CAROUSEL OF PROGRESS - Is it still there?

[Latehoneymooner]

Is the Carousel of Progress still in MK?

I went there as a kid and it's king of become a running gag to see it each time we visit....keeping in mind that a lot of the "future" plans are now "present"

Just wondering if this old childhood memory is still there and if they m ade any improvements to it since 78.

 

[donaldtutter]

Yes it is still there but is may only be open seasonally.

 

[MickeyAnne]

Still there - Thank goodness because I absolutley LOVE it! I would never skip it on any trip. It is open seasonally and according to accounts it has changed a bit but I am not sure as I wasn't alive in 78

 

[safetymom]

It has been open daily for months.

 

[wdwfan1]

I believe the only changes have been to the last scene. They tried to update it a bit, but that was a while ago.

One of my favorites.

 

[MUFFYCAT]

it was there last August. my dd gets a kick ouut of it because it's so corny
(plus it's air conditioned! )

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

See it while you can.
There isn't much great big beautiful tomorrow left for it.

 

[LoveMickey]

We went on CoP last week. Love the show - walt's dream.

 

[2nd childhood]

We seen it for the first time last year and my DS loved it. It was one that he requested to see our next trip. He loves the dog. I hope it's open.

 

[nicoleakr]

Is the Carousel of Progress still in MK?

I went there as a kid and it's king of become a running gag to see it each time we visit....keeping in mind that a lot of the "future" plans are now "present"

Just wondering if this old childhood memory is still there and if they m ade any improvements to it since 78.

I went their when I was nine and I still remeber this ride.We are going to wdw in six days. This should be sooo funny !!!

 

[cdntourguide]

COP is a must do for me every trip to WDW.
Nothing bettter than coming out of Buzz Lightyear and going over to POP for a bit of a rest in AC.

 

[DianaPrincessofWales]

This subject comes up every once in a while on the DIS. I love this attraction and enjoy it every chance I get. Rumors also float around about it closing. Just my 2 cents but I think it has stood the test of time and is such a Disney classic. A while back someone posted them re-covering the seating one theater at a time. I can't imagine why they would do this if they were going to close it down. That is one thing I do remember is the musty smell! An oldy but a goody!

 

[adisneylife4me]

We've always been big fans of COP. I do believe that the theme song has changed. It used to be. . . "Now is the time, now is the best time, now is the best time of our lives. . . " When we went in Aug., I believe the song was different, but I can't remember how that tune goes.

 

[CanadianGuy]

A history of the ride at www.carouselofprogress.com

The ride was threatened with closure in 2003/4 but then in the fall of 2004 they did a refurb on the seats and carpeting and replaced the skin on some of the animatronic characters. So it would seem its good for a couple of years yet.

In 1992/3 GE dropped from being a sponsor. Around that time, they redid the last scene and changed the dialog references in all scenes to delete General Electric. (IE: "Don't bark at him, he might be a good customer of General Electric" was removed etc..) Around this refurb they reverted to the original song "Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow".

For part of the 70s and all of the 80's, the song was changed from the original "Beautiful Tomorrow" to "Now Is The Time" which was purportedly a better fit with General Electric's global marketing campaign.

The original voice of the 'main character', Rex Allen, is now the voice of Grandpa in the final scene. The current final scene which talks of high definition television, appliances that understand voice commands and features a Virtual Reality style headset for video gaming replaced the previous final scene during the 92/3 refurb.

The current 'final scene' is now 13 years old.. but holds up pretty good.

J

 

[remmy_7]

If someone knows if it will be open in August of this year please let me know (that's when we'll be going)

I love this attraction and always sing along with it.

 

[wings91]

Went on it last week. It was having problems and we got stuck listening to the opening scene with the COP logo 6 times. Then we starting moving to the second scene and it stopped halfway. They made us get out.

Went back the next day it it was fine. The AC wasn't too high, sort of stuffy in there.

 

[msgrimm23]

Yes it is still there but is may only be open seasonally.

when i was down there for christmas and new years a cast member said it was seasonal. they changed the song the song now is its a great big beutifal tomorrow and it use to be now is the time now is the time now is the best time of your life sorry for the spelling i am a bad speller

 

[The Grumpus]

I've posted this elsewhere, but it was open two weeks ago when we went. We were the only two in our section of the ride when we went (2 out of 240 seats). It was a blast. We could sing as loud as we want, and had a ball.

Anyone know where I can get that catchy song?

-TGr

 

[PolyPal]

Y'all do realize that Carousel of Progress, along with Its A Small World and Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln were developed by Walt Disney for the 1964 / 65 New York World's Fair. Walt actually used these 3 original "attractions" to gauge the right coast's acceptance of an east coast Disneyland type experience. The 3 Disney shows were smash hits in New York (and you know what they say...if you can make it there...) Shortly after the overwhelming public reception of COP, IASM, and GMWML land was being bought up in central Florida.

So you see, the COP is the spark that ignited the development of Walt Disney World. It is Walt at his best IMO. I hope it has many more great big beautiful tomorrows!

 

[ChickieToo]

This may be a pretty basic question, but is there any specific calendar to the closings? I know it says "seasonally" but when is that? We are going in October and would love to bring DD7 to COP. I know that October is a lower season, but with F&W, etc. there seems to be a lot of traffic at the parks. Now that The Timekeeper is perm closed, will COP be open more?

Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Joanne