The Carousel of Progress Problem

The Show

It was a white hot Florida summer day in August 2015.I was on vacation in the Vacation Kingdom.I had spent a day marveling at the wonderful themed design of a Marc Davis and Dorothea Redmond Adventureland and the Magic Kingdom's impressive River District.Finally, I walked into Tomorrowland.I rode the Peoplemover several times and then walked on to the Carousel of Progress.I had seen videos of the original 1976 version of the attraction,but I had never seen videos of the 1993 version.So with an open mind a took a seat for a carousel ride from the good old days to the possible future.The first thing I noticed was how much they used the "Walt Disney" mandate to sell the attraction.There were several other problems in the show as well.First,the turn of the century chorus was terribly out of tune.Second,the show seemed ridiculously outdated,despite being the most modern.Thirdly,the final scene...it was pretty bad.The figures didn't match the previous ones and it seemed like something out of a bad sitcom.And that bad sitcom flavor was evident in the other scenes too.Finally the AA figures were in bad condition.I walked out,shocked,at how this once great attraction had become the most neglected ride in the park.

Also Cousin Orville became Uncle Orville

The Problem

The core problem with the 1993 show was they tried to make it something it wasn't: a TV sitcom comedy show.The original,1967,and 1976 versions of the show were all,essentially,a showcase of how technology has progressed throughout the years.In the first three shows,the family basically talked about technology and electricity.In the 1993 show,Father has enough one-liner jokes to give Jose a run for his money.

The show ends up seeming so dated,from weird lumbago jokes to a 90's future that the show has to use the Walt Disney name to keep it running.Even the Enchanted Tiki Room would be fine without it.The thing is the idea of the future in modern culture went from optimistic to grim.The idea that we could have a great big beautiful tomorrow has become a laughably dated idea.And other than closing the attraction I'm sure it seems difficult to find a solution.But there is one.

The Solution

I think the solution is simple:restore the first three acts of the 1976 show but keep Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow.The 1976 show is the right amount of optimistic without sounding like Pollyanna.Then for the fourth act I would restore it to what it looked like in Disneyland's Carousel of Progress but with a new script that discusses modern technology.In keeping the scene simple you could easily change the script to fit the changing of the times.

Well thanks for listening to my two-cents about the Carousel of Progress.