Will the Gears Stop Turning on the CoP?

[Club 33]

I love the Carousel of Progress. Unfortunetly, a lot of CoP history happened before I was born. I didn't get to see it at the World's Fair in 64/65. I didn't get to see it at Disneyland. I have all of those influences and traits that Disney says that turn people off from the CoP. So let me start again. I love the Carousel of Progress. Why do you think my site is "Carousel of Magic"?

It has come of late that there have been rumors surrounding the closing of the CoP. To be perfectly fair, there have been such rumors and worries for years. I recently read this article on Jim Hill Media:

http://www.jimhillmedia.com/mb/artic...le.php?ID=1270

Speaking of which ... Take a close look at this photograph of the exterior of the "Carousel of Progress" as it was decorated for this year's "Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party" at WDW's Magic Kingdom.

Photo by Jeff Lange

My sources inside of WDI are telling me that we should all consider these "Buzz Lightyear" -themed Halloween decorations to be sort of a coming attraction. Meaning that "Toy Story" 's little green men will mostly likely be moving into Tomorrowland's theater-go-round building -- offering WDW visitors flying saucer driving lessons -- sometime in late 2007 / early 2008.

I have recently exchanged emails with Jacob Addison, founder of Carousel of Progress.com, who agrees that this may be it. I encourage you if you haven't already to go to his site and sign the petition. Remember, There's a Great Big Beautiful Tommorow, Shining at the End of Every Day. For Now.

[monorail_rider]

Oh no. I will HAVE to ride one last time when I go.

BTW mine if I spread the news to the other boards?

[Monorail Man]

Take it out, and take out Inoventions at DL, and:

Switch!

[RonNYC]

Thanks for the link to the website. There have been a couple of other threads concerning CoP in the past week or so concerning either changes or its imminent demise.

Personally, I hope that they find a way to keep it going! It's a special show and nice throwback to vintage Disney.

I've never been on it with a full audience, and when I have taken a spin it seems that my theater is at least 1/3 full. I don't imagine that wanting to replace it, if it is true, is due to attendance, but perhaps due to keeping the show fresh and the upkeep on Audio-Animatronics.

But that's just my opinion.

BTW... when I last visited MK in January, I found a pin (and I'm not a collector) celebrating the 30th Anniversary of this attraction at WDW. Maybe I'm just a pipe dreamer... but if they spent the time to design and manufacture a tin pin.... *sigh*

[karliebug]

This is a disney classic and should not be replaced. The last scene could continue to be updated to make it fresh to a new audience.

[BigmacX]

I still love this ride! I remember going my first time in 81 or in 84 (still don't remember quite well when I saw it for the first time, but of course it was back then General Electric's Carrousel of Progress. I was like 5 years old, and I remember going there in summer of those years and really remember being there with full audience and waiting very long lines just to get into it.

couple of years later, went back for my Honeymoon in summer 2004, now called Wald Disney's Carrousel of Progress, there were no lines to get into, and in my section there were no more than maybe 20 people in there.

I really had a very bad feeling about this that day, and I really feared that this attraction was next in line to disappear. (At that time I did not know what was really going on with theme park management, that it was strange for me that many of the attractions I used to love when I was a kid were replaced with some crappy attractions, Pooh comes to mind).

I hope CoP keeps on turning, it is classic Disney, had Walt's influence, and it is still more visionary than these new so called awesome attractions @ tomorrowland. Only thing needed for CoP, change the ending scene to maybe show us what Future would look like in maybe 30-50 years. Right now it seems a little out of date, even though we don't have voice activated microwave ovens in 100% of the homes.
Tomorrowland has lost its focus

[figment1986]

It is endangered.. (no switching... innoventions is already at Epcot..)

what might happen.. is someone pulls it's last life line and kills it... or they put it into a extensive referbishment and "break" something....

or give it the 20,000 lagoon treatement....

Best case.. referbishment and fix the ride up....

[Jasondlnd]

Take it out, and take out Inoventions at DL, and:

Switch!

The original plans for the post 50th anniversary of Disneyland called for just this action. They were going to rip apart the first floor of Innoventions and put in the 50th anniversary exhibit, and after 2005, WDI was seriously considering the idea of re-installing the Carousel of Progress on the first floor, while keeping Innoventions on the second floor.

Of course, this all changed, once the 50th anniversary exhibit was moved over to the Lincoln Theater at Disneyland.

[Ghostbuster626]

Plectu's Intergalactic Review should replace Innoventions at Disneyland as originally planned.

[Cory Mitchell]

That Jim Hill doesn't know what he's talking about, and there are too many COP threads in this joint.

[General Grizz]

That Jim Hill doesn't know what he's talking about, and there are too many COP threads in this joint.

I don't know...

I just got an email today from someone up in the company, saying there's a 70-85% chance of its closure... NOT good...

[Jspider]

I thought the flying saucer ride would go in the circlevision?

[General Grizz]

I thought the flying saucer ride would go in the circlevision?

They've been considered for either...

[Cory Mitchell]

Well, everything has to go sometime. I'm not upset that it might be departing. But, I would prefer something other than the bumper cars.

[WDW1974]

CoP is timeless, provided it's updated. It's Disney storytelling at its best. It educates a little, while entertaining. Also, keeps you in a seat for 20 minutes. ... To see it ripped out for another 2-minute ride with the Pixar characters really is sad. I wonder if anyone at WDI has any vision left after all the purges, layoffs and retirements because so much of what I see added at WDW (from Test Track to a giant hat at MGM to Stitch's Great Disaster) all seem to lack Imagination (much like the new Imagination pavillion).

[Labuda]

Hey, 74 - at least we still have Joe Rohde over at DAK!

[WDW1974]

Yep, Labuda. But for how long? Joe is a creative genius in his field, no doubt about it.
But those types are leaving WDI faster than Bush lost cabinet members/advisors as soon as he won re-election. There's been such a creative brain-drain at WDI over the past decade, and I would bet it's going to get worse before it gets better. Just look at the recent park efforts in Paris and Hong Kong.

But, you are right, as long as DAK is being guided by Joe, the park will keep its creative soul/vision.

Wonder who's in charge of creative for WDI for WDW's other parks, especially MGM and MK.

[captsmith84]

That's just it! Right now, the other parks don't have exec creative directors. Just AK because AK is still labeled as "not finished."

So the other parks are pretty much... just everyone working on them. That's why you have so many things going in the other parks that don't really fit. I think the other parks really need creative directors. The stuff in AK fits for the most park, except for Chester and Hester's I guess. That whole area though is marked for expansion.

Thanks to Joe, AK is keeping it's theme much better than the other parks are.

[WDW1974]

You know, Bill, I thought all of the parks (like DL) were supposed to never be complete 'as long as there's imagination' left in the world ... Besides, I would think there have to be creative 'heads' for every Disney park at WDI.