Last Chance to See the Current Carousel of Progress — Attraction Closes Starting July 6

6 days ago in "Carousel of Progress"

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Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress — The 1994 Version in Full

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Posted: Friday July 3, 2026 3:57pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Time is running if you want to experience the current version of Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress at Magic Kingdom.

The attraction runs for the last time on Sunday, July 5, 2026, closing at the end of that day's operations ahead of its major overhaul.

Carousel of Progress Poster

The show has been largely unchanged since 1994. Once it closes, all four scenes will be replaced as part of the biggest update in the attraction's history.

Act 1: Turn of the Century (1900s) - John closeup

Act 2: 1920s - John and Patricia

Act 3: 1940s - John and Rover

Act 4: 21st century - Grandfather and Trish

This Weekend's Magic Kingdom Hours

Here's when you can get to Magic Kingdom over the final three days:

Friday, July 3

Park hours: 8:00 am to 11:00 pm

Saturday, July 4

Early Theme Park Entry: 7:30 am to 8:00 am
Park hours: 8:00 am to 12:00 am

Sunday, July 5 — Final Day

Early Theme Park Entry: 8:30 am to 9:00 am
Park hours: 9:00 am to 11:00 pm

Resort guests with Early Theme Park Entry on Saturday and Sunday can get a head start before the park opens to all guests.

Act 4: 21st century - Cyber Command

Act 4: 21st century - Kitchen

What's Changing

When Carousel of Progress reopens in 2027, the show will look very different.

New Scene Concept Art (Act 4)

Disney has confirmed four entirely new scenes replacing the current ones:

The 1960s — the family watches the Apollo moon landing in the summer of 1969
The 1980s — Halloween night 1985, with Sarah taking center stage for the first time
New Year's Eve 1999 — the family rings in the millennium as the internet changes everything
The Future — an out-of-this-world home with a helpful robot and space travel

A new opening scene featuring an Audio-Animatronics figure of Walt Disney will also be added before the family's story begins.

Walt Disney Audio Animatronic

The attraction closes at the end of operations on July 5. Walt Disney Imagineering takes over on July 6.

Act 4: 21st century - Marty Called Wants Changes

Discuss on the Forums

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Andsome54 minutes ago

Even though they need the time to replace all the scenes, was the need to fix issues with the structure itself a catalyst for this refurb?

Disstevefan11 day ago

Although no one should ever do stuff like this, I am so thankful Hoot & Chief did their explorations!

Raineman1 day ago

Are these guys members of the Cult Of Hoot & Chief?

HMF1 day ago

I certainly can't fault you there and frankly there isn't much more to say about it anyway.

We don’t spend as much time in the Orlando Disney parks as we used to; it’s unlikely I could justify a day to shoot an update (although with no LL - as it stands - it wouldn’t be as hard as other attractions to cover)

Tom P.1 day ago

We've had lots of discussion about what constitutes the original Carousel of Progress, what Walt wanted, etc. I thought it might be good to drop this in here: a video of Walt himself demonstrating and discussing the original Carousel of Progress.

Gringrinngghost1 day ago

Not to step over Martin's plans, but I did offer my footage to him recently. From his response that I had received, he currently does not have plans for an updated video.

HMF1 day ago

Are you planning on doing an updated version of the video to address the closure or would you consider that redundant?

Coaster Lover2 days ago

Can't say "dream"... it's insensitive to insomniacs... ;) (*joking*)

mergatroid2 days ago

An interesting perspective by some guys who try to be the only ones in the theatre and film it using selfie sticks

HMF2 days ago

That was actually very close to the idea I had only it would have kept the three original scenes and had the last scene on NYE 1999. Frankly, there are many different ways this could have been handled frankly, Again, I am just glad they are keeping the concept intact. If they had replaced sections of GMR with newer films for instance rather than outright replacing it with MMRR, I would have been overjoyed and that was also part of my internal park concepts as well.

TrainsOfDisney2 days ago

This would have been excellent. Keep 2 of the historic original scenes and tell the story of progress through 1 century. That would have been a great balance.

Disstevefan12 days ago

I very much hope you are right. Lets see what happens.

HMF2 days ago

It is actually amusing if you look at how many of my complaints about the parks from fifteen years ago essentially boil down to TDO being cheap and not changing things at the parks enough. Nowadays, I am angry they are changing things far too much. Be careful what you wish for, I guess.