WDW Radio Show # 244 - October 16, 2011 - Your Walt Disney World Information Station

Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress - History, Legacy, Details and Future

Hello and welcome to The WDW Radio Show - Your Walt Disney World Information Station. I am your host, Lou Mongello, and this is show #244 for the week of October 16, 2011.

As we continue to look back at Walt Disney World's history in honor of its 40th anniversary, I want to take a close look at an attraction which may not have been part of the Magic Kingdom's opening day, but is deeply rooted in its history and sense of nostalgia. While there may always be a great, big beautiful tomorrow, now is the time - now is the best time to explore the history, legacy, details and future of Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress. Jim Korkis joins me on a segment that is part Wayback Machine, part DSI: Disney Scene Investigation, and we'll leave you with some thought-provoking questions that I encourage you to share your thoughts on.

I'll give you more details about this year's annual WDW Radio Epcot Food and Wine Festival Walkabout, taking place next weekend, before sharing a few annuncements and playing more of your voicemails at the end of the show. So sit back, relax, and enjoy this week's episode of the WDW Radio show.

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Thanks for listening! Be sure to tune in next week!


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Great episode Lou! You and Jim really took me to the attraction in my mind!

Keep it up!

Lou, you are going to LOVE my 11 year old son Brendan when we do your private tour in January. His favourite attractions at Magic Kingdom are the TTA and Carosel of progress, and his favourite at Hollywood Studios is One Man's Dream. He's a mini-historian in the making.

this was a great show!! i love the COP!!

I think there was an error with the download of this episode.


Here is the problem:

When I manually download this episode and when I put it in my Itunes playlist it comes up as: wdwradio244-10-16-11. The title is blank in the document folder but the file name shows up. Also when I change it to "The WDW Radio Show-Show #(episode #). But I have been making the episodes in numerical but this episode comes up in between the 100 section episodes. I hope you can correct this issue.

My vote is for something similar to Jim Korkis's option #4.

My understanding is Walt thought this was a great attraction because all the generations were able to remember and relate to each of the scenes. I think we can still keep that fabulous concept. It would require a major rehab currently but much smaller rehab commitments in the future.

Here's my idea: The 20 year span increment concept is kept and has the first scene starting with 1940. By doing this, we would again have grandparents relating to the "old" technology in that scene and following generations relating to each newer scene. The scenes would progress to 1960, 1980, and finishing with a year 2000 "current" scene.

I understand the issues of keeping a "current" scene updated. A "current" scene will probably look outdated in 5 years, but gradually it would become a reminiscing scene much as it is currently. Disney would need to schedule a rehab for every 20 years, starting in 2020. The "current" year 2000 scene would then become the 3rd scene, the first scene (1960s) would be removed, and a new 2020 "current" scene would be designed. Everything would shift accordingly. This keeps the nostalgia going over the years so little kids who see the show today would still have familiar scenes when they are parents and grandparents. It would keep families coming back to see the new scenes.

Walt never wanted a museum. I think this concept preserves his overall concept for the attraction while still serving as a tribute to his vision of progress and something all generations can enjoy and relate to.

I'm thinking an ideal sponsorship would be with Best Buy or similar company that provides new technologies for all areas of the home.