PHOTO BY DYLAN DUNCAN
Today was the last chance to ride Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress in its current form. The Tomorrowland attraction at Magic Kingdom will close at the end of the day, after its final performances, and Orlando Shine photographer Dylan Duncan was on hand to capture some final images.
The attraction goes into refurbishment starting July 6, with a reopening expected sometime in 2027. When it returns, every scene will be updated, with the timeline shifting forward by roughly six decades, and a new Audio-Animatronic figure of Walt Disney himself will open the show, placing him in a scene inspired by the 1964 television special “Disneyland Goes to the World’s Fair,” where he first introduced the concept.
The new show will reset the family’s story to begin in 1969 rather than the turn of the 20th century, moving the attraction’s timeline closer to eras that today’s guests have personal connections to. All four scenes will be replaced with new decades. Disney has not announced the full scene-by-scene breakdown or an exact reopening date.
Imagineers will gut the building’s hydraulic infrastructure, which has powered the animatronic figures for decades, and replace it with fully digital “electric actuators.” The upgrade is expected to eliminate mechanical fluid leaks and allow show programming to be updated via software rather than manual repairs.
The attraction originally debuted at the 1964 New York World’s Fair, moved to Disneyland in 1967, and has been at Magic Kingdom since 1975. Its last major update was in 1994.
Check out Duncan’s photos below or head to his Disney content page @TheParkLens.
