In your opinion which rides need a semi makeover, re-Carousel of Progress...

Southampton11968

Southampton11968

Active Member
Original Poster
My vote would have to go to the Carousel of Progress. I don't hate it but I have been riding it since it first premiered at Disneyland (yes, i'm that old) and it has had little change. Mainly it's the last section. Does it look like the future or even the present? Yeah, maybe if it was still the 1980's. WDW should really contact some cutting edge companies and wow us with state of the art technology. I would love to leave that ride with the feeling of "can't wait to get that in my house" and not be thinking "been there, done that".

Other rides that can use a face lift?
 
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JenniferS

JenniferS

When you're the leader, you don't have to follow.
Another vote for CoP.
However, I would prefer they back date the final scene to the 1950/1960's in order to maintain the 20 year progression.
Going from the 40's to supposed modern day (which it never is) is too much of a leap.
Seeing as how the modern scene is outdated before any refurb is even completed, they should just give it up and go retro.
 
EOD K9

EOD K9

Well-Known Member
I also vote for CoP. One of the main problems is the first scene when Father mentions its right around the turn of the century.
Therefore, only 13 years ago we had another turn of the century. On the one hand, it would be great to update it to today, we have the problem of a ginormous gap in ending scenes.
 
Goofyernmost

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
EOD K9 said:
I also vote for CoP. One of the main problems is the first scene when Father mentions its right around the turn of the century.
Therefore, only 13 years ago we had another turn of the century. On the one hand, it would be great to update it to today, we have the problem of a ginormous gap in ending scenes.
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CoP long ago passed it's ability to be a current attraction. I'm sure when they originally built it they had no idea that it would still be operating 50 years later, but in spite of the lack of love giving by Disney management it still retains a lot of it by Disney fans.

I just posted this on another unmentionable Disney base site, so I'll save myself some time and just repeat it here. This is in regards to the oft mentioned updating of the final scene.

'No you really wouldn't want them to update it because, #1 it isn't all that outdated as it stands. I still don't have an oven the recognizes my voice. Maybe some equipment like replace the video game with wii and a new flat screen, but other then that, it's fine. And #2 it really cannot be updated without losing a lot of the original. It is a terrific attraction because it is still entertaining and it is historical in more then one way. It tells today's generations what life was like at the beginning of the 20 century to what it was like toward the end of it. We live in the 21st century, we know what's here now no one needs to tell us and with advancing technology no one even tries to predict the future any more, it is all moving way to fast. #3 would be that it is just about the last major attraction that Walt Disney himself was heavily involved in during it's creation. Walt is dead, it seems like we should still be able to have a few things that started it all and contained a large portion of his imagination.

The funny thing about CoP is that the suits at Disney would love to have it break in two and let them haul it away. That explains why there has been so little upkeep done to it over the last 10 years. Yet, like the rabbit, it just keeps going and going and going. Hundreds of shows per week for almost 50 years now. Quick Calculation equals 260,000 shows. It makes me think that Walt shows up every night and takes care of the necessary stuff just to stick it to those fools that have control over his company now.'
yes.gif


Give it some love, clean up the auditoriums, paint and wash, upgrade the AA's, change the wording to early 1900 as @EOD K9 mentioned, promote it as a "how do we know where we are going if we don't know where we've been" type of attractions, historic and created by WED, the man not the company.
 
Disvillain63

Disvillain63

Well-Known Member
Carousel of Progress...like @rct247 but maybe start with the opening of the MK and progress...
Journey into Imagination (keeping Figment and bringing back Dreamfinder) but definitely improving the interactive section
Pavilions...many could use some updating and upgrading; maybe consider bring some of the attractions that were left off in the beginning...Rhine River ride in Germany; Mt. Fuji in Japan
The Great Movie Ride...update a bit
 
W

wdwfan4ver

Well-Known Member
I agree that COP needs a facefift, but I got a couple other attractions that need a make over.

The Great Movie Ride needs updating.

Universe of Energy needs updating also. The Ellen version of the attraction opened in 1996 and things have change since the attraction opened. The other thing is the Attraction due soon to get a makeover because right now it looks like Alex Trebek will retire in 2016 from Jeopardy. When Jeopardy gets a new host, I think Disney is forced to update the Jeopardy part of the attraction.
 
The Empress Lilly

The Empress Lilly

Well-Known Member
JenniferS said:
Another vote for CoP.
However, I would prefer they back date the final scene to the 1950/1960's in order to maintain the 20 year progression.
Going from the 40's to supposed modern day (which it never is) is too much of a leap.
Seeing as how the modern scene is outdated before any refurb is even completed, they should just give it up and go retro.
Click to expand...
Exactly!

Just emphasise that this is 'Walt Disney's' CoP. His lifetime. His love of progress, his optimism, his inspiration for EPCOT. The final scene ought to be the present or immeditate future of his era. Me, I'd even move the partners statue to the CoP entrance.
 
Southampton11968

Southampton11968

Active Member
Original Poster
Bairstow said:
Does anyone know of a place where you can watch one of the older Carousel finale scenes?
This is the best I could do.
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The old ride at Disneyland ended with the audience exiting the ride on a escalator in front of the seating area where the stage was at the finale. Up the escalator there was a model of town of the future that would later become Walt's idea for EPCOT, I think it is still part of the People Mover ride at Disneyland. You would exit from the second floor of the ride and walk down the outside of the round building on a ramp to the ground floor. Wow, I haven't thought of that in many years, does anyone else remember doing that?
 
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75disney

75disney

Well-Known Member
Journey into Imagination is a pale comparison to the original. It needs a redo. Also, Ellen's Energy Adventure definitely needs a redo as well. Energy is such an important issue today and that attraction is so boring. Disney can do a better job than that to get the message of energy and conservation across.
 
Matt_Black

Matt_Black

Well-Known Member
wdwfan4ver said:
The Great Movie Ride needs updating.
Click to expand...

THIS. The most recent film depicted is almost 30 years old at this point (though I will admit I still flinch when the Alien xenomorph drops from the ceiling). When I went last Christmas, you could just walk right on, and one of the 3 cars was empty. It used to be that you would have a ridiculously long wait for that ride.

Though I'm trying to think of a movie that was released since the ride was opened that really does deserve being recreated in animatronic form. Maybe Saving Private Ryan (provided Disney could get the license, though they seem to have a good working relationship with Dreamworks at the moment).

Now that I think on it, the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular could use some tweaking. While I LOVE Raiders of the Lost Ark, there are 3 other movies you could draw from to recreate action scenes, and at least one of those movies was really good.
 
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Expo_Seeker40

Expo_Seeker40

Well-Known Member
There is a way to "fix" the CoP that I think would work.

Remember, if we remove the first three acts (which are nearly original to how they've looked since 1964 minus a few tweaks) then you loose all that is left of the original attraction that Walt Disney helped work on. If we do a whole new CoP we loose that...and a new CoP that would start in the 1970s or 80s and work it's way into the 2030s or 40s will eventually end up becoming a problem just like the current attraction has.


I've said this before on here, that I think the best way to fix the ride is:

To make acts 1-4 look as close to what they used to look like during the world's fair. Take the unload theatre and turn that stage into an act V. This would be a bonus ending presented by the tomorrowland metro retro historical society showing what they think the future has in store. Then when the audience moves into the load theatre, they do what Disney does at many other theatre shows...have the audience exit out one side and the audience enter from the other side.

By having a new preshow and/or narration while the audience in loading in the theatre...guests can learn about how the tomorrowland metro retro historical society acquired the carousel of progress and is showcasing it around the galaxy (since the theatre is housed inside a UFO looking building to begin within)

The preshow could talk about the visionary walt disney, the world's fair, and more about the attraction (explaining to guests that the family is not meant to realistically age over 60+ years, rather they are a representation of a family living in each respective era we see.)

I think by doing that, you help preserve the original attraction, inform guests in a preshow what they are about to see, and have a fifth act that can always be updated without ever effecting the original attraction and whenever a new cast is needed to record audio for the updated ending, they just read from a set-in-stone script that would be created for acts 1-4 without GE references in them so that their voices stay consistent throughout the entire show.
 
Fable McCloud

Fable McCloud

Well-Known Member
If they update the Carousel's last part, they'd have to change it every other month to keep up with current technology trends. It'd be kinda cool to have an "ever changing carousel" but a nightmare for the imagineers and staff.
 

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