You aren’t imagining things, Disney has just announced that a Walt Disney Audio-Animatronic figure is coming to “Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress” at Magic Kingdom Park inside Walt Disney World!
In a change Mickey Views has reported rumors of previously, it is now official that Walt Disney will be coming to a new scene on the Carousel of Progress. Announced during the Destination D23 Panel “Creating the Happiest Place on Earth,” it was revealed that “Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress” is about to become even more Walt Disney.
Kirsten Komoroske, Executive Director of the Walt Disney Family Museum said:
We are grateful to The Walt Disney Company and Walt Disney Imagineering for their continued collaboration and ongoing partnership with The Walt Disney Family Museum. The introduction of a new Audio-Animatronics figure of Walt Disney in ‘Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress’ marks an exciting milestone in our shared mission to celebrate the story of the man behind the magic and inspire new generations with his innovations and vision for the future. We appreciate the continued efforts and meticulous care that Imagineering has taken to keep Walt’s legacy alive.
While lacking in any official details besides the above concept art, Mickey Views can add some further color to this brief announcement.
Rumors and Thoughts
Since 2020, Mickey Views has repeatedly reported rumors about the addition of Walt Disney to the Carousel of Progress. Originally intended for Walt Disney World’s 50th anniversary (or maybe even prior during the 2016 update to the Carousel’s exterior), Walt Disney Imagineering has been rumored to be cooking something up for a long time!
Once rumored as a ‘Hologram Walt’ in a partial replica of his office, we now have confirmation Walt Disney will, in fact, be an Audio-Animatronic! We believe this Walt Disney audio-animatronic will appear in the scene before Act 1 in the show. Walt Disney Imagineer Chris Beatty made a possible reference to this placement during his on-stage teaser saying Walt’s animatronic would be part of a “new show scene.”
In the pre-show sequence where the old Carousel gear sign currently resides is where Mickey Views has reason to believe Walt will be featured in all his animatronic glory. In the art, we can see surrounding him are many of his greatest achievements and dreams post-Disneyland opening. Chief among these are E.P.C.O.T., the Disneyland Alweg Monorail System, and the rocket from Walt’s educational film “Man in Space.”
Here, we expect Walt to introduce new guests to his still-continuously-operating 1964 World’s Fair show about progress from the past to the future.
The first Walt Disney audio-animatronic figure debuted this summer at Disneyland with mixed reactions. Given the much smaller theater for this Carousel pre-show, guests will be seated much closer to Walt, necessitating an elevated level of accuracy and detail in order to make the Walt animatronic likeness realistic. Sources of Mickey Views familiar with the matter suggest that the face for Walt Disney World’s audio-animatronic Walt will be “improved,” although questions exist on if this best-case scenario will materialize. If improvements are made over the Disneyland version, it is also possible Disney executives will suggest Disneyland’s now-playing Walt animatronic receive a similar update to Walt’s animatronic head.
Disney has provided few details other than the concept art, but do note this Walt Disney audio-animatronic addition is part of what Mickey Views believes will be a full mechanical update to ALL the animatronics throughout the entire attraction and will likely accompany an updated future scene as well.
The timetable on this update has not yet been announced by Disney. Mickey Views sources suggest unofficially that the Carousel of Progress update should be completed in the later half of 2026.
Disney has stated there are more details soon to come!
At the very least, an animatronics update to the attraction ensures the Carousel of Progress will be around a while longer at Walt Disney World. If Imagineering can deliver an upgraded, more realistic version of the Walt animatronic currently running in Disneyland, it could be an amazing addition! What are your thoughts on this announcement? Let us know in the comments below!
