{"id":4453,"date":"2026-06-17T12:34:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T12:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4453"},"modified":"2026-06-17T12:34:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T12:34:12","slug":"disney-world-carousing-with-carousel-of-progress-moments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4453","title":{"rendered":"Disney World: Carousing with Carousel of Progress moments"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Now is the time, now is the best time to bone up on your Carousel of Progress facts. The longtime Magic Kingdom attraction will be closed after July 5 for an major update that will change the timeline of its scenes and add an animatronic Walt Disney introduction. The Carousel is expected to turn around sometime in 2027, Walt Disney World says.<\/p>\n

Read more Tropical Storm Arthur could form today in Gulf, hurricane center says<\/a><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve gathered Carousel of Progress talking points for our next Tomorrowland-themed cocktail party.<\/p>\n

In the round<\/h4>\n

Although Disney lore frequently mentions that the attraction was moved from Disneyland in California to Florida in 1975, that makes it sound like the theater was airlifted to Magic Kingdom. In fact, the structure was new construction. A big clue: the Carousel had two stories in Anaheim and as the original at the 1964 New York World\u2019s Fair but just one level at Disney World.<\/p>\n

An early concept from Walt Disney had audience members getting up and moving to the next room for a continuing story. That all shifted with the World\u2019s Fair, where Imagineers Roger Broggie and Bob Gurr devised the familiar rounded theater with moving floor. Other Broggie projects: Disneyland\u2019s monorail, Matterhorn Bobsleds and the Omnimover ride system. Gurr, still making appearances at age 94, has credits that include vehicles for Haunted Mansion, Autopia, Matterhorn, the monorail and more.<\/p>\n

The original Carousel and the Disneyland version moved clockwise, while the Magic Kingdom attraction goes counterclockwise. We can see this in action in a 1967 film shot in Tomorrowland and digitized by the UCLA Film & Television Archive. (I watched it via paelofuture.com.)<\/p>\n

Also gratifying: The vibrating belt \/ exercise machine got laughs in the \u201860s.<\/p>\n

Heard mentality<\/h4>\n

The current version of Carousel of Progress features a few familiar voices. Playing the role of John, the ride\u2019s father figure, was Jean Shepherd, who is also the narrator\/adult Ralphie (and writer) of \u201cA Christmas Story.\u201d (Sunshine State sidenote: He moved to Florida in the \u201880s and died on Sanibel Island in 1999.)<\/p>\n

Also heard in the attraction is Mel Blanc, voicing legend, as Uncle Orville. Among Blanc\u2019s legion of other animated characters are Bugs Buggy, Wile E. Coyote, Marvin the Martian, Foghorn Leghorn and Barney Rubble. His Disney-related credits are the hiccups of Gideon the cat in \u201cPinocchio\u201d and \u201cWho Framed Roger Rabbit.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Finally, in perfect Tomorrowland synergy, Janet Waldo, who played young Judy Jetson, gave voice to Carousel grandma.<\/p>\n

Named tunes<\/h4>\n

This is COP101, but the ride has had two theme songs, both written by the Sherman Brothers. The original one \u2013 and the current one \u2013 was\/is \u201cThere\u2019s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the show landed at Magic Kingdom, sponsor General Electric requested a new song, so \u201cThe Best Time of Your Life\u201d was introduced and it lingered until the 1994 update. You might catch a snippet in pipe-in music in Tomorrowland today as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreat Big Beautiful\u201d was restored with the latest update \u2013 yikes, 32 years ago \u2013 and Disney executives say it will remain with the upcoming update.<\/p>\n

Read more Public schools must excuse students for religious instruction, Florida AG says<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Ho-hum or hype?<\/h4>\n

The arrival of Carousel of Progress in Florida was not exactly trumpeted in the pages of the Orlando Sentinel. One article refers to the attraction as depicting \u201ca nostalgic review of life in an American home from the 1890s to the present.\u201d A Disney World advertisement refers to it as a \u201crevolving electrical time machine.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was more excitement about the planned Space Mountain and even the PeopleMover at that time. Carousel of Progress has zero Sentinel mentions in 1976 and really not much through the \u201880s, when the arrival of Epcot turned heads. A 1992 story reports that a Carousel update will happen.<\/p>\n

For a while, folks looked at the attraction as wasted space, and there was a rumor about it never going away because of vital computers stored beneath it. Its cycle eventually has come back to Beloved Attraction Once Touched by Walt Disney.<\/p>\n

In 1993, Sentinel TV critic Hal Boedeker reported that Disney would be filming a scene from the \u201cTomorrowland\u201d movie starring George Clooney at the attraction. (He also published that Clooney\u2019s publicist had called a photo of the star getting a pedicure in Central Florida a fake.)<\/p>\n

The film \u201ccould help renew interest in the carousel,\u201d Boedeker wrote.<\/p>\n

Save the update<\/h4>\n

Including the coast-to-coast transfers, the next update is the sixth refurbishment of Carousel of Progress.<\/p>\n

The shift to California in \u201867 resulted in a new finale scene set in Progress City, a precursor of sorts to Epcot. In \u201894, the current finale \u2013 which includes VR and voice-operated appliances \u2013 was installed, and the attraction name was expanded to become Walt Disney\u2019s Carousel of Progress.<\/p>\n

Disney has given a few details about the refurbishment, including the new timeline that picks up soon after the original debut of the Carousel. Act 1 will be set in the summer of \u201869 in time for the moon landing. Act 2 is Halloween 1985. Act 3 will be New Year\u2019s Eve 1999.<\/p>\n

Disney lists the finale as \u201cthe possible future\u201d and in an \u201cout-of-this-world home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Staying: The song, the family and the dog.<\/p>\n

Email me at dbevil@orlandosentinel.com. BlueSky: @themeparksdb. Threads account: @dbevil. X account: @themeparks. Subscribe to the Theme Park Rangers newsletter at orlandosentinel.com\/newsletters.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Former Florida nursing school operator pleads guilty to selling diplomas<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As refubishment nears, examine the Magic Kingdom attraction’s song(s), voices, counterclockwise motion and more<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,32,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-disney-world","category-theme-parks","category-things-to-do"],"yoast_head":"\nDisney World: Carousing with Carousel of Progress moments - Orlando Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4453\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Disney World: Carousing with Carousel of Progress moments - 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