Carousel of Progress Show questions

[siskaren]

Thank you SO much for adding this information! When I first went to Disney World, the song was "Now is the Time" and even as a kid that song stuck in my mind--all these years! My kids think I'm thinking of something else and don't believe me when I tell them that the song used to be different. Can't wait to show them this post!!!

You can also show them this (track 14 on disc 4):

https://www.amazon.com/Disney-Class...8&qid=1467654689&sr=8-9&keywords=disney+music

 

[Micca]

Our family are also big fans of COP/Now Is The Time. For us it is a quintessential Disney attraction right up there with Peter Pan/HM/Pirates.

 

[VikingInMouseEars]

I can't answer your questions, but count me as another huge fan of CoP. I'm old but my first experience seeing this attraction was only 10 years ago when I fell in love with it. It's now must-do, several times on each trip. I took my mom for her first visit last year (she is 73) and was looking forward to taking her on CoP. She liked it, but that might have been tempered by the fact that the ride broke and we had to sit through the '50s scene 4 times before they got it moving again LOL.

Thanks for the additional history, Robo.

 

[Mom2Stitch]

My Grandfather was probably the greatest person I've ever had the privilege of knowing, a WWII veteran and my own personal hero. On my first ever trip to WDW, and only trip as a child, we rode CoP. I was mesmerized by the dog-I thought it was real, lol. My family all rode it together once, but my Pappaw rode it with me over and over until I was ready to go to something else. It is probably my very favorite childhood memory, not just at Disney, but EVER.

My family enjoys it and we never miss it. I wish that Disney would show it some love and fix up the carpets and seats, seems like it would be a minimal cost to spruce those up. I'm glad to hear that there are others who love it still and that there are kids who enjoy it.

 

[soniam]

We did this ride for the first time this year. My 12 year old fell in love with it and even my 16 year old enjoyed it. we did this 6 times over several days and my son (16) would break out with "there's a great big, beautiful, tomorrow" on the bus or in a line. We really enjoyed it and I am sad that we didn't experience it on previous trips.

LOVE hearing that younger generations like this too - gives me hope that a few of these classic attractions will stick around. I always worry that they'll slowly be dismantled and replaced with more whiz-bang interactive stuff and Frozen, Star Wars, or other film-driven IP to chase ever-changing tastes. Ideally, there's room for both in the years ahead.

I remember it closed for a while years back and the rumors were that it was not going to reopen. I was so sad...and then ecstatic when it reopened.

Our family loves it. I have loved it since a child. DS saw it at 6 for the first time, and even at 10, he insists on seeing it. He also had to have both of the recent t-shirts. DH and I did too Tiki Room is one of our other favorites. It makes me feel very close to Walt when we see these.

 

[suswa]

So excited you all have given me hope that my soon to be 9 year old will love it as much as I do!

 

[glassslippergirl]

I DO know though (at least i think so) that the dog's breed is a schnauzer (or a saint bernard and schnauzer mix) ay.

Not sure if this is true of just legend, but I read somewhere that the dog is fashioned after Walt Disney's own dog. Also, it's the same dog in Pirates of the Caribbean-- the one holding the keys.

 

[walker0829]

Each of the last three years we've gone I've wanted to do COP and each of those times it just hasn't panned out. It was one of my favorite rides as a kid. I always had a thing for learning about what things were like and how they were expected to change in the future(now present).

 

[dreiwhit]

Carousel of Progress has always been one of my favorites, both when I was younger and now in my middle age.

LOVE hearing that younger generations like this too - gives me hope that a few of these classic attractions will stick around.

My 14 year old and my 8 year old both loved Carousel of Progress! They also liked the other "classics" we went on - Pirates of the Carribean, Peter Pan's Flight, Haunted Mansion, The Hall of Presidents, and the People Mover! There is hope for the classics sticking around.

I just wish they could have experienced 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disney World

 

[cigar95]

Anyone remember back in the Disneyland (and perhaps New York) versions that at the unload scene, the central stage included an escalator that would take you up to another floor where you got to see the huge diorama of Progress City? That's what my decades old memory tells me - which is increasingly unreliable. As I understand it, the little piece you see on the TTA is about one-sixth of that original diorama.
I think up there was where we would here the line "grandpa's in the 80s now - his golf score, that is". Somewhere I have a cassette tape with the entire show recording, culled from the original Disneyland tapes. Wish I could find it.

 

[BarbieGal457]

Another one that can't answer your questions, OP, but who is a HUGEEEEE CoP fan since I was a little girl! I just turned 28, and it is still a must-do for me every trip. My grandma first took me to see it at WDW and ever since then it's been love. I've gotten my boyfriend to love it, and my other friends enjoy it too...

I can't answer your questions, but count me as another huge fan of CoP. I'm old but my first experience seeing this attraction was only 10 years ago when I fell in love with it. It's now must-do, several times on each trip. I took my mom for her first visit last year (she is 73) and was looking forward to taking her on CoP. She liked it, but that might have been tempered by the fact that the ride broke and we had to sit through the '50s scene 4 times before they got it moving again LOL.

Thanks for the additional history, Robo.

And that is why my first only enjoy it but do not live it like me...we got stuck and also had to sit through the 50s scene exactly 4 times before we got moving again too!!

 

[siskaren]

Anyone remember back in the Disneyland (and perhaps New York) versions that at the unload scene, the central stage included an escalator that would take you up to another floor where you got to see the huge diorama of Progress City? That's what my decades old memory tells me - which is increasingly unreliable. As I understand it, the little piece you see on the TTA is about one-sixth of that original diorama.
I think up there was where we would here the line "grandpa's in the 80s now - his golf score, that is". Somewhere I have a cassette tape with the entire show recording, culled from the original Disneyland tapes. Wish I could find it.

If you can get a hold of a 6 CD set called "A Musical History of Disneyland" (I was able to borrow a copy through the Interlibrary Loan program), it has that soundtrack on it, and yes, the "grandpa's in the 80s now" line is part of it.

 

[Carousel Of Progress Love]

I'll admit I've been in love with Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress since I was a kid. Now that I've grown older, I find some things that stand out to me more than the others. For intance, the curtains in the unload theater, do they ever close? or are they always open? And what about that VR game in act IV? Who did that as that looks pretty incredible and is it a real game? Was it Nintendo who did that? Sega? Or did disney do those graphics themselves? and is it broadcast to the TV with a DVD/bluray player? or is it a live feed from a media server? and what about that panel on the left hand side wall in every theater? What is that for? are those auxiallary controls? Status lights? Maintenance? And WHO re-composed the wonderful varaitions for each scene like thebanjo for the Loading Theater and first act and then the synth driven variations in act 4 and the unload theater (I love that version! Wish someone could send me some audio of the whole thing from start to finish because all the soundtracks from the ride have it from "man has a dream" and then some on ride videos have it from "Is just a dream awaaaaayyyyy!")? Whoever did so deserves a medal and some big recognition because of how catchy they all are (mainly the last 2 though, the others not so much lol ). and what about the music that plays during loading, unloading, the intro, and the conclusion? Who composed those pieces (not the song itself, i know that was the sherman brothers)? and what orchestra performed it? Is there a sheet music of those pieces available (not that i'd play them or anything, but just curious! And how about that incredible voice cast? WHO decided on that? I mean Jean shepherd (R.I.P.), BJ Ward, Janet waldo (R.I.P. as of recently ), basically an allstar cast (It's funny that walt had hired Mel Blanc because since he did looney tunes, he was in someway the competition lol, but he's still incredible)! And that script? It's fit for the comedian of the house, mr Shepherd (I especially love the "ain't she a knock out? she's the star of the worl'ds fair in st. louis and *ahem* now you put that away before your mother finds it!" it's like he doesn't want sarah to know that he's possibly oogling another girl LOL JK )! Who wrote that script? He/she is a comedic genius! And what about the motor underneath the theaters? Is that the same make and model as the one from the world's fair and or disneyland carousel building? and that oven, is that a real one that was modified for the show (i.e. the display would change to 375 degrees when the father told it to do so) or was that something disney made themselves?

I DO know though (at least i think so) that the dog's breed is a schnauzer (or a saint bernard and schnauzer mix) and that the tv was updated in '09 or '10 to match the current technology as well as the ballet/boxing scene is run from a projector to the tv, the animatronic father does move during the black out, the light show was changed in '13 (i think) to have the lights change color (now it's multi color) on the curtain insead of the blue lights that went on and of around it (still happens, just not on the center) and that the logo's light show is now all different colors instead of the growing blue light and occasional solid green light over the red spotlight (hard to describe it visually, it's something you have to see to understand), the vacuum in act II has an ad of it for sale on ebay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/1920s-antiq...LIANCE-Art-Deco-Junior-Model-AD-/321839734880), and a few other things. I do appologize for the long post, I just thought it would be nice to share my thoughts for once and see if people could answer them. Now rember, There's a great big beautiful tomorrow, just a dream away.

Hey DisneySteamTrainFan! I think we could answer those...
1. The curtains never close.
2. Disney did the graphics themselves.
3. It's played from a dvd player, controlled by the showcontrollers.
4. The panel on the left is the control panel for that showcar (theater), during normal operations it's only used when that theater is on the load stage for ride control. It's basically only used by cast members to tell the ride controllers that theater (and the whole carousel) is ready to rotate.
5. It was John Beal.
6. The ride system for the Walt Disney World carousel theater is different from the Disneyland carousel theater, The ride control system and motors that were used at the fair moved to Disneyland and were put in when the building was being built. The Walt Disney World motors were "reimagined" the WDW carousel has one main motor, and 6 secondary motors (The 6 secondary motors would be the main and only motors at the Disneyland carousel) and that's what moves the building. The Walt Disney World carousel can reach a top speed of 65MPH, Disneyland a top speed of 45MPH.
7. The oven is a show effect built by Disney.
8. The TV in act 4 has always been a normal TV, the TV for act 3 is still projected from the basement up to the screen above.
I hope this answered your questions! (If you're on facebook, we would LOVE for you to join us! www.Facebook.com/CarouselOfProgressLove)
Have a great big beautiful day!

 

[zaccaglin]

My favorite pic of the show. Hasn't anyone told orovile that it's not safe to have a radio in the tub??

 

[pampam]

I think Orville has lost some weight. He's much slimmer than I would have thought.

I remember when they used to give out the sheet music for "Now is the time" if you asked the CM a question about it at the end of the ride.

 

[Geoff_M]

It's one of my husbands favorites because he saw it as a kid at the worlds fair. Very interesting reading your post. I really think the dog is a mutt.

It's my favorite, but for another reason. I first visited WDW when I was in middle-school in the mid-70's. This was back when all of the rides were ticketed... well, except for two of them. CoP and If You Had Wings were freebies. So, when my friend and I (we were allowed to go to the parks from the Poly on our own) ran out of tickets... we rode CoP and Wings again, and again. As much as I like riding Buzz, I still miss Wings every time I ride on that same track.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

Count me in as a long time fan!

 

[shh]

It's my favorite, but for another reason. I first visited WDW when I was in middle-school in the mid-70's. This was back when all of the rides were ticketed... well, except for two of them. CoP and If You Had Wings were freebies. So, when my friend and I (we were allowed to go to the parks from the Poly on our own) ran out of tickets... we rode CoP and Wings again, and again. As much as I like riding Buzz, I still miss Wings every time I ride on that same track.

LOVED wings. Really miss that one.

 

[dbavis]

Does anyone else think of Norm MacDonald when they see/hear the father on CoP? I'd swear they modeled that character after him.

 

[j2thomason]

Not sure if this is true of just legend, but I read somewhere that the dog is fashioned after Walt Disney's own dog. Also, it's the same dog in Pirates of the Caribbean-- the one holding the keys.

Yes, we were told this in a behind the scenes tour.