"There's a great big, beautiful tomorrow, shining at the end of every day!"

Welcome to Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress!

Are you ready for a history lesson, beginning all the way back in 1964? Then keep on reading, because the Carousel of Progress is a fascinating gem in Disney history that definitely does not begin with the Magic Kingdom. Watch this wonderful clip of Walt introducing you to his pride and joy, right before it went to the World's Fair.

Created by Walt Disney for GE's pavilion at the 1964 World's Fair, the Carousel of Progress is a rotating theater show exploring the joys of living through the twentieth century, and showcasing the American family through technological progresses and advances. So basically, the show follows one family through the twentieth century, giving peeks into their life and how they're living in whatever decade that act is focusing on (remember when we talked about Horizons, the attraction from Epcot Center? The Carousel of Progress is considered to be the prequel to that).

The Carousel of Progress held a special place in Walt Disney's heart. Various sources say he proclaimed that the Carousel of Progress was his favorite attraction and that it should never cease operation. This can be somewhat supported by family and friends, who knew of his work and devotion to the attraction.

To keep it up with the times, the attraction has been updated five times (in 1967, 1975, 1981, 1985, and 1993) and has had two different theme songs, both written by the Sherman Brothers, titled "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" and "Now is the Time".

After the 1964 World's Fair was over, Walt had the Carousel of Progress moved to Disneyland to find a home in Tomorrowland. However, by the early 1970s, the Carousel of Progress saw dwindling audiences. GE (the attraction's sponsor) thought they were not benefiting much from the Carousel of Progress, since they figured most people who were attending the show had already seen it many times. GE asked Disney to move the show to their new Magic Kingdom. The Disneyland show closed in 1973 and was packed up for Florida.

Extensive changes were made when the attraction moved to Walt Disney World. Along with many changes and updates were made to the actual show, the theme song was changed from "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" to "Now is the Time". Both songs were written by the Sherman Brothers. GE wanted to change the theme song because they didn't want their customers to wait for a great big beautiful tomorrow to buy their products, they wanted to let them know that now is the time to buy GE products! Sounds a little ridiculous to me, but oh well. (The Sherman Brothers actually are known for saying that the original theme song is one that they prefer over the second.)

 In 1985, GE's sponsorship ended, and they chose not to renew.The attraction was temporarily closed so that all the GE references in the show could be removed. This was actually the fourth time the attraction had been updated since 1964. In 1993, the show was updated again to go along with the major Tomorrowland rehaul. The exterior and interior were both updated to reflect new Tomorrowland's theme. Because of a decrease in tourism after the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Carousel of Progress was closed. In reopened on a seasonal basis, which means it was only open during peak crowd seasons. This caused many fans to become concerned over the attraction's future. Although numerous "permanent closure" rumors still plague the attraction, Disney has consistently said that there are no plans for permanent closure or any closure at all.Though it is still listed as a seasonal attraction, it has remained open nearly every day of the year and during the Magic Kingdom's regular park hours since 2003.

Like I mentioned earlier, Horizons is considered the sequel to the Carousel of Progress. Horizons was also sponsored by GE, and the family in Horizons is nearly identical to the family in the Carousel of Progress. Here's a picture of the dad from the Carousel of Progress (right) and the dad from Horizons (left) (this picture is a bit harder to see unfortunately).

Here's a great video of the Carousel of Progress, make sure you watch in HD!

Act 1 is during the 1900s,

Act 2 is during the 1930s,

Act 3 is during the 1940s,

And act 4 is during the 21st century!

When the Carousel of Progress is updated, the only major change is usually to Act 4, because it's set in the future. Here's a look at how much it's changed over the years.

1964:

1967:

1975:

1981/85:

1993 (today's version):

The Carousel of Progress hasn't been updated since 1993, which I think means that it will be updated again very soon. It doesn't seem like it, but that's 20 years without an update to Act 4! Today's current vision of the future is a little outdated, which I think isn't very good because this attraction was so precious to Walt and I know he would want it to keep as updated as possible. The Carousel of Progress holds a special place in my heart, and I make sure to visit it every single time I'm in the Magic Kingdom. Knowing that it was an attraction that Walt himself loved and worked on makes it even more special for me. So remember, there's a great big beautiful tomorrow shining at the end of every day!

"Zip-a-de-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay! My oh my, what a wonderful day!"

Welcome to Splash Mountain!

You may have ridden log-flume rides before, but you've never ridden one like Splash Mountain. Opening in the Magic Kingdom in 1992, this ride has been a park staple ever since, and is number three on my list of all-time favorite attractions. There's a lot of history behind this attraction, and like so many other attractions, it begins in Disneyland.

The idea for Splash Mountain was conceived in 1983 by Imagineer Tony Baxter. He wanted to attract guests to the often-empty Bear Country area of Disneyland and make use of the Audio-Animatronics from America Sings, an animatronic show in Tomorrowland that was nine years old at the time. At first, Imagineers thought that a log-flume ride was too common and didn't belong in a Disney park. However, it was decided that the ride would be built.

At the time it was built, Splash Mountain was one of the most expensive projects created by Imagineers at a cost of $75 million. According to Alice Davis (wife of the late Imagineer Marc Davis), production of Disneyland's Splash Mountain had gone far over budget and the only way to recover was to close down America Sings and use the characters from that attraction (America Sings geese are on the left, and the same geese are in Splash Mountain, on the right).

America Sings was closed April 10, 1988. (below).

Now just to be clear, these animatronics are only reused at Disneyland. Disney World replicated the attraction three years later, but with all new animatronics.

Actually, something I find very interesting is that before America Sings even closed, a goose animatronic was stripped down and used in Disneyland's Star Tours attraction. Kinda cool, but also kinda creepy!

Baxter and his team developed the concept of Zip-a-Dee River Run, which would incorporate scenes from Song of the South. The name was later changed to Splash Mountain. The characters from America Sings were used in many scenes, though all of the main characters (Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox, and Br'er Bear) were specifically designed for Splash Mountain.

Many people might not be familiar with Song of the South, the movie Splash Mountain is loosely based off of. That's because it's currently banned in the United States. Song of the South is a 1946 American live-action/animated musical film produced by Walt Disney based on the Uncle Remus stories collected by Joel Chandler Harris. It was Disney's first feature film using live actors with animated characters interacting with them. The film depicts the character Uncle Remus, an African-American former slave, cheerfully relating to several children the folk tales of the adventures of Br'er Rabbit and his friends.

The film's depiction of African-American former slaves and of race relations in Georgia has been controversial since its original release, and is now regarded as racist. Basically, people say that it glorifies slavery and the relationship between slaves and their masters. It has never been released in its entirety on home video in the US. The ride actually has nothing to do with the issue of slavery or Uncle Remus or any of the controversial stuff in the movie. You can understand the story of the ride without even knowing that it's based off a 1946 movie about slavery. It's purely about Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox, and Br'er Bear.

So, are you ready to ride? (Make sure you watch in HD!)

If you haven't noticed by now, I'm huge on background music and the kind of atmosphere it can create. Splash Mountain, with it's cheery, folksy, uplifting tunes really creates the mood for this attraction. I honestly can't even describe the feeling I get when riding it, especially in the beginning (around 1:48) where you're outside and the sky is blue and you're thinking to yourself "Man, I'm in the happiest place on Earth, life is so good!". Plus, I love water rides, so Splash Mountain is my happy place. It's so hard to describe! This ride is completely immersive, and truly makes you feel like you're in a different world.

Basically, the story line here is that Br'er Rabbit is going away from home. He wants to go out and explore and find adventure.

At first, it sounds like a great idea! But then we see Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear are out to get him. Every time they try and trap Br'er Rabbit, their plan gets foiled. Around 4:22, we even see Br'er Bear get caught in the trap instead of Br'er Rabbit!

After another huge drop in the dark (5:20), we're in The Laughin' Place. Everyone is giddy with laughter, and Br'er Rabbit doesn't even notice when Br'er Fox is about to trap him with a bee's nest.

We ride further into the Laughin' Place with one more small drop in the dark. Finally, Br'er Fox has caught Br'er Rabbit, and is going to throw him into the Briar Patch! A couple of foreboding vultures tell us mockingly "If you've finally found your laughing place, how come you aren't laughing?"

This is the big drop! The music here creates such a suspense, because you know that this drop is huge and even though it's not really scary, you can't help but feel the suspense! In this case, you're Br'er Rabbit and you're being thrown into the Briar Patch!

If you pause the video at 8:21, you'll see one of the best views ever. The Briar Patch, Frontierland, and Cinderella Castle is even peeking out over the trees. Okay, continue!

Now you're absolutely soaked! Your 53 ft drop at 40 MPH really was thrilling, and you can't help but smile. How much fun was that?
Back at home, everyone is celebrating Br'er Rabbit's return, and he sings about how glad he is to be back in the Briar Patch.

Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear are barely escaping the jaws of an alligator!

Now, unfortunately, it's time to unload. I hope you had fun! The exit leads to a gift shop, where you can view and purchase a picture of your log just as it was dropping. My family and I have gotten many of these pictures over the years! I was able to find pictures from 2004 (this one's kind of blurry), 2005, and 2006, which was pretty awesome and brought back a ton of memories. My dad and brother and I always requested to be in the front row, which, in my opinion, makes the ride even better.

I've basically been a Splash Mountain junkie ever since my first trip here. But really, can you blame me?