3. Prince Charming Regal Carrousel

Prince Charming Regal CarrouselThe back story was rewritten and the ride renamed, but the historic carousel remains the same.

The Prince Charming Regal Carrousel was hand-built in 1917 by the prestigious Philadelphia Toboggan Company. Then known as the Liberty, the carousel was acquired by Disney in 1967. It opened with the Magic Kingdom as Cinderella’s Golden Carousel.

In 2010, the name changed to Prince Charming Regal Carrousel, and an additional back story was written. In this version, Cinderella and the Prince are married, and the Prince has constructed a rudimentary carousel for jousting tournament training. The villagers clamored to ride the novel contraption, so he had an elegant version built near the Castle for everyone to enjoy. Although the storyline has changed, the carousel has not. The original 1917 horses are carefully maintained, along with the hand-built mechanics.

2. Country Bear Jamboree

Country Bear JamboreeThe show has been trimmed, but is otherwise the same as it was four decades ago.

Planned for a ski resort that Walt Disney did not live to complete, the Country Bear Jamboree debuted at the Magic Kingdom on opening day before being copied at other Disney parks. Besides the holiday-themed Christmas Special and the short-lived Vacation Hoedown, the show has remained largely unchanged. In 2012, as part of an extensive refurbishment that gave the bears new fur and new costumes, nearly 5 minutes were trimmed to enhance the pacing. Otherwise, the show remains as it was more than 40 years ago.

1. Enchanted Tiki Room

Enchanted Tiki RoomThankfully, the Tiki Room is no longer Under New Management.

The word “unchanged” is a bit of a misnomer for the Enchanted Tiki Room, as it underwent a massive and largely hated rehab in 1998. Known as the Tropical Serenade, it was originally a duplicate of Disneyland’s attraction, which opened in 1963, only with a different preshow.

In 1998, the Walt Disney World version was replaced with the Enchanted Tiki Room Under New Management. In that incarnation, Aladdin’s Iago and The Lion King’s Zazu took over the show. What followed was a terribly self-conscious attempt at intentional hipness and edginess—an interesting attempt at a self-referential meta perspective that simply fell flat.

With other projects constantly in the works, the Tiki Room seemed doomed until fate intervened. In 2011, the attraction experienced a small fire in its attic. Although details were never released, Disney legend holds that the Iago figure was severely damaged. If true, this is highly ironic, given that in the updated show, Iago was burned as punishment for making fun of the Tiki Gods.

Whatever actually happened that day, the show closed for rehab and soon reopened as the Enchanted Tiki Room. As a very slightly edited version of the original, the Enchanted Tiki Room has come full circle to join the list of barely-changed opening day attractions at the Magic Kingdom.