BREAKING: Carousel of Progress Closes July 5 for All-New Show!

Disney announced today that Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress will close at the end of the day on July 5, 2026 for a long-term update. Disney’s said the show will reopen in 2027. This is in addition to the previous announcement that a Walt Disney animatronic will be added in a new show introduction.

New Show Scenes, Timelines, and Narration

The new show will be the most significant change Carousel of Progress has had since moving to Disneyland in 1967. The new show will still revolve (see what we did there?) around a four act structure, with each act based in a specific year of a different decade. The decades for the new show are:

• 1969 – Replacing the current scene from 1901, this new scene features the family watching the moon landing.
• 1985 – Replacing the current scene of July 4 sometime in the 1920’s, this scene will be set on Halloween.
• 1999 – Replacing the current scene of Halloween in the 1940’s, this is New Year’s Eve.
• 2169(?) – Replacing the current scene of New Year’s Eve in the late 1990’s, we see the family at some point in the “distant future”.

The other notable change is that Sarah will be the main narrator instead of John.

Disney’s released new concept art for the attraction poster too:

Why Change Carousel of Progress?

Parts of Carousel of Progress have been outdated for decades. The current script in the finale, which is supposed to be set in “today”, still refers to “car phones” and “laser discs.” But the attraction’s optimism, songs, and script are among the best Disney has, and every age group rates Carousel of Progress at least 4 stars out of 5 on our surveys.

That said, Carousel of Progress is a large capacity theater show that is rarely full. The show can handle upwards of 3,000 guests per hour but plays to nearly empty audiences much of the day.

Our guess is that Disney’s making this change now so guests visiting Piston Peak and Villains Land in 2028 and beyond, will have something new to draw them over to the other side of the park. That 3,000-guest-per-hour will come in handy when the Magic Kingdom is crowded.