Just one day after Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress closed for its long-anticipated reimagining, a YouTube channel dedicated to the attraction published footage revealing how close some Walt Disney World Resort guests got to the show’s iconic rotating stage.
The Video That Surfaced on July 6
On Monday, the YouTube channel Carousel Club posted a video titled “Carousel of Progress Walk Around Footage #1 (TJ POV),” showing the entire 20-plus minute show filmed from the edge of the stage using extending tripods and external camera equipment. The footage was shot by a channel member identified as TJ, and the title’s “#1” designation implies that additional videos from other club members exist — though none had been released at the time of this report.
In the caption, the Carousel Club explained the circumstances of the filming in considerable detail:
“This is just one of MANY of these that we did over the years!! Joey would take up center stage filming John and I would run back and forth between the turntables. We both had our phones attached to extension clips which for me made it possible to reach between the scrims and curtains and get an un-obstructed view of the sets. All this while being careful not to accidentally trip the infrared intrusion sensors lining the front of the stage. There were however several instances throughout doing these where my shirt did brush across the lip of the stage as I was leaning over causing this to happen.”
According to the Carousel Club, the footage was captured in the early morning and late evening hours of March 9, 2022, during periods when most Magic Kingdom Park guests were either at rope drop or staking out fireworks-viewing spots near Cinderella Castle. Disney cast members reportedly gave the group permission to move around the theater during stationary scenes, and Walt Disney World Resort did not punish them for the activity.
Although these guests claimed to avoid backstage areas, walking through unauthorized areas of an operating attraction, such as the Carousel of Progress, is extremely dangerous. In 1974, an 18-year-old Disneyland Resort cast member was killed after falling into the gap between a stationary wall and a moving stage on America Sings — the identical attraction system that powers the Carousel of Progress. The same mechanical gap that claimed her life exists in the Magic Kingdom version of the ride.
Beyond the circumstances of its filming, the video captures Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress before Walt Disney World Resort made cosmetic updates to the futuristic finale scene, giving the Progress family more contemporary hairstyles and clothing. The footage now serves as an inadvertent historical document of a show that closed permanently on July 5, 2026.
Walt Disney World Resort announced earlier this year that the Carousel of Progress would receive its first significant reimagining since 1994. The updated attraction will feature new scenes set in 1969, 1985, 1999, and “The Possible Future,” all introduced by a new audio-animatronic of Walt Disney himself. A grand reopening date has not been announced.
What do you think about Walt Disney World Resort’s plans for the Carousel of Progress? Share your opinion with Disney Dining in the comments!
