Carousel of Progress Closes Ahead of 2027 Relaunch

Magic Kingdom's Carousel of Progress has entered its most significant transformation in three decades. The attraction is currently unavailable to guests, with the reworked show scheduled to debut in late spring 2027 — a timeline Disney confirmed as part of the "Horizons: A Carousel of Progress" presentation at D23, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris.

The casting news drew the loudest reaction. Bryan Cranston and Jamie Lee Curtis are taking over as the voices of the show's father and mother, replacing performances that generations of guests know by heart. Separately, the previously announced Walt Disney Audio-Animatronic will open the show in a scene built around the 1964 television special where Walt first pitched the concept publicly. Imagineers have been recreating props from that broadcast, including a prototype Tiki bird and a Tower of the Four Winds model.

Every act moves forward in time

The structural change is the bigger story. All four scenes are being reset to later decades. Act one lands in the 1960s, with the family gathered around the television for the 1969 moon landing. Act two jumps to Halloween 1985 and hands the lead to Sarah for the first time in the show's history. Act three sits on New Year's Eve 1999 as the internet arrives in the household. The finale looks further ahead, into a home with robotic help and casual space travel, drawing on original concept sketches by Disney Legend John Hench.

The reasoning is neatly circular: the 1964 original opened by looking back roughly 60 years, and the new version applies the same offset from today. The Sherman Brothers' theme remains in place as the transition between scenes.

Why it matters

This is the attraction's first major rework since 1994, and it touches the last Disney show still running largely as Walt shaped it — from the 1964–65 New York World's Fair to Disneyland in 1967 and Florida since 1975. Purists will lose specific performances they can quote line for line. The counterargument is baked into the premise: a show about progress was never designed to hold still.

A new attraction poster, echoing the original 1967 artwork, was also revealed.