Rover Stays: D23 Models and Costumes Give Magic Kingdom Fans Their First Real Look at the New Carousel of Progress

By entgrove · August 15, 2026

Walt Disney Imagineering used D23 2026 to show costumes, scene models, and concept art for the Carousel of Progress reimagining now underway at Magic Kingdom. The updated show shifts its acts to the late 20th and early 21st centuries, keeps John, Sarah, and the family dog Rover, and ends in a possible future that nods to the original finale.

Rover the dog is officially part of the future. At D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event 2026, Walt Disney Imagineering pulled back the curtain on the Carousel of Progress reimagining with costume displays, scene models, and concept art showing where the beloved Tomorrowland classic is headed while it sits behind construction walls at Magic Kingdom.

From the good old days to the possible future

The display carried a simple caption: Carousel of Progress from the good old days to the possible future. That line doubles as the pitch for the whole project. The rotating theater show, which Walt Disney created for the 1964 New York World's Fair before it settled into Tomorrowland in 1975, has always followed one American family across the 20th century. The reimagined version moves the family's story forward, resetting the acts in the latter half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, with the finale set in a possible future rather than a scene that reads as the recent past.

New costumes for John, Sarah, and yes, Rover

The headliner of the booth was a pair of costumes lifted straight from the project's promotional poster. John appears in a yellow sweater and khaki pants with his dog Rover at his side. Sarah, also dressed in yellow, wears a futuristic dress-and-pants combination. Seeing the wardrobe in physical form, rather than as concept art, is the clearest signal yet that the Audio-Animatronics themselves are being redressed and restaged, not simply given a new script.

Rover's presence matters to longtime fans. The family dog has been a fixture of the show since the World's Fair, changing names and breeds over the decades, and his inclusion in the new material confirms he survives the update.

Models reveal the new Act 4

Two scale models filled in how the finale will play. One shows the reimagined possible future during Act 4: Sarah, wearing the costume on display, sits in a chair in front of a conversation pit and a fireplace. The setup was previously seen only in concept art, and the conversation pit is a knowing wink, since the current final scene's living room has long been a time capsule of a certain era's idea of tomorrow.

A second model places John and Rover in a kitchen, with John seemingly wearing the same displayed costume. The kitchen has always been the show's comedic engine, from burnt turkeys to voice-activated ovens gone wrong, so its confirmed return suggests the structure fans know is staying intact.

Around the models, the booth's walls carried concept art of the new show scenes alongside a photograph of the original possible future scene. Imagineering says the new finale will pay homage to that original, rather than replace it wholesale.

Why fans are buzzing

Guests visiting the Imagineering pavilion shared photos of the displays across social media within hours, and the reaction split along a familiar line: relief that the show survives, and close reading of every prop for clues about what gets cut. The attraction closed in July with construction walls up, and Disney has not yet announced a reopening date. Until it does, these costumes and models are the best picture of what will greet guests when the theater starts turning again, still promising a great big beautiful tomorrow, just a few decades further along.