Renovated "It's A Small World" Disneyland Ride Annoys Purists
Disneyland has updated that most deeply annoying of vacation experiences, the "It's a Small World!" ride. The new version includes lots of Disney characters in addition to the usual creepy chanting dolls that you know would come alive and kill you if you were stupid enough to sneak in there at night.
MSNBC says:
While a Disney press release says, "We know that many people have been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to relive their 'It's a small world' memories and create new ones with children, grandchildren and friends," some purists have questioned whether adding characters from animated movies sullies the intended experience.
A writer on the Web site Boing Boing calls it "one of the most egregious and downright disgusting decisions" ever made by Disney.
The press release says that the characters are done in the style of the original dolls and that guests are supposed to search for them. (Awww, look at Alice!) The article also attempts to dispel the rumor that the ride had to be closed down and renovated because we're too fat and were sinking the boats.
It's a Commercial World, After All! [MSNBC]
Video: Something to Celebrate! 'it's a small world' Returns to Disneyland With New Magic (Press Release) [Yahoo!]
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Comments:
Disney has disgusted me for years. I was probably one of the few kids who hated going to Disney World.
"egregious and downright disgusting?"
Boing Boing cared enough to use terms like that? Who the hell cares?? I took my kids to Disney a couple years ago and we made it a point NOT to go on that ride. Its horrible.
> "one of the most egregious and downright disgusting decisions" ever made by Disney.
Over the top much, Boing Boing?
AGHHH CHANGGGGGGGE!!!!! *shakes the fist at the sky*
But seriously, who are the pathetic people getting up in arms about this. Disney has made other pretty damn disgusting decisions in the past, and daring to slightly manipulate some crusty old fart's image of a park ride hardly ranks.
"It's not a small world after all!"
@aguacarbonica: Why, I remember what the ride was like back in nineteen-dickety-two. We had to say "dickety" because the Kaiser had stolen our word for twenty....
:-)
Duff beer for me!
Duff beer for you!
I'll have a Duff!
You have one too!
Does someone want to explain to me what the "intended experience" is?
I am really waiting for someone to hack into their sound system and play, oh, "Radar Love" or something over the sound system during the ride. I suspect the experience would be much improved.
My wife's cousin has worked at Disneyland for over 10 years and he told us the ride was shut down to update it. One of the updates was modifying the waterway and the boats to accommodate larger guests. The ride was frequently being stopped so that the park's cast members could unload and escort out guests who's boats had bottomed out.
Small World has always been annoying. My wife and I used to flip a coin to determine which of us would have to go on it with the kids when they were little. They're grown now and both have kids and do the same thing with their kids.
@squatchie44:
Thank you, thank you very much for making me remember that damn song. Now I'm going to be singing that in my head all day.
If I'm to understand this story correct, there are people that WANT to keep the ride AS IS? I'm no psychologist, but that, to me, is a sign of psychosis.
@JGKojak: Ooh, excellent. Another good contender: "Riders on the Storm."
I'd totally take that ride, to hell with the subsequent nightmares.
That ride and gawd-awful song causes brain damage. My wife and I went to Disneyland when we were dating, and she dragged me onto it. I mentally drowned out that crappy song by imagining Techno music. Worked very well.
The best renovation for that ride is a few blocks of C4.
As a seventeen year old on senior night many years ago, this ride was an awesome place to 1) smoke 2) make out. I think in the daylight, it may lose that certain something though. I suppose an update was inevitable.
@larrymac808:
Hey, if Disney is somehow putting Simpsons characters in the ride, then WHOA I'm all of a sudden interested.
When I was a kid, my dad used to tell me that they assigned working on that ride as a punishment for any worker who broke the Mouse's rules.
"You're going to Small World"
"Nooooooo!"
But I want an answer to the real question: Did they make the river deep enough to handle the ever widening passengers, so they don't run aground like before?
it's not about the fact that it's annoying, it's that it's classic Disney.. the changes don't bother me any, if they closed the ride permanently, that would be a problem..
and if the remodel wasn't about americans being too fat, why'd they need to make the trough deeper so the boats wouldn't bottom out?
Whenever I was in Disney World I always made it a point to ride "Small World" just because it was air conditioned. I could put up with the annoying song in exchange for a few precious minutes out of the oppressive Florida heat.
One unfortunate thing about the renovations is removal of the original character designs by Mary Blair, an awesome illustrator who contributed heavily to several Disney movies. Sucks to see her work thrown out for the new stuff.
ANyone who ranks this among the worst things Disney has ever done needs to read this book:
Wait, so remind me again why Disney isn't allowed to promote it's own stuff within it's own park that people paid admission to look at anyway?
My partner is from a 'disney family' and keeps trying to get me to agree to go to Disney World. Aside from the cost, I just don't like 'themed' stuff. I can't imagine having fun, spending money and eating HFCS and being subjected to fake reality in reality.
I don't know about Plates, but I'm definitely not a lot of fun.
@Plates: On the last post you hated Papa Johns pizza. On this post you hate Disney. I hope they post about something you do NOT hate, today.
I've never been on the ride, but every description of it I've heard makes it sound like a cheerful celebration of racial stereotypes.
@HawkWolf: I can't imagine having fun at Disney either. I liked Disney when I was growing up but I stopped liking them when I was about 12. My family was never about excess and I never dreamed of going to Disneyworld and frankly I just really don't care about Disney at all.
I abhor the commercial theme park experience, as the parks are just one big advertisement with a few mediocre rides thrown in that you have to wait 4 hours in a line to get on. Perhaps my biggest problem with theme parks is the type of crowd they attract, I DO NOT want to spend my day amongst a sea of people who are complaining, complaining and complaining all day long, which was what my last theme park experience was like. I hear this every day in and out, complain complain complain so I do not want to experience it on a day when I am supposed to be having fun.
If I want to go on rides I go to a traditional, locally owned amusement park. These seem to attract a different type of crowd, at least around here, and leave all the crazies behind. The county fair around here is very good as well, and ironically seems to attract nothing but normal people.
I welcome the change. My kids 4yr and 2 yr even thought the old one was boring, having some characters to look for might make it more interesting.
@StealthySwede_GitEmSteveDave: THAT was the real reason for the long refurbishment! Americans had gotten too big so they needed to deepen the channel! :) Sad commentary
@Yoko Broke Up The Beatles: The annoyingly repetitive song aside, the point of the ride is to engender the belief that all nations/cultures/peoples are the same (thus they all have the same faces, the same size, etc - the only difference is dress & possibly skin color) - the point being we're all human.
Adding blatant OMG DISNEY to the ride sort of waters that message way the hell down. And now, instead of looking at the different cultures represented (I always thought it was fun to look/listen for the bagpiper) the kids will be looking to find Alice or Stitch, or Pooh or whatever.
I didn't know they were going to be in the same style, which kinda lessens the blow, but it completely CHANGES the message of the ride.
They should change the name to "its a small Disney franchise".
I enjoy all the classic rides from my childhood and it is sad they changed this one. Last I went it was with my brothers and even though we are all in our 20s we still rode this ride because it's a "Classic." I also lined up for other childhood favorites like Peter Pan and Mr Toad's Wild Ride which to my chagrin had been changed into some Winnie the Pooh garbage. Probably because nobody knows Mr. Toad anymore :(
@aguacarbonica: "Crusty old-farts image of a ride". Wow, that's considerate.
I think many of the disney purists are up in arms not only because they're injecting totally unnecessary material into the ride, but that they are destroying/tainting/watering down classic art from the 60's world's fair. That, if anything, is worth retaining.
They covered over the original murals for tomorrowland, which were irreplaceable several years ago, too.
@redskull: AFAIK the changes were only made to the Disney Land park, in Anaheim. The ride in Kissimmee remains the same - somewhat like Mr. Toad remains in Anaheim where its become Pooh in Orlando.
Yeah the song is annoying
Yeah there are racial stereotypes
yeah it is probably the epitome of all things annoying and Disney
BUT... I am old enough to remember the original ride at the worlds fair in 65 and young enough that I thought it was the coolest thing there(and yes I annoyed the bejesus out of my parents wiht my off key rendition! I really got a kick out of sharing that moment with my kids.
It was pretty low tech to them, but to a mom who remembers it being the height of new tech in 65, it was kind of fun to share that with my kids. Sorry to see it has been changed....To me it is sort of up there with making Lincoln rap in the Hall of Presidents...
ok...bring on the flames...
@JGKojak: Radar Love is a great choice!!! I always figured Black Sabbath's Iron Man might be interesting accompaniment too.
A So Cal resident, I don't hate it enough to wait for my friends or family outside, so I have ended up on this ride almost every visit. I think I'm going to bring an ipod next time.
Bank of America was sponsoring Small World in the early 60s with big signs for them at the entrance and exit. I can still picture their old ship logo on the wall.
Disneyland was a very early pioneer in naming rights. See: [www.yesterland.com]
Much of early Disneyland was heavily commercialized and sponsored by commercial interests such food companies, chemical companies, or oil companies. This is not new. Promoting themselves is not the worst they could do.
I could not take it the 1st and only time I went on it. I really did start to go nuts. I got out of the boat and went to one of the exits. They did stop me on the way out and I told them I just could not take it anymore. Being I got in with a Artist pass they thought I was working on something or work for the park. They told me if I did it again I would no longer have a job there.
I go back every other year, I just would not not around that place again.
This is why the memory of how Disney violated "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" hurts so much...
The boingboing comment is being taken partially out of context. The "one of the most egregious and downright disgusting decisions" statement was in reference to the planned change to remove the rainforest section of the ride, and replace it with a patriotic USA rulz section. Google more plz. Also, the comment was from back in March, when the changes were announced, not in response to what was realized.
So let me get this straight, the ride has always sucked and everyone hates it, therefore...how dare they make any changes!?!
@Outrun1986: When you get older Disney is less and less about the fun rides, and more about the other things you can do there like clubs, food, the countries, the spas and other resort type stuff.
My honeymoon was at WDW and I picked it specifically because we are foodies, and it enabled us to hit 1 country every single day and taste something new. And with the way you can set up a dinner plan with them, we got unbelievable meals AND a bottle of wine between the two of us (which usually meant we where wondering around Epcot drunk after) and didnt even have to worry about anything but the tip of which I think every one of them I ended up giving 25-30% because they treated us so well.
Not to mention because it was our honeymoon and we got little pins saying it, every one of them gave us something complimentary with our dinner be it a appetizer or desert or what have you.
And really if you have never been to a Disney theme park, its a WHOLE different beast than say Busch Gardens or the 6 Flag franchises. Not 100% sure how it is in Cali, but the Florida one has like their own Apple trademarked RDF that completely changes most people when they drive through. Its RARE you hear a complaint and when people do its almost immediate that the cast members go out of their way to rectify it without bothering anyone else around you.
I am not what you would traditionally call a "Disney Family." Like Its not OMG we LOVE disney have all the stuff around the house etc etc, for us. But it certainly is fun enough to warrant my wife and I to go every so many years when we can afford the trip as opposed to some of the other amusement parks where I have not been back since I was in High School.
It's about pleasing the kids. As in, children who are children right now, not sweaty old Cory Doctorow. Maybe they should have done it up all "steampunk"?
I love Disney stuff, but unless you have the experience you have then Disney world is just not up to snuff.
We went there for Christmas in like 2002, and since it was Mom, Dad, and 2 kids, it was meant to be a park and ride experience. It was horribly busy at the magical kingdom park, we got to go on one ride which was the tour of the park after being there for 6 hours. We left disappointed when the parade was starting and almost didn't make it out. That was the worst day I have ever had at a park.
I hated epcot too. My parents didn't want to eat at any of the themed restaruants, which is half the point of going there. The rides weren't very fun. It all led to us just walking around the bare areas and looking at how they set up the park. Seriously, how much fun is that?
We're going to Disneyland soon. I hope its better.
In an interesting take on this, Pirates of the Carabian was redone to better tie into the movies a year or two back (including returning some of the removed "sexist" animatronic scenes though its not nearly at the level it was when I was 7) and when we where in WDW last year, what used to be always a packed ride was EMPTY.
I asked the guy why and he said ever since they redid it people just dont want to go on it.
Its only too bad too, because even though its not the old 60's-90's version, its actually really nice with the Jack Sparrow stuff (no Orlando or Kira characters, only Johnny Depps character) and for once actually tells a story instead of being a bunch of pirate scenes strung together.
And some of the new stuff added in is much more exciting than the stuff they replaced.
@Plates: I hated it too, so much that now that I'm married w/kids I've never wanted to take them there. Luckily my husband hates it too and now that the kids are in high school we've escaped the silly "Disney Syndrome". We'd rather spend our vacations at the beach or the mountains or, well, ANYWHERE else.
OMG THAT RIDE IS A NIGHTMARE
its been six years and i still hear that song over and over and over