June 1974 – April 1988
LOCATION
Tomorrowland – America Sings occupied the large circular Tomorrowland theater, formerly used for the Carousel of Progress. The theater sat in the back corner of Tomorrowland, next to the Autopia entrance. Given its massive size, the America Sings theater was visible from anywhere in Tomorrowland.
BACKGROUND
Like its predecessor, the America Sings show was a rotating theater, which led guests through a series of different scenes. America Sings was conceived as a relative of the Country Bear Jamboree, with friendly animatronic animals singing classic songs and celebrating American history and heritage.
EXPERIENCE
The show began in the onloading room, where announcers Sam the eagle and Ollie the owl greeted guests and ushered in their band of singing friends. Each scene had a similar backdrop: a park and gazebo. One room celebrated the Deep South, another the Wild West, and the others different modern eras in American history. Finally, the show ended with a dramatic rendition of “Stars and Stripes Forever”, with Sam and Ollie closing out the performance with their own version of “Auld Lang Syne”.
CLOSURE
Like the Carousel of Progress, the America Sings show saw decreasing interest from Disneyland guests, and it wasn’t long before the animatronics seemed outdated and boring. The ride’s official sponsorship with Del Monte expired in early 1988, and the attraction’s fate was sealed. America Sings officially closed in April, with no word as to its replacement.
For nearly a decade, the lower portion of the building became office and storage space. Almost all of the animatronic birds were moved into Splash Mountain, joining the Song of the South characters. The upper level was still in use as part of the PeopleMover, but the massive Tomorrowland building was largely a ghost town throughout the 90’s. America Sings’ replacement finally arrived in 1998: a west coast version of Epcot’s Innoventions.
TRIVIA
America Sings occupied only the lower level of the theater, and the upper level was used as a tunnel for the PeopleMover.
Two of the geese in the show were pulled before the ride closed, and received dramatic makeovers to become droids in the waiting area for Star Tours.
The “Rock and Roll Stork” from the show’s finale is now used to train Animatronic Programmers in Imagineering.
In 1974, a cast member died when she became trapped between two walls of the rotating theater. As a result of this incident, Imagineers installed breakaway walls to protect cast members operating the attraction.
R.I.P debbie
i feel bad for debbie
It apparently was closed because a crew member named Deborah Gail Stone was killed because she crushed to death between the building’s rotating wall and a stationary wall.
Unfortunately this absolutely happened, but it was in 1974. The attraction didn’t close until 1988.
Didn’t someone die in this show?
Sadly, yes. In the 70s, a cast member got stuck between two walls as the theater rotated. After it happened, they changed the structure of the building so that walls would break away if something blocked the rotation.