Obesity: We're Too Big For Disneyland's "It's A Small World"
Back in 1963, when the boats that carry customers through Disneyland's "It's a Small World" ride were designed, the average male weighed 175lbs and the average female 135lbs.
Not anymore. Nowadays the boats frequently bottom out, overloaded with extra flesh, says CalorieLab:
The Small World ride now must accommodate adults who frequently weigh north of 200 pounds, which it often cannot do. Increasingly, overweighted boats get to certain points in the ride and bottom out, becoming stuck in the flume.Disney is now undertaking a massive renovation in which the boats will be redesigned and the flume deepened to accommodate the additional poundage. It's a new, bigger world.The ride monitors attempt to leave empty seats on many boats to compensate for the hefty, but this routinely antagonizes the hundreds of paying customers waiting in line. When a boat does bottom out, a long line of other boats backs up behind it, their passengers slowly going mad from listening to the ride's theme song.
The ride monitors must then track down the stuck boat and attempt tactfully to help a rider or two to exit at one of the emergency platforms, which the riders in question do not always deal with graciously.
Small World ride revamped for bigger passengers [CalorieLab]
(Photo:cokeisit7)
Post a comment
Comments:
We American are simply too fat. Just loose some weight and half our medical problems and medical bills will magically disappeared.
It's kind of sad when a major renovation has to take place due to the fat asses of America. Sort of related: I hate to admit this, but I just went to Kings Dominion in VA this weekend (after years of not going) and thank God I have lost a bunch of weight because the new seat belts and safety gear really pack you in tight. I'm not complaining - I'd rather be belted in and not riding to my death, but if you're *ahem* "chesty" it can be quite difficult to fit in the rides with over-the-shoulder type restraints.
It is pretty sad when they have to redesign amusement rides because of unnecessary weight gain.
Last time I was at Disney with the family we avoided that blasted ride like the plague. Not a bad option, either.
Don't most tall guys (over 6') weigh at least 195 or 200? I don't disagree that we have gotten fatter, but haven't we also gotten taller, which may factor into the extra weight?
Being a 195lbs male, I've been feeling the need to lose some weight...but I'd be afriad I'd feel un-American.
Sweet, 44 years ago I would have been average weight.
*kicking it old school, with absolutely nothing to contribute to this topic*
I was at Six Flags a few weeks ago and since I haven't been there in a while, I was surprised at how tight their roller coaster harnesses are, though I, like HexyChick, would rather not ride to my death. I'm petite and am of average weight...it was slightly unnerving to be sitting near a 200+ lb. man whose harness probably wasn't going to fit as well as it should.
When I was 15 or so, I went on one of those rides that everyone sits in rows, at the base of a large arm, and the whole thing goes upside down. A pendulum (sp?).
Well, I was 2nd to the end, and the guy on the end was HUGE...so big in fact that I was sitting on an angle, with his whole body encroaching on my spot. My arm was pinned under his. It was very scary.
is it just me or does anyone else get FREAKED the hell out by the painting of the blonde on the upper left??
NIGHTMARES!..
Ohhh... and dont go on a coaster with it loaded with fat people..
Simpoleca
Hey Disney, while you're at it, can you redesign the rides to accomodate my legs? I often find myself trying to arrange my six foot tall self sideways just so I don't bust my knees up on the back of the seat in front of me. Thanks!
Yet another reason to avoid that inane ride. Once (at the New York World's Fair back in the day) was enough for me.
I go to Disneyland and Magic Mountain a lot, annual and seasonal passes respectively. I have seen a man get kicked off of Tatsu for being too big, his buddy actually made fun of him, my second cousin was barely able to fit on that ride too. At California Adventure the operators denied a rider from getting on Mulholland Madness, the guy couldn't even fit in the seat let alone the restraints.
There are a few rides around Disneyland that actually state "some body types" may not be able to ride. I think that if you get denied from riding a ride for being too fat that should be a wake up call to start shedding some pounds.
So now we'll have fat AND insane people wandering the park? Just great.
@CaffeinatedSquint: It's interesting that the artist didn't make the whites of the eyes perfectly white.
I bet there are people who are grateful that their weight keeps their friends from being able to drag them onto roller-coaster rides. "Oh dear, can't fit. Go on without me!"
I just came back from Disney World.
I was absolutely astounded by the number of adults and children that were obviously obese, some even taking to riding electric carts normally used by people with actual non-self-inflicted disabilities.
This is a national problem that we'd better resolve, and quick.
And changing the rides to fatisfy the obese is not the way to do it, Disney...
@Rectilinear Propagation: I bet there are a lot of people who frequently feel as if they are going to pass out because they've walked half the park and are sweating and breathing hard. I'm a normal weight, I'm young and I have no health problems, and when I went to the theme park it was a good 85 degrees out in the open. After 3 hours I was sweating and tired. Imagine people who have to carry an extra 50 pounds on themselves.
Yeah people are bigger now...heavier and a little taller too. And our lifespans are longer. HOW AWFUL EPIDEMIC OMGBBQ!!1!
For some reason theme parks seem to breed fat people (read : most of the people who go to theme parks are fat), yet the rides seem to do everything to restrict fat or tall people from riding. Especially certain roller coasters at Cedar Point which are advertised as for everyone however when you get there you find out that is not the case, you basically have to be under 200lbs and under 5'9 to ride many rides at CP comfortably, and this is a fact they do not want the public to know so they do not advertise it.
I think theme parks should also advertise a recommended weight limit for each ride along with height restrictions on each ride.
The problem is that many amusement rides are built overseas, where they simply do not understand that the American girth keeps going up and up, and that they need to start building rides for 200+ lb people instead of 170lbs and under.
Ironically the only places I have seen weight limits enforced is on kiddie rides, which is even scarier than having limits for adult rides. Most kiddie rides that I have seen have a limit of 70-75lbs or under.
Actually Americans are not getting taller. The rest of the world is, in fact getting taller over time. However we have stagnated due to poor health.
I bet back in 1963, the average customer smoked cigarettes too.
@Saboth: My health is so poor I'm actually DYING RIGHT NOW WHILE TYPING. OF FAT. FATINOSIS. OBESIGENOSITY.
Maybe we should just round the fatties up and put them in prison camps so they will stay out of our pristine theme parks.
I don't see anyone addressing the fact that the food at amusement parks is notoriously bad for you. Not to say you will get your extra girth the weekend you are at Disneyland, but Churros and Mcdonald's fries aplenty don't help, not to mention the huge sodas. I don't think the Magic Kingdom is going to change anyones eating habits, but there has to be a point where everyone in the food chain takes a stand where they can.
The fact that theme parks mostly serve ONLY food that is bad for you (and some prevent you from leaving to go to the car and eat where you can have a healthy meal stashed), so you are essentially forced to eat the food, thus contributing to the obesity problem. Some theme parks won't even let you bring baby food or formula into the park, due to the fact that they have policies prohibiting outside food or drink in the park so they can milk more money from you for food and drink. This policy needs to go at ALL theme parks no matter the size, because people SHOULD be able to bring healthy food into the park if the park chooses not to serve healthy food and only serves food that is very bad for you.
For a parent who is trying to watch their kids weight this could be very disturbing and could potentially put to rest all the ideas of healthy eating you have been trying to teach your children.
No you will not die from eating McDonalds for a weekend but for people like me it makes me sick to eat it (especially mixed with rides), and when greasy, overpriced and bad tasting food becomes your only choice due to park policies then you have a tendency to avoid the parks that have these policies.
Obesity epidemic aside, the point is if the parks don't start accomodating the new American sized people, then they are going to lose more and more business (and money) since people won't go to the park if they know they can't fit in the rides for fear of embarrassment.
@peggynature:
you might be interested to know that the next generation of americans - i.e., kids in gradeschool now & younger- are the first generation of americans to have a predicted life span less than that of their parents. high fructose corn syrup, anyone?
Theme park food has nothing to do with people being fat, unless they go there every day and eat ONLY theme park food. At Six Flags, we left the park to get something better, and came back without a problem. parks have to make money, and yeah theme park food is gross and costly, but it isn't a big deal to down a slice of pizza and then move onto actually enjoying a ride. Think about it this way - unhealthy eaters are going to eat unhealthily regardless of where it is. They'll find it.
Call Dr. Nick Rivera for $199.95 liposuction....
Free brain surgery for every liposuction!
Disney's plan backfired...all those Disney movies it pumped out forced the kids to sit on their arse instead of going outside and being active..now, they can't fit into the Disney rides.
I'm 6'3" and feel that 200lbs is just about the right weight, any less than that and bones start showing through skin.
Why don't they just scrap the damn ride? It is a terrible, terrible ride. A barrage of auditory torture.
Duff beer for me, Duff beer for you, I'll have a duff, you have one too!
-- The Little Land of Duff at Duff Gardens
@twoback:
Back then, you could smoke right *on* the Small World ride. And in hospitals. And in college classrooms.
OH WELL. I guess there's always France.
@twoback: Yeah, in fact they probably smoked on the rides.
Is this talking about people who are just a little "north" of 200 pounds, or people who are a LOT north?
I weigh just north of 200 pounds and didn't have any problem at Disney World this summer - rode almost every ride, no boats bottomed out or roller coaster cars went flying off their tracks, and harnesses / belts / safety gear fit me just fine. Dumbo lifted and fell at appropriate velocities, I didn't get centerfuged into the Japan Pavilion from Test Track. Hmm, dunno, it seems OK to me.
@3drage: My husband is 6'1" and goes about 195-200. He's lean and muscular and is both a long-distance and competitive racing bicyclist.
According to BMI charts, he's overweight, but to get down to where the stupid charts say he should be, he'd have to drop his body fat percentage down to zero. It's ridiculous.
I, on the other hand, am waiting to be rounded up and dumped in the prison camp so many people think we fatties deserve.
@EmmK: The BMI is a heuristic and is not meant to be an all encompassing standard that defines the ideal weight. No thinking person would look at a muscled racing bicyclist and think that he was unhealthy because he had a high BMI. However, the chart does apply remarkably well to most non-athletes. Use you brain, don't get mad a useful tool.
Hint, you skinny people are in the minority now. Curretly about 65% of americans are overweight now. btw those BMI charts are set way too low. I have several friends who lift weights and dont have an ounce of fat on them but according to height/weight charts they are obese. So to all the skinny people out there join the club, I did. Up to 205 pounds and I feel great!!!
I guess I'm not going to Disneyland anytime soon. How embarrassing could that be to actually "stop the ride" because you are too fat?
How sad is it that Disneyland has to rebuild a ride due to this?
@twoback: Maybe that is the secret to the whole obesity "epidemic"? Have any scientists done studies on that may indicate that since the rate of smoking has gone down in America that the rate of obesity has gone up? Could there in fact be a link? You got to remember, back in the day everyone smoked, all the time. At work, in theaters, while breastfeeding. Perhaps, we have the solution to the fatness, smoking?
When the ride was built, my guess is that there would have been more kids than adults per boat. Now, families are smaller and more adults go to theme parks with no kids in tow at all. So even without obesity as a factor, you're looking at more weight in the boats nowadays.
I'm 6'7" and I only weigh 170lbs.
Maybe I should gain weight so nobody can make me go on this ride.
There may be some obesity contributed to the decline in smoking, I am going to have to say the majority of it is from processed food. There are so many chemicals in our food our bodies don't know how to handle it. In addition to the toxicity of food is the abundance of high fat, high calorie ready to eat food. Portion size and availability is at levels higher than necessary. Coupled with people's lack of knowledge and/or self control food intake is way above needed levels.
I will agree that it isn't Disneyland's job to make sure visitors eat healthy but it isn't unreasonable to ask them to carry healthy choices. It isn't as easy to leave a place like Disneyland (Disney World is even more isolated) when there are multiple parks linked together within a sea of parking lots, theme hotels and sponsor restaurants.
Instead of revamping the ride for fat people, why don't they do us all a favor and get rid of it completely?
Guess it's not such a small world after all... (:-(