Walt Disney Animatronic Included in Updates to Carousel of Progress

As part of Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary Celebration, a brand new attraction debuted with a Walt Disney audio animatronic. Now, Disney World will be getting its own Walt Disney animatronic, added to an existing attraction that’s a perfect home for it. Which one? Why, it’s Carousel of Progress, which Walt oversaw from beginning to end before its debut at the 1964 World’s Fair.

Today at Destination D23, Imagineer Chris Beatty announced the upcoming addition to the Carousel of Progress. The Carousel of Progress rotates through four show scenes that follow John, Sarah, and their family through the decades, plus two “blank” stages that are used for loading and unloading. Walt will appear as part of a new scene, prior to the beginning of the family’s story. I presume that means it will be added to the stage used for loading the audience, but Disney has not confirmed whether that will be the case or if adjustments to other scenes will be made instead.

As with all rides that portray “the future”, the present eventually catches up to tomorrow. The attraction script was last updated in 1994, with the final scene envisioning the family gathering on Christmas Day in the year 2000 or so, and many features like voice-controlled ovens and VR goggles are current reality.

The announcement, made during the “Creating the Happiest Place on Earth” panel, hinted that updates are coming to John, Sarah, and the rest of the family as well. It’s not clear whether these will be technological, such as wardrobes or new animatronics, or a new final scene that progresses in time to once again portray an imagined future.

It’s not just the specific updates to the family that are fuzzy; no timeline was announced for the refurbishment either. But two things are for sure. One: it’s a great, big, beautiful tomorrow. And the other – when more news is available, we’ll update right here!

What’s your take? Are we going to get new wardrobes, or a new show scene? Let us know in the comments!