News Is Carousel of Progress getting a major refurb?

[splashtest]

-I think it would be Awesome to have a Walt Disney animatronic at the beginning! They could simply use real audio from one of his talks on the CoP. Or, even just one of the videos of him explaining the CoP- either would add a personal factor to it that would make it much more engaging and give greater understanding of its significance and purpose.

Love love love this idea!

 

[n2hifi]

I know this is sacrilege, but simply updating the last scene isn't getting it done. They need to skip more time between scenes. Say 20 or even 30 years instead of 10. You could reuse about two of the existing scenes, but rebuild the rest. I am normally not a fan of change (bring back original Epcot) but this 'classic' is hard for me to hold onto in its current form. I also love the Walt DIsney animatronic idea.

 

[FrankLapidus]

-I think it would be Awesome to have a Walt Disney animatronic at the beginning! They could simply use real audio from one of his talks on the CoP. Or, even just one of the videos of him explaining the CoP- either would add a personal factor to it that would make it much more engaging and give greater understanding of its significance and purpose.

A guide on one of the MK tours I took a few years ago told us that the company are prohibited from doing this.

I have no idea whether it's true or not, I never thought to see if there are any other sources that could corroborate what she said. But someone on the tour made this suggestion, I don't think it was directly related to CoP, but that there should be some kind of attraction with a Walt Disney animatronic. The guide said that that was impossible as the Disney family had pretty much forbidden the use of Walt's likeness in that way; I can't remember exactly how she put it, it was something to do with the family's desire that there be a clear distinction between the man and the make-believe aspect of the park and so Walt could never be used as a 'character' in the parks.

Like I said, I don't know whether that's true or not but I did think it was interesting at the time.

 

[montyz81]

A guide on one of the MK tours I took a few years ago told us that the company are prohibited from doing this.

I have no idea whether it's true or not, I never thought to see if there are any other sources that could corroborate what she said. But someone on the tour made this suggestion, I don't think it was directly related to CoP, but that there should be some kind of attraction with a Walt Disney animatronic. The guide said that that was impossible as the Disney family had pretty much forbidden the use of Walt's likeness in that way; I can't remember exactly how she put it, it was something to do with the family's desire that there be a clear distinction between the man and the make-believe aspect of the park and so Walt could never be used as a 'character' in the parks.

Like I said, I don't know whether that's true or not but I did think it was interesting at the time.

I had heard that too and I had heard that it also included movies, but now we have Saving Mr Banks and Walt Before Mickey. As an aside, I think both were really good movies. Tom Hanks did a great job although he was a bit more sing-songy in his tone then Walt appears to be in in films of him.

 

[LaughingGravy]

If they do a Walt Disney AA for CoP I will happily come back and pay full price.
As far as the family's wishes go, since the Disney Co. is all about profit over all else (fiduciary responsibility/quarterly shareholder profits driving all else) and the likely probability that no Disney family member has enough shares to control any decision like that, I doubt the company is prohibited from doing much of anything (i.e.Saving Mr, Banks)

 

[Robbiem]

The whole idea is to show the progress within a lifetime, so I really hope that instead of updating it they restore the final scene to its original form, with historical context, and maybe an aftershow exhibit of progress since the time of the show. Yes it's far more appropriate for Epcot than Tomorrowland, but it is where it is.

Or, have a new final scene set in the 1960s or 1970s, where they hint at the dawn of computers, and who knows what the future will hold, with some nods to the oncoming technological revolution. That way you keep the time gaps consistent, don't need to update it regularly, but still works in the context of the modern digital age.

Good idea! This makes it much more like the American Adventure- a historic animatronic show with an end film montage which can be updated more easily

 

[montyz81]

If they do a Walt Disney AA for CoP I will happily come back and pay full price.
As far as the family's wishes go, since the Disney Co. is all about profit over all else (fiduciary responsibility/quarterly shareholder profits driving all else) and the likely probability that no Disney family member has enough shares to control any decision like that, I doubt the company is prohibited from doing much of anything (i.e.Saving Mr, Banks)

Then Disney should (In the words of Mater-LTCG) Git' R' Done!

 

[FrankLapidus]

If they do a Walt Disney AA for CoP I will happily come back and pay full price.
As far as the family's wishes go, since the Disney Co. is all about profit over all else (fiduciary responsibility/quarterly shareholder profits driving all else) and the likely probability that no Disney family member has enough shares to control any decision like that, I doubt the company is prohibited from doing much of anything (i.e.Saving Mr, Banks)

I don't think it's a case of the family having or needing any sort of control in a decision like that, more the company respecting their wishes.

Regardless, I don't think we'll see a Walt Disney AA at Carousel of Progress, or any other attraction.

 

[AshaNeOmah]

I posted this idea 10 years ago on one of these fourms. I still think it's a good idea.

I've actually given this tons of thought over the past few years. First of all, there are actually six 'scenes' in the carousel. Loading, 1900, 1920, 1940, 2000, Unloading. First things first: combining loading and unloading to one scene. That would free a scene to be applied to a new era.

Keep the patriotic theme and name it The Carousel of Progress: The American Century or The Carousel of Progress: America in the 20th Century. Expand the dialog in the existing scenes so that loading/unloading can have more time to occur. In place of the current 2000 scene add the 1970's. In place of the Unloading scene add New Year's Eve 1999. Therefore your six scenes are.

Loading/Unloading
1900 - Turn of the Century
1920 - Roaring 20's
1940 - The War Years
1970 - Growing Influence/Rise of Personal Technology
1999 - Into Tomorrow

The exterior loading/unloading platforms would need to be redesigned but these changes would make the ride semi-timeless. A presentation of life throughout 20th century America: The American Century.

 

[VJ]

Can Stephen Stanton be the voice of Father?

 

[Rich Brownn]

I posted this idea 10 years ago on one of these fourms. I still think it's a good idea.

I've actually given this tons of thought over the past few years. First of all, there are actually six 'scenes' in the carousel. Loading, 1900, 1920, 1940, 2000, Unloading. First things first: combining loading and unloading to one scene. That would free a scene to be applied to a new era.

Keep the patriotic theme and name it The Carousel of Progress: The American Century or The Carousel of Progress: America in the 20th Century. Expand the dialog in the existing scenes so that loading/unloading can have more time to occur. In place of the current 2000 scene add the 1970's. In place of the Unloading scene add New Year's Eve 1999. Therefore your six scenes are.

Loading/Unloading
1900 - Turn of the Century
1920 - Roaring 20's
1940 - The War Years
1970 - Growing Influence/Rise of Personal Technology
1999 - Into Tomorrow

The exterior loading/unloading platforms would need to be redesigned but these changes would make the ride semi-timeless. A presentation of life throughout 20th century America: The American Century.

The only problem is the unload stage has no room (the other sets back into it - it was designed to have guests exit onto a moving escalator to the now non-existent second floor). Even when it was moved, the stages weren't redesigned - only the theater seating itself was reduced

 

[HiJe]

I posted this idea 10 years ago on one of these fourms. I still think it's a good idea.

I've actually given this tons of thought over the past few years. First of all, there are actually six 'scenes' in the carousel. Loading, 1900, 1920, 1940, 2000, Unloading. First things first: combining loading and unloading to one scene. That would free a scene to be applied to a new era.

Keep the patriotic theme and name it The Carousel of Progress: The American Century or The Carousel of Progress: America in the 20th Century. Expand the dialog in the existing scenes so that loading/unloading can have more time to occur. In place of the current 2000 scene add the 1970's. In place of the Unloading scene add New Year's Eve 1999. Therefore your six scenes are.

Loading/Unloading
1900 - Turn of the Century
1920 - Roaring 20's
1940 - The War Years
1970 - Growing Influence/Rise of Personal Technology
1999 - Into Tomorrow

The exterior loading/unloading platforms would need to be redesigned but these changes would make the ride semi-timeless. A presentation of life throughout 20th century America: The American Century.

What about 2020? - Dystopia and Loathing

 

[rct247]

For those wondering what happens when someone gets up to leave...

Depending on when it occurs is a major player one if you have to rewatch a scene. The theater rotates every 4 mins or so. When someone opens the doors to leave outside of the load and unload area, it sets off an alarm on the operator console. To clear the alarm and reset is actually easy, but for safety the procedure is complex. To ensure the building is safe to rotate again, a Cast Member has to lock out the ride from someone resetting it and literally run a lap around the building to find the person who exited. It it is clear, then they return and unlock the ride. After that, they can finally reset it.

As you can imagine, depending when the person gets up to leave during that 4 mins the theater is parked determines how much time a cast member has to respond and clear it. Literally running is also not safe so a brisk walk is all they can do. So that's why you watch the same scene over again.

Now that often triggers another person to get up because they aren't patient to sit through it again or they leave to tell a cast member the theater didn't rotate...which means the cast member has to do it all over again leading to another repeat. It's definitely a problem.

 

[Lensman]

I love the attraction. It is a must do every visit. But the big jump at the end just seems off. So, I think they should spread the time frames out further. Instead of every 20 years and then a big jump for the final scene, do every forty years: 1900, 1940, 1980, 2020. They already have most of the props. They would need to re-write the script for the seasons to work with new decades. Just my two cents...

I agree that the time jump at the end is off, an additional problem is that the covered period is too great for a character to have lived through it all.

As far as which periods are worth covering with a scene, I think the original focus on (GE) appliances is actually an interesting one and might be critical to the original success. The significance of the time that home appliances saved us is pretty exciting - and they didn't even have to draw the line to how it enabled economic growth and prosperity. You see this in how the original washer-wringer saved so much time compared to using a washboard (trivia: growing up my grandmother washed my clothes on a washboard until my uncle bought her a washing machine), the icebox, then the washing machine and refrigerator, etc.

Thus, the original 1900-1920-1940-1960 works really well, with significant advances in home convenience at every step. Past there, I'm not sure what advances would be as exciting. I guess microwave popcorn, but I can't see them adding an Instant Pot - though they might be making enough money to become the attraction sponsor. And the Roomba hasn't really become ubiquitous. It's interesting how the home computer came and went already, being replaced by the smartphone or tablet, as the laserdisc is gone, and how blu-ray will be falling into disuse as well. It might be funny to have the family buy out of the Sears catalog in 1900 and 1920, only to switch to driving to the local mall in 1960/1980, then back to mail order shopping in 2010.

Really it might be better to wait 10-20 years for an update so they can cover self-driving cars, voice-activated home automation, and whatever happens with smart phones next. As @DisneyGentlemanV2.0 said, the current social media transformation isn't amenable to a positive uplifting attraction. Lol

 

[DisneyGentlemanV2.0]

It might be funny to have the family buy out of the Sears catalog in 1900 and 1920, only to switch to driving to the local mall in 1960/1980, then back to mail order shopping in 2010.

Brilliant!

 

[RSoxNo1]

I posted this idea 10 years ago on one of these fourms. I still think it's a good idea.

I've actually given this tons of thought over the past few years. First of all, there are actually six 'scenes' in the carousel. Loading, 1900, 1920, 1940, 2000, Unloading. First things first: combining loading and unloading to one scene. That would free a scene to be applied to a new era.

Keep the patriotic theme and name it The Carousel of Progress: The American Century or The Carousel of Progress: America in the 20th Century. Expand the dialog in the existing scenes so that loading/unloading can have more time to occur. In place of the current 2000 scene add the 1970's. In place of the Unloading scene add New Year's Eve 1999. Therefore your six scenes are.

Loading/Unloading
1900 - Turn of the Century
1920 - Roaring 20's
1940 - The War Years
1970 - Growing Influence/Rise of Personal Technology
1999 - Into Tomorrow

The exterior loading/unloading platforms would need to be redesigned but these changes would make the ride semi-timeless. A presentation of life throughout 20th century America: The American Century.

I did a treatment of an 80s scene that works with the PC at the forefront.

 

[NoChesterHester]

Or you don’t worry about trying to keep it current. Final scene could be the Walt Disney animatronic with some sort of montage covering the various advancements.