"Small World" reopens at Disneyland this Friday

Never realized it loaded outdoors. Most of the insertions aren't horrible, but mermaids and flying carpets just aren't a part of any real culture.

IIRC, the flying carpets and the mermaids were there before this latest round---just not these specific flying carpets and mermaids.

crazy horse said:
Is it just me, or does this ride go down for refurb an awful lot? It seems every time I am at the park, this ride is closed.

The attraction does go down twice a year, every October and January, for the install and removal of the annual "it's a small world Holiday" makeover. If you were at the park last year you probably saw it closed because it was down from January until November. The attraction got new (uncomfortable) boats and a new flume so boats would stop bottoming out.

As for the new characters added to the attraction, who cares?

Jeff said:
Never realized it loaded outdoors. Most of the insertions aren't horrible, but mermaids and flying carpets just aren't a part of any real culture.

I feel that the outdoor loading area is one of the things that makes this ride nicer than the one in Florida. The one in Florida in my estimation has one of the worst (boring or uninspired) queues at any Disney park in the states.

I'm not sure I'd even call it a queue. It's basically just a big ramp.

I think some of the additions fit well, others definitely take away from the theme. Overall I think they did a good job.

Jeff said:
I'm not sure I'd even call it a queue. It's basically just a big ramp.

Exactly. Jeff, you seem to enjoy DW and I hope you get the opportunity to get to DL at some point. I think you would really find it special.

Jeff said:
I gotta say that, love it or hate it, it sounds as if they've destroyed the purity of the theme.

Missed this from earlier in the thread. That is one of the main arguments raised by the purists (Fanboys) in SoCal. There was never a "USA" room or sequence to the ride until this recent upgrade. The only reference to the USA (that I know of) was a Native American "indian" girl, and a blond "cowboy" doing rope tricks in the finale scene.

The ride, as originally presented, showcased the world's children, to what was basically an American audience. One that (perhaps today) needed to be shown that it is a small world, and most of it isn't American. That and the fact that it was presented in conjunction with UNICEF, sort of makes it a bit touchy to go mucking with it. Thus the removal of the "rain forest" scene, to be replaced with a Hooray For America scene, takes on a more sinister meaning. Yes, the rainforest got plowed under to install scenes of Skyscrapers (and haystacks, and the Hollywood hills).

I'm not going too far out on that limb, as I am not one of the Disney purists, who think that the parks should be static (like Walt in his freezer). However, living here in SoCal, I can tell you that lots of people out here take this stuff seriously. Some rides get improved, some get lessened. I think this time, they really botched it up. Sadly, as others have mentioned, is that what is lost in all this, is the new updated lighting, clean-up, refurb, and new musical interstitials that actually are a big improvement.