A Look at the Progress City Model- Then and Now
Thursday, July 22, 2010 at 12:53PM Posted by Fritz ;)
The Progress City model was once a spectacular site. Housed on the second level of the Carousel Theater at DIsneyland above The Carousel of Progress, it was often visited but not-so-often photographed or filmed. It was a large model with many moving parts and electric lights.
What you see today while riding the Magic Kingdom’s TTA is only a piece of the original model. Not only did a relatively small section of the model survive, a very small amount of movement and lighting remains today. There are fewer houses, far fewer cars and the landscaping is almost nonexistent compared to the original. The thing was literally sliced up in various places to fit it’s new space at Walt Disney World.
The blue lines below indicate the area of the model you see today.
A Chance to Restore the Model
A few years back I was asked if I’d like to help restore this old model city. I wet my pants a little and said, “Sign me up! I’ll come in early and stay late if I have to, just don’t change your mind”. Life stinks sometimes, especially in the moments that excite you the most. The lousy bums changed their minds.
- “It’s a matter of ownership. We don’t actually know who ‘owns‘ the model”.
Yeah well I’d been up there a few times before to climb around and my old model train city I made as a kid with my mom’s hot glue gun and little hobby shop fake trees was in better shape.
;)
The model as seen within the last several years. Viewed from catwalk above the TTA track.
- “WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE CAN’T RESTORE IT NOW??”
- “Well we think it belongs to Decorating and they ain’t interested in doin’ notin’ wid it.”
- “ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Give me their number. You are saying that even if I volunteer my time to save this piece of history, you ain’t gonna let me because no one wants to deal with the thing?? IT’S OLDER THAN ALL OF DISNEY WORLD!”
- “Yeah well, we isn’t interested in the best interest of stuff around here. Go finish yurr work on that Small World doll.”
Good thing I like working on Small World dolls. As it turns out, ‘Decorating’ had already been there. No need to clean the model or fix the broken buildings. Definitely no need to fix the double ferris wheel that once moved round and around. Nope. All they needed was a few out-of-scale Matchbox cars and sci-fi toys to spread around. Now that brings me to something that not everyone seems to quite understand. Imagineering doesn’t maintain everything you see at the parks. Hardly. There are loads of other departments who focus (or don’t focus) on various pieces of the attractions and parks in general (Engineering Services, Decorating, Artist Prep, Creative Costuming, Buildings, Custodial, even Buena Vista Construction Company, etc.).
The Fantasy of EPCOT Living
I’d always loved the WEDWay PeopleMover at Magic Kingdom (now TTA) in large part due to the view of Progress City. I liked to dream of the life I could have had in the low-density residential outer rings of the city of EPCOT.
;)
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Concept art for Medallion City, 64-65 New York World Fair, meant to showcase residential life in Progress City
While riding past the model I’d spot nifty looking mid-century modern ranch-style houses with PeopleMover stations out the back door with views of the towering cosmopolitan hotel and convention center. A little amusement area and schools for the kids, pedestrian walkways separate from the motor ways, a Monorail traveling through the center of town... Hot dog, what could be better?
;)
The wife and I could meet up for ethnic food while she shops in the retail district just below my office building. Once inside, weather conditions good and bad would be safely out of reach, yet visible though the domed glass skylights. Walt Disney would be walking around pointing at stuff and I’d say ‘hi’ to him. Marty Sklar would be telling people that a city like the one he’s standing would be too expensive to ever build. Herb Ryman would be at the next table sketching on a napkin. Then he’d give me his sketches and we’d discuss the look of transportation systems of the future. My wife would love that.
Why the Tiki Lounge in the City of the Future?
Tiki building as seen in the model's original state
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The same tiki building on current model
Doesn’t seam to fit in, or does it? Remember, the peak of America’s fascination with all things ‘tiki’ was the 1950s and 60s. The phenomenon began with returning WWII soldiers who had served time in the Pacific. Hawaii had not been opened to tourist travel by jet plane for all that long. The war ended in the mid 40s and i presume many of the W.E.D. staff had spent time in Polynesia. And remember that Progress City focussed on all areas of life, including leisure. What better way to relax than in some tike restaurant on the marina? Maybe someone just liked tiki stuff and added it to the plans?? Either way, this piece is still on the model and boy is it cool to think about.
A Hacked Model
You can compare the model in its two locations and the pieces that still stand today. You’ll notice the little PeopleMover tracks no longer have moving PeopleMover cars on them. The tracks were hacked, therefore no longer operational. They appear to have been made of simple slot car technology. Just like the slot car tracks you had as a kid, except without sharp corners that made cars fly off and break things in your living room.
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Let's give give credit where credit's due. Though the model is in a very dilapidated state after all these years, it's presented in a way that makes it look pretty good. Granted I'd love to see moving parts and fewer broken pieces, but from a moving WEDWay car, in a dark tunnel, behing glass- the thing doesn't look half bad.
Some of these photos were taken without show lighting and with the use of flash. Some are with show lighting, no flash.
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I'd Give My Right Eye
I’ve been looking for video or imagery of the 6th portion of Disneyland’s Carousel of Progress forever now. After the final act of the show, guests would exit though the stage area and ascend to the second floor to see the Progress City model. I’ve found very little. I would love to see exactly what that experience was, including the viewing area of the model.
So PLEASE send anything you have showing these things.
Photos by Fritz and Hoot. A special thanks to Hoot who has done a heap of research and investigation involving the model. He was the one who showed me the secret door to get to the model and the catwalk above. You’ve seen the door before. You just don’t know it!
[ MANY MORE DETAILED PHOTOS TO BE POSTED SOON. PLEASE CHECK BACK LATER. ]
Reader Comments (16)
very nice, considering how much you looked around and how little you could find. i love things like this. I had no idea the model had been that large! it's amazing! it's one of the reasons i love disney so much are the amazing details, especially in the models and actual works.
btw, I don't know when the last time you came by to look at the model, but alot of the lights and moving parts work again. I know the double ferris wheel (and something else I can't recall) mover very well, but i would love to have seen the trains and people movers move. that's a shame.
I'm starting to realize how much wasn't made of the worlds fair, video or photo. it's a shame! I've been looking up some world's fair videos on youtube. I posted some that have brief glimpses of the GE pavallion. I'd look up the GM FUTURAMA one; it's so much like a disney one, without having been one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zuIY06Hyc4
a site a local group at my school has been working on:
http://mclserver.eecs.ucf.edu/nywf/
You'd think that Dave Smith and the Disney Archives folks would be interested in this being restored to its original version, not just Imagineering. We all know that "Disney(land||World) is not a museum", but there is an audience and interest in seeing these types of displays and history of where the company as a whole - and the parks in particular - came from.
While a permanent exhibit in Epcot on park history would appease those fanboys who would salivate over these types of things - and goodness knows there's room for it there - creating such a museum or exhibit in an external facility would probably be a better idea. The WDFM seems like a logical choice, but I don't think they have the room for something like this.
All that said, there needs to be a balance between "moving forward" and "preserving history". Some things aren't meant to be (or should be) kept in their original state. Converting America Rocks characters for Splash Mountain, for example, works. The original Progress City model, on the other hand, does fit into a larger picture and should have an advocate for its restoration...even if the restoration is just of the piece seen on the TTA.
I never realized it was so big originally! When I worked at WDW I spent a lot of time trying to sneak into places I shouldn't have been. Why didn't I try to walk on the catwalk above the TTA??!!!
i love that i all ways wanted to look at that like that way! thank you i love the blog
I don't know. I think there's already a perfect place for the restored model at WDW -- One Man's Dream at DHS. EPCOT literally was one man's dream, and was at the very center (no pun intended) of Walt's dream for the Florida Project.
Thank you for this great post and wonderful pictures. Did I see this model first at the New York World's Fair perhaps? I think so. In any case, ever notice the similarity between this original model and the Burj Dubai? Of course the scale is different, but the central tower, the surrounding lake, the radiating transportation systems, and the smaller buildings around it--they are all there in the Disney model.
Take a look:
http://weeklydrop.com/2008/07/burj-dubai-opening-tower-2009/
Nice one Fritz! I remember trying to get the devil to approve the restoration too. She told me that "it just wasn't important" because,clearly, Popeye's chicken had clouded her vision.
It's a miracle that this model wasn't replaced by a half assed robot scene in the 90's. Maybe a robot hitchhiker who's thumbing a ride to stupid-ville.
It amazes me that the company scrapped EPCOT saying it just wouldn't work. Ever drive down I-4 just south of Disney? There's a resort community (can't recall the name) with a central tower, business, retail, and restaurant space. Housing and recreation around the city center...... sounds familiar and it's working today on a grand scale. If you're driving East at night, the central tower (from the side) looks just like EPCOT! Maybe Walt was ahead of his time and MAYBE his staff should have listened.
For the record it would take Cagel 450 years to complete the restoration. He'd be stuck on the grass for at least 425 years.
Hahaha!
And really it is a shock there isn't some crappy robot beauty parlor or something stupid. I hate those things.
Is the neighborhood you speak of called "Champions Gate"?
Well, speaking of epcot and museums, they did have that brief one for the 25th anniversary in one of their small halls in innoventions; had artifacts and many goodies from past attractions, etc from the park's history. I think it would be perfect to have had it there. I still wish they'd bring back the other museum. it's still there, always closed, being used as a segway training room, so much still in there. i always take a look under the door and wish...
They did end up creating Celebrations, which was their try on the EPCOT feel. it's still there, while no longer owned by disney. I'm not sure if thats what you might have meant.
and hoot, I didn't know you frequented here! i love following you and chief on mesa verde times!
Thanks Derek. Fritz and I go way back. We even served together in the war for quality. We lost.
I think it is Champions Gate. There's also Reunion, Bella Colina (sic?) etc Anyway, they're huge and clearly show that EPCOT the city would certainly have worked.
Hoot and I got in all sorts of trouble. Like all the times we tried to make things look and work better- heaven forbid anyone do that!
So, it's something I've wondered while reading up on it; were you in WDI then? or at least some facet of disney that controls things?
Either way, i salute you and fritz for the fight; it's one I'm openly sad has lost. I lament it, and hope for the better in the long run :) I really hope to join in in my coming years, time will tell.
and no, i think it's quite awful you tried to do anything better! that's an impossibility! you have to keep your nose to the grindstone and never try anything different!
and i've heard of champions gate, i just never realized thats what it was meant to be. and of course it would work, hoot, think of the man who imagined it ;) but yes, I'm sure in would be very successful with the right workings and planning. :)
So does the slide projector and mirror airplane effect still work, or is that busted too? It's been a long while since I've been on the TTA.
How Bowers! Damn man! We snuck up there together early on!
When Fritz and I were there it was working. Not sure if it is anymore.
I fell in love with this model city at the World's Fair in 1965. My own model "Magic Kingdom" in my basement has it's roots in Progress City. I'd love to see the entire model restored. It was iconic.
Cheers,
Don W.
Barrington IL