Thursday, August 4, 2011

Lost Disneyland: Carousel of Progress

“Welcome to the General Electric Carousel of Progress. Now most carousels just go ’round and ’round, without getting anywhere. But on this one, at every turn, we’ll be making progress.”
The Carousel of Progress was one of four attractions that came out of the 1964-1965 New York Worlds Fair. This attraction was sponsored by General Electric and took you through a tour of technology in America starting just before the turn of the century. It followed a family through each time period and how they progressed, and this was all done in a true carousel style, each show scene was a section of a round stage that the seating area turned around. The best part of this attraction was the great Sherman Brothers song "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow."
Most people don't know this but this attraction actually got its concept years before the fair was even thought of. It started as the main attraction on an extension of Main Street called Edison Square. This would have Main Street progress from pre-electricity to after electricity caught on. At the end would be an attraction where you would walk from scene to scene to show you the progress of technology. This was never built, but as they say in WDI, good ideas never die. When General Electric asked if Walt could create an attraction that GE would sponsor, Walt decided it was time to bring back this walk through, but he knew he needed something better to draw people in. He turned to WED and they came up with the moving theater. Not only would it have more capacity, but it would eliminate the need to redress each scene. Not only was there a show on the bottom floor, but then the audience would go upstairs as Mother and Father would show you Progress City, Walt Disney's vision for E.P.C.O.T, the Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow. It was indeed a true Community, a city if the future. After the fair ended, They brought the attraction back to Disneyland and was installed in the New Tomorrowland of 1967. In 1973, it was moved to Disney World to bring more guests. People still want to see this attraction back in its home. At this time, there is no plans to bring it back.