In case you missed it, Disney recently confirmed a classic attraction is getting a MAJOR overhaul. After years of waiting, the Carousel of Progress is changing.
©Disney
Previously, Disney confirmed that a scene with a brand-new Walt Disney animatronic would be added. Now, they’ve confirmed that EVERY scene is changing in the Tomorrowland show. With some time to process the changes, we’re here to share Disney fans’ biggest thoughts and feelings about the updates.
The Carousel of Progress will be closing on July 6th, 2026, to begin the big overhaul of this rotating theater show. Disney shared that they hope audiences will be able to connect with the new scenes and new eras. They’ve confirmed they’re revisiting the music, fashion, technology, and experiences that John and his family will have in the updated show.
©Disney
Act 1 will feature the 1960s, which is when the Carousel of Progress first opened at the 1964 World’s Fair. In the summer of 1969, the Carousel family gathered around the television to witness the historic moon landing! Disney has shared this scene will capture the “spirit of innovation and possibility that has always been — and always will be — at the heart of Carousel of Progress.”
Carousel of Progress
In Act 2, we’ll be going to the 1980s! On Halloween night in 1985, Sarah will take center stage as she shares all about how the new appliances and gadgets are making life easier for the whole family. John is out on the porch handing out candy to trick-or-treaters, and poor Uncle Orville will still be in the bathroom with “no privacy at all around here!”
Carousel of Progress
In Act 3, we’re checking out the new millennium as the 1990s are ending. The family will be together to ring in the New Year in 1999. The Internet is bringing John, Sarah, Jimmy, and Patty closer together than ever before. Of course, Grandpa has already nodded off, so Grandma changes the TV over to wrestling when no one is looking. Finally, Act 4 will feature a possible future! They’ll be in a home that’s out of this world. The off-planet scene features a helpful robot assisting with everyday tasks, along with space travel, and imagines a future where extraordinary innovation has become part of life.
©Disney
While we are pretty excited about the upcoming changes, fans online have some big feelings! On our Instagram and Facebook, we have been combing through the comments to see how YOU feel too. Just like any big announcement, there are feelings both positive and negative, about the announcement. A neutral moment came from Brian Ricci on Facebook, who wrote, “The 80s better have brown paneling everywhere and a tv entertainment set on the floor.” This seriously made us giggle!
Carousel of Progress
Gene Gorter wrote, “For nostalgia reasons, I always loved that attraction, but I also just think it’s such a great concept showing how lives have changed over the years. But of course, given that the attraction first opened 60 years ago, it’s been hard for them to keep it as relevant. So I’m very pleased they’re gonna refurbish it in this way instead of just turning it into a DVC lounge or something.” This is an opinion we can get behind!
The Carousel!
“I think they need to keep everything they currently have and add some updated new things at the end. Please do not delete the OG stuff,” wrote Jamie Hojnoski. We’re sorry to say Jamie might be a bit disappointed. Carol Williams Chambers wrote, “So history doesn’t matter? Not happy at all.” On Instagram, @jpod02 shared, “They took my mountain, they took my test track… now they’re taking my carousel.”
Carousel of Progress
@michele_diehl said, “Stop ruining the old stuff.” Safe to say, he isn’t too excited just yet. @diybratt shared their thoughts by saying, “Disney has lost the plot. It’s a show about progress how things didn’t exist and people decided to invent things we know today as common like AC, phones, airplanes, electric, refrigerators etc. seeing the world before our comfort. This is one of Walt’s babies he worked so hard on it. Truly so sad to see how some of Walt’s projects are getting “minor” refurbishments. 😢 I get it’s progress and things change all the time, but this one seems like it should be left alone.” This comment got 507 likes on our Instagram.
Current Carousel of Progress Halloween scene
Not everyone is too upset, though! Erin Thomen DiCola shared, “COP is a must for me when I go, and I am so excited for this! This is Walt’s vision to keep moving forward and changing.” Irmary M Betancourt Relta wrote, “Can they just keep it all lol and make it longer?” We would love an even longer version of the attraction!
Carousel of Progress
To defend Disney’s choice, @zefquinn27 wrote, “Everyone in the comments complaining about keeping it “old school” forget that Walt Disney originally envisioned the Carousel of Progress as something that would continue evolving over time. The whole concept was about imagining the future from the perspective of each era. Updating scenes to reflect modern ideas and future possibilities is actually closer to Walt’s original philosophy than keeping it permanently frozen in one decade. The ending scene was a prediction of our present future which ended up being scarily accurate. It’s finally time for the next prediction.”
Sarah painting!
Fans seem pretty torn over these changes, and they aren’t holding back. We received hundreds of comments on our platforms, but it really will come down to how fans feel about the ride once it officially opens. They confirmed the ride is going to reopen sometime in 2027, but they haven’t given a firm date just yet. While change can feel hard, it is inevitable. We can’t wait to see how the ride will be updated, but we know for a fact that there’s a great big beautiful tomorrow shining at the end of every day. Don’t forget to keep following DFB for more Disney news and more.
SNEAK PEEK at Carousel of Progress Changes in Disney World
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The thing I can’t wrap my mind around is why they wouldn’t keep at least ONE scene from the original carousel of progress. They could do the turn of the century, 40s, 80s, and the future or something like that and do bigger time jumps. Why would they erase the starting point?
Not only does it preserve the history of the ride itself, but it also offers better context for how far we’ve come. Milestones like the moon landing feel a lot more impressive when you realize refrigerators came shortly before that in the grand scheme of things. Jumping from the moon landing to better computers feels… meh.
If Disney put as much energy in creating new experiences than putting some poorly thought out quick fix to classics people would be more excited about the changes. How much did they waste on the Star Wars hotel? Anyone with half a brain could have told them it wouldn’t work!! That could have paid for the Mary Poppins attraction OR put in the ride in Germany that was tabled yrs ago!!
I can’t imagine who wouldn’t welcome this change. They must be a bunch of old fuddy-duddies that resist change in all its forms. I LOVE Carousel of Progress, but it’s been looking tired and worn out for a while now. The new concepts are in keeping with the original one and even incorporate some aspects of Horizons, which I sorely miss. I think Walt Disney would applaud this change. It will make it more revelant for the modern age and today’s kids, who live in a world where there was always cell phones and internet.
Oh man, this is a tough one. My absolute favorite, most nostalgic attraction. If it were possible I would prefer extending it and just adding on. It’s all about progress after all and Walt’s dream and vision was about an ever evolving and expanding world. I don’t think he would want it to become a relic but I don’t know he would want what came before entirely erased for this one. Especially for the generations who don’t know about any of it. I will embrace whatever comes in the spirit of progress but this will hurt a bit.
Very sad day for Walt. This was his idea, and it was a great one. I would like to say… I can’t wait, but the. Imagineers have failed on too many occasions when revamping iconic attractions. I have no reason to believe they will improve this one. Think back over the past 20 years as Disney replaced or revamped an existing attraction. Not one was improved and better that what was replaced. Universal has now surpassed Disney as the market leader in the theme park business.
I lost all hope about Disney keeping anything off limits to change when I walked through the railroad tunnel not hearing my childhood comforting sound “Zippady do-da zippady ya….”
their business model is based (losely) on Walts own words. The parks will never be finished. there will aways be change.
lastly—- since they’ll be in there updating the visuals, Would someone please tell the imagineers to fix or replace the guide track and/or the wheel/tires to make it smooth again
How can they skip the 70s!!?? And we’re now 26 years into the 21st century. Those years seem to be ignored. (although those years have been mostly about chaos, civil unrest and trying to achieve world peace than with helpful innovations for the average person)! I know the ride starts in the 1960s bc that’s when the ride was created for the world’s fair but if they really want to see progress, they should go back to 1900 and showcase all the innovations that changed America and the world in the 20th century! I agree with many who say to stop getting rid of beloved attractions. The parks are being ruined, a slap in the face to Walt, Roy and Eisner (who was fantastic for Disney movies and Wdw). In the case of CoP, as so many suggest, keep what’s there and just make it longer! Since these are stated to be ‘minor’ changes, why is it taking nearly a year to complete? And there’s no talk of the Walt figure being added. What’s happening with that???
As the French say (but in French), the more things change, the more they stay the same. It’s really kind of surprising that this attraction has remained fairly unchanged since the original debuted. It was probably time for a thorough update, but many of us will deeply miss the original COP. It is my fervent wish that someone does a really good professional video – with good professional sound – of what we have now. Disney could certainly sell copies, ya think?
Why? I mean, adding Walt to the beginning is okay. He can introduce the show, which I think will be great if done right. But the current scenes are iconic. Out of date? Yes, but it’s the original. don’t update just because people who don’t remember the eras depicted are no longer alive or people don’t understand them. A lot of people aren’t going to care about the 80s. The 60s, yes. 80s, maybe no so much. I grew up in the 80s and 90s and don’t really remember much except some tv shows. Now, the final scene does need to be updated but leave the others.
Progress from the beginning of electricity and plumbing in our homes, then going forward would be a more impressive technological advance to the moon landing. Then later tiny computers and electric cars will seem more impressive. There’s not nearly as much of a leap in more recent decades, it sounds boring. We don’t need to pay money to see that re-created, it’s still recent.
My parents weren’t fans because they “could relate” to the time period…they mostly didn’t, they were baby-boomers, not Victorian…they enjoyed seeing the past…t’s like Disney forgot how history works. It’s supposed to trace the progress so it’s impactful. They could have updated “the future” more frequently over the years, no one was stopping them. I’m surprised they haven’t just jammed a bunch of IP in there. I guess we better hope they don’t do a major refurb of Spaceship Earth any time soon, or we’ll lose anything older than email, ebooks and cell phones. And don’t anyone remind them about how old the style of Main Street is!
The saddest part is, they didn’t even care about giving fans a chance to say goodbye…they keep forgetting that the biggest part of their draw has been nostalgia and great customer service.
Well, D’Amaro’s legacy sure isn’t off to a stellar start.
Everybody who’s complaining about Carousel of Progress should look into the history of the attraction. I just watched an episode of Yesterworld on YouTube, and the truth is the CoP has been changed many times, some of it while Walt was alive. Walt wasn’t precious about his creations; he was an entertainer, not an historian. He wanted things to change with the times.
Get over it people. At least we’re not losing CoP completely.