Based on the idea of Edison Street which was to be built between Main Street and Tomorrowland but never was.
The Progress City model that was used in the attraction was located on the second floor. The model was 115 feet wide and 60 feet deep. It had 1,00 street lights, 2,500 moving vehicles, 20,000 trees and 4,500 structures.
Lyrics for There's A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow:
There's a great, big, beautiful tomorrow
Shining at the end of every day
There's a great, big, beautiful tomorrow
And tomorrow's just a dream away
Man has a dream and that's the start
He follows his dream with mind and heart
And when it becomes a reality
It's a dream come true for you and me
So there's a great, big, beautiful tomorrow
Shining at the end of every day
There's a great, big, beautiful tomorrow
Just a dream away
each theater held 240 guests.
From 1967 Tomorrowland Info Packet
THERE'S A GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL TOMORROW:
As GE guests are seated by Disneyland hostesses, they "see" and hear a light-hearted rendition of the Carousel of Progress theme song. There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow, through the medium of Kaleidophonics.
KALEIDOPHONICS:
A ten-foot-high, transparent Kaleidophonic screen, stretching the entire 40-foot length of the first stage, presents constantly changing constellations of shimmering colors. Stereophonic music and the narrator's voice electronically determine the illuminated colors and light intensities.
MEET FOUR GENERATIONS:
As the Carousel Theatre rotates, it carries seated guests into the homes of four generations of the same family from the days before electricity to the present.
GE guests arc welcomed into living rooms of the families to see how electricity has contributed to better living.
The families represent different periods of time—the late 1800's. 1920's, 1940's and present day.
THE 1890's:
Guests' first visit is with an average family at the turn of the century, represented by a father, mother, son. two daughters. grandmother and, of course, the family dog.
With the help of his clan, Father proudly discusses the many "modern" conveniences available to Americans in the 19th Century — hand-operated washing machines and vacuum cleaners, talking machines, ice boxes and coal-burning kitchen ranges.
Skeptically, he mentions that a fellow named Tom Edison is working on a revolutionary idea: snap-on electric lights.
THE 1920's:
As the Carousel Theatre rotates to the next stage, the audience is greeted by the same family, this time comfortably at home in the 1920's.
Surrounding them arc the latest "electrical servants," including a sewing machine. percolator. toaster, waffle iron, electric clock and refrigerator — all connected to central outlets by dangling cords. Again. Father serves as narrator to relate the noteworthy advances made by electricity since the turn of the century. He concludes with the declaration: "It looks as though we've progressed about as far as we can."
THE 1940's:
Moving on to the next stage, guests enter the home of the 1940's. the beginning of the electronic era.
Electrical progress rides into the living room on horseback as a western movie is viewed on a 10-inch, water-filled television screen. Meanwhile, the teenage daughter, who states her distaste for bouncy jalopies, keeps in shape with a bouncy new reducing machine. Mother, imaginative as always, uses a new food mixer to stir paint.
TODAY:
Bringing things to the present, a beautifully appointed, all-electric home of today is visited next.
Father and Mother—mostly Mother —tell the story of electrical progress of the present with reference to the latest in television receivers. stereo, lighting and a host of other new conveniences. Through a large window at the back of this living room setting is seen the panorama of Progress City, where this family lives.
AUDIO ANIMATRONICS:
All 32 "stars" of the show are Audio-Animatronic creations that represent a new high in the state of the art of animating three-dimensional figures.
PROGRESS CITY:
As Act IV comes to an end, GE guests are invited to begin a second journey. Stepping onto a "speedramp" that carries them to the pavilion's second level, guests enter three, wide, terraced rows and move forward along the railing at the front of each row.
Spreading before them like a glistening jewel is the horizon-filling spectacle of Progress City, completing GE's story of electricity and its contributions to more comfortable and enjoyable living.
ELECTRIC COMMUNITY OF TODAY:
Captured in amazing realism, the scale model (1/14 inch 1 foot), fully-animated city is an all-electric community that can be built today through applications of the most advanced technologies.
Totaling 6,900 square feet (115 feet by 60 feet). Progress City's 20,000 trees and shrubs, 4,500 buildings, and 1,400 street lights are authentic to the smallest detail. Many structures feature interior lighting, and furniture inside can be seen in some windows.
MOVING TRANSIT SYSTEMS:
Progress City is complete with 7 types of transportation, including rapid transit monorails, electric trains, the WEDway People-Mover, automotive, transporters (electric carts), moving side-walks, and today's jets. Throughout Progress City, 2,450 of the vehicles are actually moving.
There is a climate-controlled "center city" and a wide variety of night-lighted amusement areas, sports stadiums, an airport, atomic power facility and other necessities. Its full-length cyclorama evening sky background measures 160 feet long by 23 feet high.
BASED ON EPCOT CONCEPT:
The overall design of General Electric's Progress City model in Disneyland is based on a concept developed by Walt Disney for the Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow (EPCOT) he had planned for Disney World in Florida.
PREVIEW FROM PEOPLEMOVER:
Passengers riding aboard the PeopleMover visit this area of GE's pavilion for an exciting view of Progress City during an adventure throughout Tomorrowland and many of its major pavilions.
From WED Disneyland Dictionary 1968
Features four warm and humorous "Audio-Animatronics" "families" from different generations who welcome guests into their homes of the 1890's, 1920's, 1940's and today, to hear how progress through electricity has contributed to better living. Added to the completely re-developed New York World's Fair hit is "Progress City," an entire community captured in capsulized realism and featuring moving transportation systems and thousands of buildings.
