Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress

Walt Disney's
Carousel of Progress
Entrance to Carousel of Progress at Magic Kingdom
Magic Kingdom
AreaTomorrowland
Coordinates28°25′04″N 81°34′44″W / 28.417764°N 81.578794°W / 28.417764; -81.578794
StatusOperating
Opening dateJanuary 15, 1975 (January 15, 1975)
Disneyland
AreaTomorrowland
Coordinates33°48′43″N 117°55′00″W / 33.812006°N 117.916559°W / 33.812006; -117.916559
StatusRemoved
Opening dateJuly 2, 1967 (July 2, 1967)
Closing dateSeptember 9, 1973 (September 9, 1973)
Replaced byAmerica Sings
Star Wars Launch Bay
1964 New York World's Fair
AreaGeneral Electric's Progressland
Coordinates40°44′51″N 73°50′18″W / 40.747423°N 73.838220°W / 40.747423; -73.838220
StatusRemoved
Cost$15,000,000
Opening dateApril 22, 1964 (April 22, 1964)
Closing dateOctober 17, 1965 (October 17, 1965)
Ride statistics
DesignerWED Enterprises
ModelRotating theater
ThemeAdvancement of technology in the 20th century
Music"There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" by the Sherman Brothers
Audience capacity240[1] per show
Duration21:00 [2]
SponsorGeneral Electric:
1964–1965 New York World's Fair (1964-1965)
Disneyland (1967-1973)
Walt Disney World (1975-1985)
None: (1985-present)
Disabled access Wheelchair accessible
Assistive listening available
Closed captioning available

Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress is a rotating theater audio-animatronic stage show attraction in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, just outside of Orlando. Created by Walt Disney and WED Enterprises as the prime feature of the General Electric (GE) Pavilion for the 1964 New York World's Fair, the attraction was moved to Tomorrowland at Disneyland in Anaheim, California as Carousel of Progress, and remained there from 1967 until 1973. It was replaced in Disneyland by America Sings in 1974, and reopened in its present home in the Magic Kingdom in 1975.

Steeped in both nostalgia and futurism, the attraction's premise is an exploration of the joys of living through the advent of electricity and other technological advances during the 20th century via a "typical" American family.[3] To keep it current with the times, the attraction has been updated five times (in 1967, 1975, 1981, 1985, and 1993), and has had two theme songs, both written by the Sherman Brothers, Disney's Academy Award-winning songwriting team.

The Carousel of Progress holds the record as the longest-running stage show in the history of American theater.[1] It is one of the oldest attractions in the Walt Disney World Resort. It is also the oldest attraction at Walt Disney World to have been worked on by Walt Disney.

  1. ^ a b Sullivan, Bob (June 5, 2014). "50 years ago, the World's Fair promised a life of leisure. We're still waiting". boingboing.net/. Boing Boing. Archived from the original on June 9, 2014. Retrieved June 22, 2014.
  2. ^ "Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress". disneyworld.disney.go.com. Walt Disney World. Archived from the original on September 18, 2015.
  3. ^ Strodder, Chris (2017). The Disneyland Encyclopedia (3rd ed.). Santa Monica Press. pp. 107–108. ISBN 978-1595800909.

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