Carousel of Progress: Disney's long-running attraction to get big updates

Big, beautiful changes are on the horizon for Disney's Carousel of Progress attraction at Magic Kingdom.

The long-running attraction will be updated with new scenes set in different decades and a life-sized Walt Disney animatronic, Disney World said Thursday.

At its Destination D23 event last year, Disney announced updates were coming to the rotating theater attraction, but the company has finally revealed more details about those changes.

New scenes, new decades

Carousel of Progress features a family through the years of the 20th Century.

For the refresh, Disney will drop the scenes set in the 1900s, the 1920s and the 1940s and replace them with scenes set in the 1960s, the 1980s, the 2000s, with a finale depicting life in a "distant future."

John, Sarah and the rest of the family—including Rover the dog—will remain, Disney said.  

Concept art of an updated scene in the Carousel of Progress at Magic Kingdom. (Credit: Disney Parks)

• The 1960s and the moon landing: The first scene will depict the family living in the 1960s. John, Sarah and the kids will be gathered around the television to witness the historic moon landing.
• Halloween 1985: The next scene will move forward nearly 20 years to a Halloween night in 1985. Disney said Sarah, the mother, will take center stage for the first time, showing off the decade's new appliances and gadgets. Uncle Orville will be part of the scene and complain about his lack of privacy.
• The new Millennium: The third scene will be set at the turn of the century on New Year's Eve 1999. The family will be talking about "a new thing called the internet" as they count down to 2000.
• The future: The new finale will feature a scene set in a distant future. The family will be living in a home "off planet," where space travel and robot assistants are a thing.

Disney said Imagineers will use original concept sketches from Disney Legend John Hench as inspiration for the scene.

Life-sized Walt Disney animatronic

Disney announced last year at its Destination D23 event that Walt Disney would appear in the attraction in the form of a life-sized animatronic.

The animatronic will appear in a new opening scene inspired by "Disneyland Goes to the World's Fair," the 1964 special where Walt Disney first introduced the Carousel of Progress.

Imagineers are replicating many of the props featured in the special for the scene, including a prototype Tiki bird and a doll from "it's a small world," according to Disney.

A similar animatronic debuted at Disneyland last year as part of "Walt Disney - A Magical Life" at the Main Street Opera House.

Carousel of Progress timeline

Originally planned for Disneyland in California, Carousel of Progress debuted at the 1964 New York's World Fair alongside other iconic Disney attractions such as "it's a small world."

Following the fair, the attraction was moved to Disneyland before moving to Disney World in 1975.

The attraction has been updated a few times over the years, but its last major update was in 1993 when the Sherman Brothers' song "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" returned and the finale was updated with a "futuristic" scene featuring VR games and voice-activated appliances.

When will Carousel of Progress close for the refresh?

Carousel of Progress will be closed starting July 6 for the updates. The attraction is expected to reopen in 2027, according to Disney.