Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress is one of the most iconic and underrated attractions at Disney World. That is 100% a fact, not an opinion. There are so many reasons to enjoy the ride. From the great American story it tells, to sitting in A/C on a hot day, the attraction is perfect. However, it’s just been announced that the show is closing for a brand-new final scene update that many are considering “woke”.

The Carousel of Progress opened in 1975 at the Magic Kingdom. The ride is based on the attraction from the 1964 New York World’s Fair. It was an immediate smash hit and millions of people came to see it. Since then, the Carousel of Progress has had more performances than any other stage show in the history of American theater. It’s truly an amazing ride, however, the new scene update is proving to be controversial.

Disney Stepping into Controversy Again

The Walt Disney Company continues to make decisions based on diversity, equity, and inclusion, rather than creating value for shareholders. This is the main reason why Governor DeSantis called in the National Guard to Block the Entrances to Disney World as we reported here. Since then, Disney has struck back by changing The Little Mermaid Animatronic. Also, they announced all American Flags will be pride flags at Magic Kingdom in June. Disney is stepping into this water again, now with Carousel of Progress.

The Carousel of Progress is made up of 4 different scenes. It starts in the spring at the turn of the century in the early 1900s. Then, it goes to summer in the 1920s. After that is fall in the fabulous 40s. Lastly, the final scene is Christmas and takes place in “the future”. The date in the future isn’t specified, however, in 2023, the scene is outdated. The oven is voice-activated and Jimmy plays a video game on a VR device. Everything in the scene is the vision of the future from 20 years ago.

It’s clear the final scene in Carousel of Progress is in need of an update. The final scene is so outdated despite Disney’s recent efforts to update it. Disney recently changed a few of the outfits of the family, however, those are minor changes. The attraction truly needs to be revamped and the final scene updated, which is exactly what Disney is going to do. They will set the new scene in the early 2100s. Of course, in a semi-controversial way.

Carousel of Progress Going “Woke”?

There are a significant number of changes coming to the final scene of Carousel of Progress. First off, the current scene celebrates Christmas. The scene will still take place in the winter. However, in the new scene, the family will celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanza. This is to allegedly be more representative of other cultures and lifestyles.

There are also updates to some of the animatronics. First off, Patricia will become the first-ever transgender animatronic. Patricia is the daughter of John and Sarah, referred to as both Patty and Patricia throughout the ride. However, in the new future scene, “he” will go by Pat, which can be interchangeably used as a male or female name. Disney will apparently change its look of Pat to appear as male vs female. This is caused some people to give the ride a new nickname, “Carousel of Wokeness”.

The other update is the addition of an African American animatronic. The new African American animatronic will be Jimmy’s boyfriend, visiting for the holidays. Currently, the entire family is white. This allows them to add diversity to the ride and to the scene. In fact, the addition of this animatronic checks two boxes, diversity, and adds a gay couple. Disney thinks these changes make the ride more relatable to what the future will bring, however, it’s certainly controversial.

What do you think of the huge changes coming to the Carousel of Progress final scene? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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