Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress, Rotating theater in Bay Lake, US
Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress is a rotating theater in Tomorrowland at the Magic Kingdom in Bay Lake, Florida. Six audience sections turn around a central stage divided into six scenes, each showing a different era of 20th-century American home life through Audio-Animatronics figures. The stage stays still while the seating rotates clockwise from one scene to the next.
General Electric commissioned this project for the 1964 New York World's Fair as a showcase of electrical achievements. The theater later moved to California before finding its permanent home in Florida in 1975.
The show has two theme songs, both by the Sherman Brothers: "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" and a later replacement. The family is voiced by Audio-Animatronics figures, and the father, John, addresses the audience directly in each scene. The dog Rover and grandmother appear in the first act.
The program runs for about 20 minutes and offers seating for all visitors in an air-conditioned room. The rotation happens automatically between scenes, so no movement is required from the audience.
The show has two theme songs, both by the Sherman Brothers: "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" and, from the 1975 version, "The Best Time of Your Life". The father, John, narrates each act, and the family dog Rover lies on the floor in the opening scene. The theater seats rotate around a stationary stage divided into six scenes.
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