Credit: DisneyAlthough perhaps less than its Californian counterpart, the Walt Disney World Resort is home to many famous and historical theme park rides and attractions. From the Regal Carousel to Cinderella Castle itself, some of the Park’s original features date back to even before the Park’s opening in 1971. However, one of Walt’s originals might be in danger of shutting down permanently.
Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom has recently gone through some massive changes to welcome the world of TRON into the fold. In the process, many of the land’s futuristic features have suddenly become quite dated, including the much-beloved Carousel of Progress.
Carousel of Progress: Yesterday’s Tomorrow
More highlights from this event were in Tomorrowland with: Mother and Father from Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress, the Tomorrowland Space Couple and Mr. Morrow from Flight to the Moon. #DisneyParks #DLR #ThrowbackNite
(Credit: IG steph_in_disney514) pic.twitter.com/d6sm9pYaZf— CharactersPhotosBlog (@CharactersPBlog) April 19, 2023
Having debuted at the 1964 World’s Fair, Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress is one of the oldest attractions still functioning on Disney property, and it’s garnered a massive fan following. Disney even gave the Father and Mother characters their own Meet and Greet at Disneyland’s Throwback Nite (as seen in the tweet above). However, some fans are worried that the attraction might be next on the chopping block.
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With so many changes altering and taking away vintage attractions like the controversial Splash Mountain, many Disney Park Guests fear Carousel of Progress might be met with the same fate. Some even went to r/WaltDisneyWorld with their concerns regarding the attraction, some of us can definitely say the feelings are mutual.
Undoing Progress
While perhaps slightly panicky, u/herequeerandgreat does raise a valid point when they write,
“The Splash Mountain situation has shown that not even the iconic rides are safe from this. As such, I’m very worried about the future of the Carousel of Progress…”
and
“I love this ride but the final scene hasn’t aged very well, making numerous references to things that have long since gone the way of the dodo such as car phones and laserdiscs. as such, I think that it could use an update. However, I’m worried that Disney is going to take the wrong message from this and, instead of merely updating the ride, will get rid of it entirely”
Similarly, u/Ovaltene17 shares their take as well.
“Every time I go on the Carousel I worry about its future. Act 1 is from the turn of the 20th Century, which is now 120+ years ago. Today’s children have no concept of that era and it must seem archaic to them…”
“One thing that may be saving it is that it was worked on directly by Walt himself. Hopefully the powers-that-be over at Disney Parks see fit to keep the Carousel of Progress open for a least one more generation before they tear it down for some vomit inducing 4D ride filled with all LED screens.”
The Reality
Many of us might be growing concerned, and asking whether or not anything is sacred at the Disney Parks anymore. However, other users offered different points of view on the subject.
u/ehisforadam reels us back in practical and logical point of view when the reply,
“It’s one of a very few things at WDW that Walt actually had a hand in the creation of, so I see little chance of some huge over-haul or removal. They tried that with the Tiki Room and it didn’t go over well. At this point, The Carousel of Progress is almost more of a historical artifact than anything. If they did something with it, I would say it would be better to bring the final scene back to what it was at the ’64 World’s Fair.”
While no one apart from Madame Leota can read Disney’s future, we can take a great deal of comfort in knowing that the attraction’s historical value is what is keeping it firmly planted on Tomorrowland’s surface. Hopefully, there will always be a great big beautiful tomorrow.