In August of 2025, Disney announced a big addition to an iconic attraction that the company’s namesake personally created. Magic Kingdom’s Carousel of Progress would kick off with a new animatronic of Walt Disney himself. Since then, there’s been no update on when Walt would take the stage. Turns out that’s because Imagineers were working on more than just a new opening scene. Today, Disney revealed the Carousel of Progress is getting a massive refresh. And this latest version will, fittingly, move the show forward while staying true to Walt Disney’s original vision.
For years, some fans have wondered if the future of Walt Disney World would even include a “Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow.” There have been those (but definitely not this Carousel-loving writer) who found the attraction dated. That’s because the Carousel of Progress literally is. Created from concept to completion by Walt Disney for the 1964–1965 New York World’s Fair, the rotating attraction and its animatronic stars arrived at Disneyland’s Tomorrowland in 1967. It remained there until 1973, before arriving at the Magic Kingdom in 1975. Since then, it has become the most performed American stage show ever.
While the Carousel of Progress has undergone many changes (some significant) over the years, the core of the show has largely remained the same. It’s an ode to technology, bygone eras, embracing change, and, most importantly, family. The new, updated version of the Carousel of Progress, whose new poster hearkens back to the show’s past and future, will still focus on all of those elements. Because while this total overhaul will bring Carousel far into the future (in more than one way), Imagineers are staying true to the original premise and spirit.
Walt Disney set the first scene of the show—which explores four distinct time periods—sixty years earlier near the start of the 20th century. That’s what Imagineers are doing, too. The show’s revamped timeline will begin 60 years prior to modernity. The updated Carousel of Progress will kick off, essentially, where Walt left off: the ’60s. Don’t worry, fellow Carousel nerds. John, Sarah, the kids, Grandma, Grandpa, and yes, Uncle Orville are sticking around. We’ll just be seeing them—along with what we were told by Disney executives, many Easter eggs—in very different settings. Here are the new show’s four eras and official descriptions:
Act 1 – the 1960s: In the summer of 1969, our Carousel family, along with millions around the world, gather around the television to witness one of humanity’s greatest achievements: the historic moon landing. Filled with awe, the moment captures the spirit of innovation and possibility that has always been—and always will be—at the heart of Carousel of Progress.
Act 2 – the 1980s: It’s the ‘80s, where everything bigger is better, and things keep on getting bigger! We pick up with the family on Halloween Night of 1985, and for the first time ever, Sarah is taking center stage. She’ll share how all the new appliances and gadgets are making life easier for the whole family. Speaking of John, we’ll find him out on the porch handing out candy to trick-or-treaters, and poor Uncle Orville can be found in the bathroom with “no privacy around here!”
Act 3 – The New Millennium: With the ‘90s drawing to a close, our Carousel family is preparing to ring in the new millennium on New Year’s Eve 1999. Amid the excitement of the countdown to 2000, a new thing called the Internet is bringing John, Sarah, Jimmy and Patty – and the world – closer together than ever before. And if you’re anything like my family, not everyone is making it to midnight. Grandpa has already nodded off before the big countdown, while Grandma sneaks the TV over to wrestling when no one’s looking.
Act 4 – The Possible Future: As we reach the end of our show, we see the family one last time in the distant future, in a home off planet. From a helpful robot assisting with everyday tasks to space travel, the scene imagines a future where extraordinary innovation has become part of life and proves that a beautiful tomorrow is just a dream away.
Imagineers took inspiration for the final scene from original Carousel concept sketches by Disney Legend John Hench. Executives also told us the off-world scene doesn’t have a definitive timeline. It’s set so far in the future it won’t feel dated anytime soon. Unlike the current final scene in the Carousel of Progress, which has a VR video game that would have looked old in 1997.
In one sense, this will be a different Carousel in many significant ways. And yet it will still be the same attraction fans have adored for sixty years. It will feature a lack of privacy, Grandma’s secret love of wrestling, Sarah still doing most (though not all!) of the hard work, plenty of terrible/great jokes, and a family adapting to an ever-changing world. That’s the show Walt Disney created on a rotating stage long ago. We can’t wait to see this new version of that same show.
When will we get that chance? The current iteration of the Carousel of Progress will close at Magic Kingdom beginning on July 6, 2026. Disney says it expects it to reopen in 2027. The day it does, you know what song we’ll be singing, because it will always be a “Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow” when we see the Carousel of Progress.
Plus, they’re obviously keeping that perfect Sherman Brothers song. Imagineers love this attraction as much as we do. That’s why they’re ensuring it’s around for at least another 60 years.
The post Walt Disney’s Iconic Carousel of Progress Getting Massive Update appeared first on Nerdist.
This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak
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