America Sings: Doomed From the Start? Or Masterpiece in Wrong Park?

America Sings, a Disneyland exclusive that opened in 1974 and closed in 1988. This Attraction has a rich history and it's legacy still lives today. But, what if they built it in the wrong park? That's what I'm here to answer. America Sings: Doomed From the Start? Or Masterpiece in Wrong Park?

Sam the Eagle and Ollie the Owl

America sings was the brain child of Disney legend Marc Davis who was instrumental in bringing humor into Disneyland through rides and pun type names for shops and such. He was the one who added the Elephant Bathing Pool in the Jungle Cruise, added a lot of the humorist elements in the Haunted Mansion, and was one of the main developers in the classic Disney audio animatronic show The Country Bear Jamboree. But there was something in common with all of those rides. They were Walt Disney's. He just helped bring them to life. America Sings was his own.

One reason America Sings was brought into the park was because The Carousel of Progress's sponsor, General Electric, wanted to move the show to Walt Disney World in Florida. So, the very large and visible Carousel theater was without a show. So, America Sings was born. The show was about the history of American music. From the south to "Modern Times" which was modern from big band music til Elvis. 

Carousel Theater photo from Matterhorn

 I mentioned something about "Doomed from the Start" earlier. That began on opening day. "Big Al" Bertino a Disney Imagineer during the press day fell on one of the animatronics. Didn't work for the rest of the day. Two weeks after opening. Deborah Gail Stone a show host died. The Carousel Theater had rotating theater. The seats moved around a stationary stage. She put her head to close between the stationary stage and the rotating seats. You can picture the rest...

America Sings rotating theater

After it's first few mishaps it ran smoothly for a number of years. It's only major change in it's 14 year run was two Animatronic Geese were moved to Star Tours. They are still there today. On April 10th, 1988. America Sings sang its last song. The reason was a dwindling audience and Splash Mountain needed animatronic figures due to it going 50 million dollars over budget.

I mentioned something in the beginning about masterpiece in the wrong park and I'm going to touch on that now. There is a section in Walt Disney World called "Liberty Square." An American colonial town theme. America Sings could have fit there. Frontierland in Disneyland could have also been a good spot. It's location in the park is what killed it. History in a futuristic land. Sure the animatronics were state of the art but the theme was one that doesn't fit in Tomorrowland. Yes, the Carousel of Progress was history. But it was the history of technology. America Sings was not.

America Sings lives on today in Splash Mountain and Star Tours. It's also a classic Disney Attraction. It's charm and great music is what made it great. Its humor was great, and its animatronics, Amazing. The show is on YouTube if you're interested. Thanks for reading and hope that you read again soon.