10 things you may not know about the Carousel of Progress

Read on for some fun facts about the Carousel of the Progress that you may not know!

The Carousel of Progress is a classic Disney attraction that actually got its start in the 1964 World’s Fair. Walt Disney himself had a major part in creating this attraction. While it may not have the longest lines, it’s an enduring attraction that’s worth stopping for. The Carousel of Progress has also gone through a lot of changes throughout the year. As I write this post, it is currently under refurb for another round of massive changes.

Carousel of Progress has a very long history and there’s lots of great info about it. I suspect some Disney fans may already know a few things. But I hope that you might find some facts that you didn’t know as well!

Read on for some fun facts about the Carousel of Progress!

Carousel of Progress has been in 3 different locations in its lifetime.

It started at the 1964 New York World’s Fair, before moving to Disneyland in California in 1967. It stayed there until 1973, when the process began to move it to Walt Disney World in Florida.

Although Tomorrowland opened in Walt Disney World when the park first debuted in 1971, Carousel of Progress was not there opening day.

The attraction officially opened on January 15th, 1975 – the same day as Space Mountain.

In Walt Disney’s first set of plans, the proposed name for this attraction was “Harnessing the Lightning: A Story of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.”

The name was changed when GE signed on as the sponsor. This was because their slogan at that time was “Progress is our most important product.”

The theme song by the Sherman Brothers, “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow,” is iconic. But there was a time when it wasn’t in the show!

GE requested a new song when Disney moved the attraction to Florida. They wanted people to buy their products now, not wait for something better tomorrow. The Sherman brothers wrote a new song, “The Best Time of your Life.” In 1994, when the show was re-written and re-recorded, they also added “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow” back in.

Carousel of Progress has gone through many changes, but here are a few milestones with some of the most significant:

1967 – The attraction moved to Disneyland from the World’s Fair. Though a new theater was built, the show stayed mostly the same with the exception of a few minor changes).
1975 – Opened in Walt Disney World with a number of changes, including a new song, a new cast of voice actors, some set changes, and new version of the final scene: New Year’s Eve in the Home of the 1970s.
1981 – Imagineers updated the final scene to New Year’s Eve in the Home of the 1980s.
1985 – GE’s contract expired and they chose not to renew sponsorship. They were at that point sponsoring Horizons in Epcot as well. Disney removed any references to GE from the script.
1994 – Major changes were made again, including re-writing some of the script and new recordings, a new final scene, and the return of the song “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow.” It was also officially renamed “Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress.”
2027 – Next year will see possibly the biggest changes Carousel of Progress has had yet. A Walt Disney animatronic will introduce the show, and all the scenes will be new. When the attraction first opened, it was a look back at the last 60 years. It featured the 1900s, 1920s, 1940s, and the present. It will once again be a look at the last 60 or so years, so the scenes will shift to the 1960s, 1980s, 1999, and the present.

Some of the voice actors through the years might sound familiar to you.

Rex Allen was the original voice of the father in the attraction. He returned in the 1994 re-recording to do the voice of the grandfather. Jean Shepherd, who voiced the father in the 1994 version, is also the narrator of the popular movie A Christmas Story. 1994’s Patricia (the daughter) is also the voice of Jimmy Neutron (actress Debi Derryberry). And Uncle Orville is done by Mel Blanc – the voice of Bugs Bunny!

During the show you travel through time not just through the years, but through the seasons.

The opening 1900s scene takes place at Valentine’s Day, the 1920s scene is at the 4th of July, in the 1940s you have a Halloween setting, and the final scene of the future takes place at Christmas.

Many of the molds use to create these animatronics were re-used later for other attractions, so you might notice some characters with similar faces.

John, the father in Carousel of Progress, also appears in Spaceship Earth in the scene during the renaissance, playing the lute. The daughter Patricia makes another appearance in that same scene playing the flute. The grandmother is in the Haunted Mansion ballroom scene, and the mother is in Pirates of the Caribbean.

The father and mother have made several rare appearances as face characters in the theme parks.

Guests most recently had the chance to see them in 2023 for a meet-and-greet as part of the “Disneyland After Dark: Throwback Nite” event. Prior to that they made an appearance at Disneyland in 2010 as part of a tribute to the Sherman Brothers.

The most recent version of Carousel of Progress had a number of easter eggs and nods to other Disney attractions, particularly in the final scene.

Patricia wore a sweatshirt that said “Progress Tech School of Urban Planning,” as a nod to Walt’s Progress City (an early concept for Epcot). Her brother had a ski hoodie with the logo for Mineral King, a ski resort Walt Disney had planned to build in the 1960s. And the father wears a green apron that says “My Food Rocks!” which is in reference to the old Epcot show “Food Rocks.” Hopefully we will see lots of fun easter eggs in the new version of the attraction next year!

Did you learn any new fun facts about the Carousel of Progress?