CoP thoughts

ONUpolarbears

ONUpolarbears

Member
Original Poster
Hey guys,
Carosel of Progress is one of my favorite rides. I really enjoy the old music "now is the time" and I've been on it many times with the newer music "there's a great big beautiful tomorrow". However, when I was there last summer, I went to some place in the park where they were showing the history of walt disney (I think at MGM). Any on one of the TV's they showed walt and two guys at a piano and they were playing the song "It's a great big beautiful tomorrow" which got me thinking, was that the original song for the ride and then they changed it to Now is the best time and hten back to it's a great big beautiful tomorrow. I guess my question is, which came first ......Now is the Time or It's a great big beautiful tomorrow, and why did they change it?

Turn back, Turn back,
Jim
 
daniam2188

daniam2188

Member
GBBT was the original song from the worlds fair and DL... it didnt change to Now is the time untill the show moved to WDW... and it changed back to GBBT when GE dropped sponsership in 1994 i believe
 
Expo_Seeker40

Expo_Seeker40

Well-Known Member
The Carousel of Progress originally debued at the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. It was part of the Progressland Exhibit at the General Electric pavilion, thus General Electric was the offical sponcor. The original theme song "There's A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" coincided with what General Electric was trying to promote to the public in the 60s. It was the Sherman Bothers who wrote the song, and who you saw on the TV with Walt Disney.

In 1967 the Carousel of Progress opened with the rest of the new tomorrowland in disneyland california. It had minor updates, included an addition to the Christmas 1960 scene AKA act four. It showed Mother, Father, and their dog Rover living in the suburb of Medalion, which was going to be part of Progress City, or EPCOT. The post show featured the EPCOT model, which is now located inside the Tomorrowland Transit Authority.

In 1975 the Carousel of Progress opened in WDW Florida. There were many changes. The kaledophonic screen was gon, replaced by a shimmering silver curtain when you walked in the theater. The carousel now rotated counter clockwise, instead of clockwise, and ACT Four was changed to New Years Eve 1970.

The theme song had changed from the move to WDW. "Now is the Time" represented General Electrics new approach at "bringing good things to life". In 1985 General Electric dropped sponcorship in favor of full support of "Horizons" at EPCOT Center. Act Four was then changed to New Years Eve 1980.

In 1994 the Carousel of Progress was rewritten as Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress. Only the first three acts look somewhat like they did in 1964. Act four was updated to New Years Eve or possibly Christmas 2000, but remember this was what the future was seen like in 1994, and already it has become dated.

On April 22, 2004, the Carousel of Progress turned 40 years old. It is one of the oldest, if not, the oldest attraction at the Magic Kingdom in WDW.

If you go to the carousel of progress nowadays. Please take a stop before you eneter the theater and look at the above TV screens. There is a brand new pre show that shows digitally remastered footage from bith the world's fair and disneyland. What is really neat is that they show the original ending of the carousel of progress when act four was Christmas 1960.
 
G

General Grizz

New Member
Originally posted by Expo_Seeker40
The Carousel of Progress originally debued at the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair in Flushing Meadows Corona Park. It was part of the Progressland Exhibit at the General Electric pavilion, thus General Electric was the offical sponcor. The original theme song "There's A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" coincided with what General Electric was trying to promote to the public in the 60s. It was the Sherman Bothers who wrote the song, and who you saw on the TV with Walt Disney.

In 1967 the Carousel of Progress opened with the rest of the new tomorrowland in disneyland california. It had minor updates, included an addition to the Christmas 1960 scene AKA act four. It showed Mother, Father, and their dog Rover living in the suburb of Medalion, which was going to be part of Progress City, or EPCOT. The post show featured the EPCOT model, which is now located inside the Tomorrowland Transit Authority.

In 1975 the Carousel of Progress opened in WDW Florida. There were many changes. The kaledophonic screen was gon, replaced by a shimmering silver curtain when you walked in the theater. The carousel now rotated counter clockwise, instead of clockwise, and ACT Four was changed to New Years Eve 1970.

The theme song had changed from the move to WDW. "Now is the Time" represented General Electrics new approach at "bringing good things to life". In 1985 General Electric dropped sponcorship in favor of full support of "Horizons" at EPCOT Center. Act Four was then changed to New Years Eve 1980.

In 1994 the Carousel of Progress was rewritten as Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress. Only the first three acts look somewhat like they did in 1964. Act four was updated to New Years Eve or possibly Christmas 2000, but remember this was what the future was seen like in 1994, and already it has become dated.

On April 22, 2004, the Carousel of Progress turned 40 years old. It is one of the oldest, if not, the oldest attraction at the Magic Kingdom in WDW.

If you go to the carousel of progress nowadays. Please take a stop before you eneter the theater and look at the above TV screens. There is a brand new pre show that shows digitally remastered footage from bith the world's fair and disneyland. What is really neat is that they show the original ending of the carousel of progress when act four was Christmas 1960.
Click to expand...

Oh sweet...vacation. :D
 
ONUpolarbears

ONUpolarbears

Member
Original Poster
Wow! Thanks for the info! Happy birfday CoP!!!! Here's to another 40 years! Does anyone know where I could find specs on the ride like what kind of motor it takes to turn all those people and stuff? Thanks again!

Now IS the best time!,
Jim:sohappy:
 
G

General Grizz

New Member
Originally posted by Expo_Seeker40
If you go to the carousel of progress nowadays. Please take a stop before you eneter the theater and look at the above TV screens. There is a brand new pre show that shows digitally remastered footage from bith the world's fair and disneyland. What is really neat is that they show the original ending of the carousel of progress when act four was Christmas 1960.
Click to expand...

New as in 1994 new? I was there at Christmastime - same preshow.

DETAILS!
 
marni1971

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
And don`t forget the link with Horizons - GBBT was played in the 30`s future scene (since when Horizons opened NITT was in the CoP) (lots of acronyms!)

The Horizons family were meant to be the CoP family, but later in life - another scene after the end of CoP, if you will.
 
Expo_Seeker40

Expo_Seeker40

Well-Known Member
It looked new to me, but maybe I was mistaken or had forgetten the ending. See what I found different was the footage of the audience in the theater roating clockwise into christmas 1960 and then showing some zoomed out footage of the sets. Then there were clips of act four in disneyworld zooming in on mother and father with the dog, and seeing the 40 story cosmopolitan hotel of EPCOT in the background. I know some of these clips were taken from the tomorrowland promotional feature back in 1967, but I only seem to recall strictyl world's fair footage, and not disneyland.
 
Chape19714

Chape19714

Well-Known Member
CoP is one of the best shows on Earth!! The narration is now done by an origional member of the cast. It interesting to find out that CoP has preformed more shows than any other show in American Theatre History! What an accomplishment in just 40 years!

Happy 40th CoP! Hopefully, CoP will have a 140th Birthday, it's an American Classic!
 
MartyMouse

MartyMouse

New Member
You know I have often wondered if the Horizons family was meant to be the CoP family because of the family members being so similar, but I never made the connection 100%, do any of you know if there is a substantial link to that fact, is it in writing someplace?
 
G

General Grizz

New Member
Originally posted by imagineer boy
BTW, the Walt Disney exibit you went to was Walt Disney: one man's dream. Its an exibit on display at MGM.
Click to expand...

And it's super cool!! :D

I'll check out the CoP this summer to see what preshow there is. Based on your description, I'm thinking it's the same.

I will be absolutely TICKED if CoP is closed when Stitch's Great Escape opens. I'm so happy it's open full time now (AND with regular park hours!!!) - - let's see them freshen everything up.

That would be the ULTIMATE birthday gift for Walt*.


The Carousel of Progress was the only attraction Walt Disney told his Imagineers to keep in his parks for as long as they existed. Living creations of Mr. Disney are not museums, nor are they direct honors, but they are the continuation of a timeless story. There is no better way to honor Mr. Disney!
 
Chape19714

Chape19714

Well-Known Member
Originally posted by MartyMouse
You know I have often wondered if the Horizons family was meant to be the CoP family because of the family members being so similar, but I never made the connection 100%, do any of you know if there is a substantial link to that fact, is it in writing someplace?
Click to expand...

Take a look at the thread about Horizions (it's a pretty new thread)
 
Expo_Seeker40

Expo_Seeker40

Well-Known Member
"Dark Measures" I agree with you. The CoP should be moved to EPCOT, it should be fully restored and put into a brand new building and larger one. 1900, 1920, 1940, 1960, 1980, and 2000 would be the permanent sets, and then the bonus set would be entitled "tomorrow", and would be the only scene that would update to show what tomorrow may look like in say another 20 years, so if the CoP is around at EPCOT, say in 2020, the "tomorrow" scene would be updated to show life in 2040.

That way the 20th century would be focused because it was the first century in which so much progress happened, the century in which walt disney was born, the century in which his parks were built, rides were built, and when the 1964 world's fair happened, causing the Cop to be created.

Long live this 40 year old ride! LOL it "turned" 40.:hammer:
 
Captain Hank

Captain Hank

Well-Known Member
Unfortunately, COP has fallen into not the greatest shape. When I was there over Easter, I noticed in particular that the scrims (the pieces of cloth that cover the turntables stage right and stage left) were in bad shape. A lot of them were distorted. Also, in Act 3, I think, the stage right scrim was torn right in the center. they covered it up with a horrible patch that was immediately noticable. Plus, the audio seemed quite a bit quieter than I remembered from before. Also, in the prologue, the green and blue lights weren't working too well. I seem to remember the curtain going up and down (could be wrong) but that wasn't working.

There didn't seem to be too much wrong that would be noticable to a first-timer (besides the torn scrim), but it's sad just the same. I remember being fascinated by the show with its spinning theater and changing family, but now it seems to have lost some of the magic. I do hope that it's moved to its rightful place in Epcot. Hey, they even have a circular building available now with Wonders of Life seeming to be on the verge of closing.

By the way, the pre-show video looked to be the same one that was installed in 1994. Of course, I walked in on it towards the end, so there might have been some footage that I didn't see.

Oh, and completely off-topic...Polar Jim-I'm going to be going to Ohio Northern starting next fall. It's good to see there's gonna be a fellow Disney fanatic on campus.
 

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