls after the death of the cast member in DL in America Sings? :lookaroun

 

[gerryu21220]

I never really understood why that last scene has to continue with the same characters, personally. Why couldn't the last scene be the children or grandkids completely grown up, spending more time reflecting on how things changed for their family than covering the "technology of today"?

It could be done in a way that would keep the scene from becoming dated fairly easy, it would seem.

Instead of "laser disks" and "car phones" and "voice response ovens", it could be about looking back. I think it's the only way Disney would update that scene, because technology just moves too fast these days to do much else.

Plus, that would help explain the huge gap between scenes 3 and 4... To make it the next generation looking back, as opposed to Father... Who not only has a christmas tree whose lights respond to his voice, but has also apparently stumbled upon the secret of everlasting life. :lookaroun

It's not a continuous timeline. Each scene is independent of the other. They're simply showing you how life was in each era. As in "how would this family live at the turn of the century?" or in the twenties, forties, etc, on up through today. Different families would have probably made the point clearer.

 

[powlessfamily4]

how to fix the carousel of progress:

repaint the building and enhance it's facade to better tie in the with the 1994 tomorrowland architecture

have signs and video with a better preshow explaining what the attraction is, it's ties to walt disney, and that it was aquired by the tomorrowland metro retro historical society

have the load theater be both the load and unload theater....audiences are heading through the left doors while audience are filing through the right doors


get acts 1-3 as close as they were to 1964.....turn act 4 back to christmas ithe 1960s...have a new cast of voices to read off a script as close as possible to the original 1964 script

take what was formerly the unload theater and turn that into a bonus ending where the tomorrowland metro retro historical society goes beyond what walt disney predicted at the world's fair, and now shows us an up to date vision of the future


have the bonus ending updated every couple of years....a new cast may need to be hired, but the set in stone script for acts 1-4 will already be there, and all they need to do is read off a new script for the bonus ending


that way none of the remaining original acts from 1-3 are destroyed, the original walt disney version is presented as closely as possible, a future ending can always exist and doesn't effect the original part of the show.

I think this says it all.

 

[T-1MILLION]

I think it is funny how people are still praising the flat screen tv in the final scene as if it was a serious start to upgrading the Carosuel of Progress.

What likely really happened is the fact that the old tv finally gave out and the quickest cheapest way to fix it was the flat pannel they put in. Don't get me wrong it looks better and easier to believe that this is a near future home with it...but it is more of a nessacity than Disney saying "Let's plus this"

 

[Walt Disney1955]

i think they can only update the last scene because u really can't update history

Kind of what I think too. What are we going to do, re-write the 1900s? The last scene can use some TLC for sure but COP should always be there. Remember when I did a poll a while back talking about which attraction at WDW was the most nostalgic? To my surprise, COP won it hands down, not even close. This is part of the reason why we love WDW so much

 

[MiklCraw4d]

The horrible Beetlejuice dinning room table on the other hand... *shudder* No explaining that hideous thing!

Quoted for hilarious accuracy!

 

[Buried20KLeague]

It's not a continuous timeline. Each scene is independent of the other. They're simply showing you how life was in each era. As in "how would this family live at the turn of the century?" or in the twenties, forties, etc, on up through today. Different families would have probably made the point clearer.

Are you sure? Same narrator, everyone ages, same characters. Seems pretty clear they're following a family through the decades to me... And they just suspend disbelief for that last scene.

 

[Graham9]

if you think that song sticks in your head then ride IASW

We did. We were hoping if we went on Carousel and came out with that tune in our heads, if we then went straight to Small World, then the two tunes would mentally cancel each other out.

It doesn't work.