Celebrity Feuds
Disney Ruining the World?

It's a Small WorldNo, not our world, the Small one. According to the LA Times, the family of the woman who helped create "It's a Small World" is begging Disney not to screw up the iconic ride with "idiotic" changes.

The ride has been closed since January to upgrade its boats - which some think was needed in order to accommodate the ever increasing weight of the general population. But now other changes are being tossed around.

Miceage.com is reporting that Disney Imagineers are considering adding Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Peter Pan, Nemo and other Disney characters to locations throughout the ride while replacing the Papua, New Guinea, rain forest scene with an American tribute.

In an open letter to Disney execs, the family writes, "The Disney characters of themselves are positive company icons, but they do NOT fit in with the original theme of the ride. They will do nothing except to marginalize the rightful stars of the ride 'The Children of the World.'"

Disney officials say some additions will be made to Small World but that no decision has been made on specific creative changes to the ride despite the speculation.



Reader Comments

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61. Disneyland is a Historic place and should not be tampered with, adding Mickey to this attration would be a slap in the face to the creators , it was for and always about the ChILDEREN OF THE WORLD Mary Blair worked very closly with Walt Disney on this attraction and neither one of them would of ever of wanted to add Mickey Mouse.
I understand that Walt said Disneyland was never completed but that does not mean that we need to add or change something that does not pertain to the overall theme. The executives at Disney need to realize that its going down the wrong path if they continue to tamper with Walts Dream
Now if Disney World would like to change their attraction they might as well do it since they already ruined the TIKIROOM in Florida.
and as far as the boats being changed i agree with the other commentator {if you are to FAT don't ride ....}
I would be safe toassume that if they allowed to eat on the attraction they most likely would

Posted at 6:46PM on Mar 20th 2008 by ricsturr

62. IF YOU DONT LIKE DISNEYLAND...DONT GO THERE...IF YOU DONT LIKE THE RIDE DONT GET ON IT....IF THEY CHANGE IT THEY CHANGE IT.....WHY IS THAT SO HARD TO UNDERSTAND?? IM FAT AND MEXICAN IM LIKE DISNEYLANDS WORST NIGHTMARE..BUT I GO THERE EVERY WEEK ...I DONT CARE IF THE SKINNY PEOPLE LIKE IT OR NOT....IF IT STAYS THE SAME I WILL BE HAPPY ...IF THEY CHANGE IT TO BE IN "MEXICAN" AND MAKE ROOM FOR MY WIDE ASS I GUESS IT WILL BE BETTER FOR ME...

Posted at 11:42PM on Mar 20th 2008 by GETOVERIT

63. In response to post #47, let me just state that there are 2 versions of "it's a small world" in America.

The version in Orlando, at Walt Disney World, i up and running, and was designed and built many years after the original version was made.

What the article, and MiceAge and the LA Times are talking about is the original version that was designed for the 1964 World's Fair that was held in New York. That attraction, along with a few other ones that Walt Disney and company designed for the World's Fair were shipped back to California after the World's Fair was over. It opened at Disneyland in My of 1966, but basically the same attraction, flume and boats that were used in New York. It is this flume, which has always looked "temporary" as the sets are set quite a bit away from the flume, unlike the WDW version, in which the flume is much more disguised, and is a different style than used at Disneyland. The flume and boats are old, and have reached the end of its life, and as mentioned by Al Lutz over at MiceAge (a site that I also write for), was getting stuck more often due to full boats of adults, which was a problem for the last few years, due to the increased weight of an average adult.

So basically, "iasw" is open in Florida (WDW), and closed at Anaheim (the Original Disneyland park).

Posted at 7:05PM on Mar 20th 2008 by David Michael

64. Wow...I didn't realize that the song was sang in mexican, I always thought it was spanish along with other languages! I think the ride should stay as it was originally designed...simple and pure. Why are so many people offended by a ride that was meant to show peace. I happen to love It's A Small World and don't just ride it to rest my feet. If I wanted to rest my feet I wouldn't stand in line for two hours to ride on it.

Posted at 9:21AM on Mar 21st 2008 by LV

65. Too bad they want to change a classic ride! They already took away the Pirates of the Carribean... whats next? "it's a small world" is now stuck in my head. Oh, and speaking of being stuck on rides... i got stuck on Splash Mountain for an hour and a half... Try hearing "looks like briar Fox is causing some trouble upstream" about 500 times!

Posted at 5:17PM on Mar 21st 2008 by ThatDirtyRat

66. ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT FLORIDA OR CALIFORNIA??

Posted at 5:17PM on Mar 21st 2008 by ThatDirtyRat

67. WOW, THIS CONVO IS SO BORING... I THINK I'LL GO CATCH UP ON MY "MEXICAN"........LOL

Posted at 5:17PM on Mar 21st 2008 by ThatDirtyRat

68. I have ridden this ride with 3 generations of my family. My mother who passed away just last year made a point of taking my daughter to this ride before she passed. I am horrified at the thought of this ride changing. For many people it is what amusement parks used to be like not so commercial not so overdone. Just a really sweet ride that brings back numerous memories for all who go on it.

Posted at 7:53PM on Mar 20th 2008 by Diva

69. My colleague, Andy Castro, has started an campaign to "Save the Rainforest" as was mentioned in Los Angeles Times article. Online petitions really don't do much, but writing actual snail mail letters, or if you don't want to go that far, e--mails, do make an impression.

Here is the link to the campaign.

http://micechat.com/forums/showthread.php/save_rainforest_keep_its_small-91695.html

Posted at 7:30PM on Mar 20th 2008 by David Michael

70. YES

Posted at 8:54PM on Mar 20th 2008 by SolizGiRl

71. Tell ppl to stop SUPER SIZING everything and perhaps we would'nt have to rearrange the world to accomadate their fat asses.

Posted at 7:56PM on Mar 20th 2008 by April

72. Although it's sort of a "boring" ride compared to the tons of crazy and wild rides at Disney, I have to admit, being able to just sit and relax on Its a small world is not a bad thing to do. I have enjoyed that ride every time I've been to Disney. I think they should also put a weight limit on rides just like they do for height. Afterall, if someone is sizeably shorter than the "normal" height, they cant ride certain rides, so I think someone who is FAT shouldn't be able to ride them either. Why make the rest of us who try and watch our weight or at least aren't HUGE to where the rides sink or go off balance suffer? There is a price to pay for being obese, so fork it over. You just cant eat and eat and eat and then expect the world to stop what they're doing so you can enjoy the ride. Its just not fair. Thats why we have obese people out there, because there is no accountability to them. Just look at the biggest losers show. They are all obese and everyone of them just had to watch their food intake and exercise and they've all lost weight. So don't give me any stupid excuse why you can't lose weight. I'm not trying to sound rude to people who are overweight, I understand that some of them just have health problems, but if I have to put some discipline into my eating habits so should YOU. So, sit on the benches while the rest of us are able to enjoy the rides or LOSE WEIGHT!!!!!!!!! But stop grumbling and complaining because when you get into the boat it sinks. Get out of the boat or lose weight! Easy enough.

Posted at 8:03PM on Mar 20th 2008 by ANONYMOUS

73. I JUST GOT BACK FROM DISNEY WORLD IN FLORIDA. THE RIDE IS NOT CLOSED DOWN THERE. IT'S AS ANNOYING AS EVER. I HOPE THEY DO CHANGE IT.

Posted at 9:32PM on Mar 20th 2008 by JULS

74. Thats funny.... I was just at Disney 5 days ago on vacation, and that ride is NOT closed.... we rode on it.

Posted at 8:17PM on Mar 20th 2008 by smm

75. I just got back from Disneyworld, and its a small world was open. Maybe you guys should clarify it's Disneyland not Disneyworld. Last year we went and the ride broke down 3x in 1 sitting. ugh!

Posted at 8:29PM on Mar 20th 2008 by mommy

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