What has caused the CoP to loose crowds?

[Expo_Seeker40]

Now I am not talking about the Carousel of Progress loosing crowds right now...infact it appears to have gained more crowds in recent years thanks to those suprise fastpasses, word of mouth, youtube videos, countless pictures of the ride,etc.... I'm not saying its playing to packed theatears, but certainly more than 12 people on average. :lookaroun

However, I'm wondering when the decline in attendance happened. It seemed to do great when it was sponsored by GE from 1975-1985, and home videos from the 80s and early 90s show pretty full theaters, so what happened after the 1994 rehab/new tomorrowland refurb that saw a decrease in attendance?

Some ideas I thought were due to the building looking different from the new tomorrowland facades, that the CoP doesn't fit or belong there and people think its not something they can even go see.

Another idea was that people simply don't like the show compared to the "Now is the Time" version and choose not go on it. Honestly I've never liked the current show at all, but still go on it. :lookaroun

 

[One Lil Spark]

I'd always thought it was due to Tomorrowland itself. The exterior didn't give you much to work with theme wise. While new rides and attractions were coming in all around it constantly throughout the years requiring 'hype', CoP never seemed to get 'hyped' up in ANYTHING. For instance, Disney Travel Videos started coming out around 1994 and CoP (as far as I know) has never been mentioned in one of these free promotional tools.

CoP is quite high on the list of 'must sees' for me on any trip to WDW. When there were rumors a few years back of it closing, I was ready to riot. Though like you said it's no where near filled theaters each showing, I'm glad to see guests paying it a bit more attention these days.

 

[Computer Magic]

This is a must see attraction. I think the issue is it is easy to miss due to location. Buzz light is very crowded when it lets out so the crowds hids it. You can't really tell its an attraction, it looks like a empty building. In fact when I was there the other day, there was a line right next to the entrance for Buzz Light. So the fact that its off in a corner with little signage causes first timers to miss a great attraction.

In summary location location location.

 

[abe_bb]

I think they hit the nail on the head. It's a non-descript building that doesn't scream "check me out!" and isn't mentioned in most promotional materials.

Plus, many people use it just for "sitting down for 20 minutes in air conditioning", and that's how they tell their friends. It's not "exciting", or fast paced or anything. I've even heard some people say they go in there to give their kids a 20 minute nap.

For our family, it is always the first and last thing we do while at Disney World. Our daughter knew the song frontwords and mostly backwards (and earned some free disney bucks from a cast member for it) at 6

Then again, we have weird children. "Mommy daddy let's skip pirates and go to the Hall of Presidents!".

 

[Expo_Seeker40]

The ride could deff use some TLC. One thing I find so dissapointing is the opening itself. Yes its nice to have the new painted theaters, carpeting, and seats, but the music is so quiet and seemingly an afterthought, let alone when the show starts and we rotate to act 1, the music is also quiet with what sounds like an old man and woman singing the theme song.

If the CoP does get a refurb i.e. new ending that would allow for a new cast of voices, than I hope WDI would consider going back to the original concept from the 1964 show which had a soundtrack featuring a band and orchestra elegantly playing the theme song as we sat and waited for the show to begin, and then when we rotated it was a chorus of men and women signing the song, with the father narrating above them, it was only when we fully rotated into Act 1, did the orchestral and chorus theme fade away into the 1900s banjo-esque music.

 

[One Lil Spark]

The ride could deff use some TLC. One thing I find so dissapointing is the opening itself. Yes its nice to have the new painted theaters, carpeting, and seats, but the music is so quiet and seemingly an afterthought, let alone when the show starts and we rotate to act 1, the music is also quiet with what sounds like an old man and woman singing the theme song.

If the CoP does get a refurb i.e. new ending that would allow for a new cast of voices, than I hope WDI would consider going back to the original concept from the 1964 show which had a soundtrack featuring a band and orchestra elegantly playing the theme song as we sat and waited for the show to begin, and then when we rotated it was a chorus of men and women signing the song, with the father narrating above them, it was only when we fully rotated into Act 1, did the orchestral and chorus theme fade away into the 1900s banjo-esque music.

I like your ideas for the more 'Now is the Time'-esque styling to the soundtrack. Never thought of it that way.

The finale scene needs some major TLC. For quite some time now, Grandma's AA has been looking like she was beat down and rode hard...

 

[yankspy]

I like your ideas for the more 'Now is the Time'-esque styling to the soundtrack. Never thought of it that way.

The finale scene needs some major TLC. For quite some time now, Grandma's AA has been looking like she was beat down and rode hard...

Wow, Grandma looks really bad. I guess those "great depression" years really took their toll on her.

 

[RiversideBunny]

They need to paint the outside of the CoP building, using colorful desgins, so it looks like an attraction instead of appearing to be a maintenance building.

IMHO

 

[devoy1701]

Yes, the gears on the building do make it look like a maintenance building...plus the fact that they use the ramps for a Buzz Lightyear meet and greet during EMH and Party nights also make ppl think they building is used for nothing.

But they obviously need to do more than just update the last scene every 10 years or so... So much technological history and revolution has happened in the last 30 years and we have one scene that is dated back to early 90s technology. They need to even out the time spans...probably keep the first scene (1890s), make the third scene the second (1940s), make a new "today" scene as the 3rd. and the final scene a 2050 scene or something. The original idea was to showcase where we have been and where we are going when it comes to technology...now it's just, where we have been...

I also like the idea that they should maybe cut out the load/unload theater and just have a curtain covering the first scene...that way we could have 5 scenes.

all in all, I say the drop in popularity is because it's an out of date show and not many people know it's there... :wave:

 

[PaisleyMF]

CoP is an iconic attraction that need the TLC and Iconic treatment that deserves. I even think that is the only Attraction that carries the Walt Disney name on It.

 

[daliseurat]

I love the Carousel of Progress. I love the idea of it. I love the presentation with the rotating theatre. That said, the attraction is not really a winner for todays guest.

Guest today are demanding a WOW factor, a THRILL factor something BIG. COP is a very sedate HISTORY of electricity. It's told in a folksy manner that few people today have the patience for. And Disney hasn't been doing it any favors by not promoting it all. Many guests don't even know it exists, and those that do find it to be closed when they do find it. A similar problem happened with the TIKI ROOM. Now we have that awful new version.

I'm not against updating. I against doing it BADLY. The TIKI room show was old. Nothing wrong with re-writing the script to be a bit more current with som w fresh humor. But to mock the attraction in a cruel fashion and have the music change to something that the birds and flowers couldn't produce is bad show. COP is is dire need of a new script. One that will show a lot more humor. The show should really surprise and delight young people with ow far we've come. If it were me, I'd start with where we are NOW technologically and then go back to the invention of electricity to show how they got along without what we take for granted. It wouldn't require that much change. New script, a few new props. Just start and end with the same set.

Oh I know that many of us die-hard fans would scream that the shows been ruined. But I'd rather see it change to attact more people than see it go away and be turned into something that's not unique. It all about re-imagineering it in a good way.

 

[jonnyc]

I agree with the Location issue, when i said to my family "We must do COP this year", they were like: "What's that?". I enjoyed it, the final scene needs an update.

 

[olmec26]

CoP is an iconic attraction that need the TLC and Iconic treatment that deserves. I even think that is the only Attraction that carries the Walt Disney name on It.

There are only two others - Walt Disney: One Man's Dream and Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room (in DL).


But on topic, I don't know why people think that CoP does not exist...everyone who I have taken on it is surprised on how good it is, and I even encountered a group of people in the Space Mountain postshow singing Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow.

Anyway, the word on the street is that CoP will be getting some TLC at some point in the near future (and righfully so). I think we can all raise a sarsparilla - uh, I mean root beer - to that!

 

[One Lil Spark]

There are only two others - Walt Disney: One Man's Dream and Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room (in DL).


But on topic, I don't know why people think that CoP does not exist...everyone who I have taken on it is surprised on how good it is, and I even encountered a group of people in the Space Mountain postshow singing Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow.

Anyway, the word on the street is that CoP will be getting some TLC at some point in the near future (and righfully so). I think we can all raise a sarsparilla - uh, I mean root beer - to that!

I'll meet you in the Rumpus Room! :king:

 

[Expo_Seeker40]

The CoP never showed us where we were going. That was for the GE postshow at the world's fair and at disneyland.

The CoP has always shown us where we have come to today, and of course the current ending...sometime in the 90s or year 2000 is outdated and innacurate.

I've always said they should make the CoP more a part of the tomorrowland community. Make it the Tomorrowland Metro Retro Historical Society Headquarters. We go up the ramp, and instead of waiting outdoors, we see a 4-5 minute indoors preshow explaining the retro societys aqusition of the attraction, walt disney made it, it's history, etc.

Then as we enter the theater, we will in fact be entering and exiting just the load theater. Like they do in Philarmagic, the audience enters on the left, and exits on the right. That way the audience can experience a near replica of the original walt disney world's fair version going from the 1890s through the 1960s as part of the retro metro historical society, and then, by turning the unload theater into an extra scene, the audience gets to see a bonus ending, which shows us a near and possible future. That way the world's fair version can be preserved, and a bonus ending can always change when need be.

 

[Loretta]

I can honestly say it wasn't until our 3rd trip to WDW that we realized that COP was an attraction. We never miss it now. But agreed, the last scene does need updating.

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

Saddly...I just might be the culture we live in.

But a new coat of paint...some promo's and a refurb would help.