Are the rumors about CoP closing at the end of 2013 true? Yes, yes they actually are. And even the Spirit has some interesting Spirited sources. (Though I believe I heard even Tom-screen technology-Fitzgerald himself has become bored with the attraction.)
Let's look at the CoP and how Disney fanboys say Disney Parks are not/shouldn't be museums.
As well as my affordable solution to "fixing" the CoP.
The Carousel of Progress is the only rotating theatre show in the world. At one time there were three of them, each one a Disney creation: CoP, America Sings, and Meet the World at Tokyo Disneyland.
It is the oldest attraction in all of WDW, predating the resort's 1971 opening. It is the only attraction at WDW to have been physically and directly worked on by Walt Disney himself. The other attractions to open at WDW in 1971 were also worked on by Walt's original team of Imagineers, but he was dead by the time the MK attractions were being created.
The CoP is the only Disney attraction to move twice. From NY to CA, and then from CA to FL.
It is true that Walt enjoyed working on the CoP, whether it was his favorite or not would have depended on what Imagineer was alive at the time to tell you their side of the story.
I think with Walt's health crippling, the CoP became a reflection of his life's mission...an attraction that reflects on our past and helps us teach and learn how far we've come while giving us hope for a better tomorrow.
The CoP and Lincoln were the first Disney attractions to use Human AA Figures. The CoP was also the first to use realistic dog and cat AA's. The first three acts, not significantly altered from their original 1964 look, are full of genuine antiques props and decor.
So...with all this history, can CoP fit into a Disney park today? Absolutely. When Disneyland and even the MK first opened, they were both American History parks. It took years before their Tomorrowlands became briefly futuristic, and that was only a 1/5 futuristic part of a park that was mainly about the past or classic fantasy stories that take place in the past.
Also look at the way WDW has been marketed for a full generation: family, friends, magical moments, childhood nostalgia, wishes, yearning for hope. The CoP easily fits into this relevant marketing category.
If we look at the physical side of the MK, do we need not see what a museum the MK has become? They are running an evening parade from the 1970s that will be replaced by an evening parade from 1992. Their fireworks show is from 2003. Their afternoon parade floats in some cases date back to the 90s and 80s.
The MK still has Swiss Family, a retro Tiki Room 2.0 show, the fantasy/18th and 19th century safari adventure called the jungle cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean that takes place way back when, a frontierland with fantasy-like singing bears (Though I saw some singing bears in the parking lot of a Publix in Palm Beach one time)
Tom Sawyer Island, HM which takes place in the post colonial era. Liberty Square, and Fantasyland.
So now, we have Tomorrowland..a land that was never completed in 1994 and half of it is still cosmetically stuck in the 1970s.
The land is a total mish-mash of random attractions; there is no central spaceport theme. They sort of did that with the 2009 Space Mountain refurb, but it tends to get lost.
Can the CoP fit in the MK in 2012 and beyond? Certainly. Especially with the amount of nostalgic, fantasy-themed, and family oriented, childhood-like attractions already there.
How does the CoP stay relevant? It already used an incredible rotating theatre and features a likeable cast of characters, but the show is stuck in 1994. The animatronics, sound, and light aren't working correctly. The script is terrible. The main actor can't sing at all. The show looks tired and unkept to first time or occasional guests. It has lost it's wow factor because of the way it is maintained and it's lack of promotion or advertising. It sits in the corner of tomorrowland and with it's high load capacity, it generates a very small line, causing people to even wonder if the ride is open.
How do we fix the CoP? Do what Space Mountain is doing with this starport theme or hopefully do what Tomorrowland 94 tried to do...an intergalactic community.
With a brand new preshow and with the help of advertising and promotion, not only could Disney promote this ride through more fan communities and events like D23 they can also promote it to a wider audience online and through SOCIAL MEDIA.
My idea for a reimagined Carousel of Progress has it reopening on April 22, 2014...it's 50th anniversary. With a social media campaign taking place before that.
The new backstory is that the CoP was created by a great human imagineer and inventor called Walt Disney, years and years later the ride then went on to the intergalactic fair and is now being promoted by the tomorrowland metro retro historical society. The CoP would be desguised as a UFO, to make it look like the show is contained inside the UFO and is shipped around the galaxy on tour to show what human life back then was like and what it may be like in the future.
This would all be explained in the 4-5 preshow.
Inside, a repainted and refreshened theatre, a 4-5 minute preshow plays on a movie screen surrounded by curtains and mood lighting. As people exit and are seated, they learn more about the attraction. A remastered version of the 1964 orchestral soundtrack plays in the background. The movie screen then morphs into a digital display (Like what was done at Disney Parks' recent exhibit: carousel of projects) into the 1964 GE kaleidophonic screens. A new cast of voices are hired as the family. Acts 1-4 are similar to what they were at the 1964 world's fair. By turning the stage of the unload theatre into another act, Act 5, this bonus ending is showing how the tomorrowland metro retro historical society thinks humans may be in the future compared to act 4 and how walt disney saw it during the world's fair. This last scene can always be updated when needed, and everytime a new cast of voices is needed, they just read off the set-in-stone script for acts 1-4, plus the new script for act 5 so that their voices are included in every scene.
The CoP will never go to Epcot. At most, if it is removed, I do hope that Acts 1-3 find homes in museums or preserved somehow.
I feel the CoP is very relevant in the MK today, but needs TLC badly.
