The Carousel of Progress exhibit that debuted at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event has officially made its way into Walt Disney Presents at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
This new display is giving guests their first up-close look at the reimagined attraction’s costumes and miniature sets while the real ride sits closed back at Magic Kingdom.
If you’ve been dying for any real look at what’s coming to Carousel of Progress, this display is the closest thing to a sneak peek you’re going to get before 2027.
The exhibit is tucked into Walt Disney Presents near the Little Mermaid meet and greet with the live-action Ariel, and it’s replaced the Piston Peak National Park concept art and maquettes that previously occupied the space. Behind glass, guests can see full costumes for John and Sarah alongside miniature 1:12 scale dioramas recreating scenes from the reimagined show, plus concept art lining the walls. The sign accompanying the display reads that Imagineers are updating the attraction with all-new scenes that will see John, Sarah, and the rest of the family living in entirely new eras.
The costumes themselves tell a lot of the story on their own. John appears in a yellow cardigan over a white v-neck sweater with striped trim, paired with plaid trousers, an outfit tagged as Act IV: 1/2 Scale Model, meaning this is his look in the attraction’s climactic future scene rather than its opening. Sarah’s costume is a striking mustard-gold silk robe-style dress with a teal collar and cuffs, cinched with a woven belt and paired with turquoise ankle boots, also marked for Act IV. Both mannequins are notably faceless, a deliberate choice since the actual Audio-Animatronics figures haven’t been built yet. The two miniature dioramas on display show a conversation pit with a stone fireplace, built-in seating, and a chess table where Sarah’s paper-cutout figure sits, and a mid-century kitchen scene with orange cabinetry where John’s figure sits at a breakfast bar next to the family dog, Rover, still very much present and unchanged in the reimagined version.
Here’s everything confirmed so far about what’s actually coming when the ride reopens. Carousel of Progress closed July 6, 2026, with a target reopening in late Spring 2027. The overhaul shifts the entire timeline forward by roughly 60 years, moving the family’s story from its original starting point into the summer of 1969 and forward from there, specifically chosen because these are eras today’s guests actually lived through or remember secondhand, rather than the turn-of-the-century setting from the original show. Bryan Cranston and Jamie Lee Curtis have been cast as the voices of John and Sarah, giving the attraction real star power for the first time in its history. One of the new scenes revealed so far is an 1980s-set Halloween sequence, and Walt Disney Imagineering has also confirmed the addition of an Audio-Animatronics figure of Walt Disney himself, worked directly into the attraction that bears his name. The finale, Act IV, reimagines the “possible future” scene as a nod to the original, complete with a new robot assistant character standing alongside John, Sarah, and Rover, all visible in the new attraction poster’s artwork, which itself echoes the original 1964 New York World’s Fair poster design, right down to Easter eggs like the Moonliner, Progress City, and the monorail.
Chris Beatty, Portfolio Executive Creative Director at Walt Disney Imagineering, has said the goal of the whole update is keeping the attraction relatable by setting it in decades guests have personal connections to, while the classic “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow” theme song continues playing guests between scenes exactly as it always has. Reporting has also suggested the refresh goes beyond new show scenes alone, with permit filings pointing toward a deeper overhaul of the ride’s aging turntable mechanism and show building, which would make sense given the ride’s age and the scope of what’s being promised.
It’s a genuinely rare thing for Disney to let guests see this much of a still-closed attraction’s actual production materials in person, rather than just concept art in a press release. Having the real costumes and scale models on physical display, in the very theme park where Walt Disney Presents already leans hard into behind-the-scenes Disney history, feels like a fitting home for this exhibit while the ride itself finishes its transformation back at Magic Kingdom.
We’ll keep tracking every new detail on Carousel of Progress as 2027 approaches, so check back with Theme Park Scope for updates, and follow us on social so you don’t miss it.
Are YOU excited for Carousel of Progress to jump forward into the 1960s through the near future, or will you miss the original turn-of-the-century setting?
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