It's a Small World - Disney Characters and America Additions

[Gemini Cricket]

Anyone been on it? Opinions?

There are pictures here. (http://micechat.com/forums/disneyland-resort/111442-reviews-new-small-world-disneyland-post-here.html)

[Morrigoon]

Still don't think they should have done it, but I don't totally hate it.

Alice worked well. Pinnocchio did NOT. Ariel was unnecessary (as the original doll looked more like her than the new one, IMHO). Simba and Pumbaa fit in very well, whereas Woody and Jesse, not so much. I'm pretty cool with the Three Caballeros, though the one on the far right seems out of scale with the other two. I'm glad to see the choking chicken is back working. (random non-character related point but worth mentioning.)

[lashbear]

I like it !!

[Stan4dSteph]

The pictures that AVP posted look fine to me. Haven't watched the video yet. I have no problems with it.

[Moonliner]

I figure I can pretty much ignore the new characters but I am concerned about how they tweaked the song. I'll have to watch one of the videos.

[flippyshark]

I'll cast the first negative note in this thread. It looks like the idea was nicely executed, but I firmly disagree with the idea philosophically. The characters are unnecessary. Their presence says to me, "China by itself isn't relevant or interesting, but hey, Mulan and Mushu, huh? Africa - not worth a damn until you add Timon and Pumbaa. And hey, you can't talk about Hawaii without Stitch can ya? Of course not!" World cultures only exist for Disney to market to. Whee!

I can almost (almost) see the justification of having Alice or Pinocchio represented in the countries where their stories originated. (Still, they have entire attractions of their own already!) But Stitch!?! Yeesh. (And by this logic, Ariel belongs in Amsterdam, not in the actual ocean. And Nemo and Dory just plain don't belong!!! Okay, I'd best just stop.)

So, yeah, put me down in the "it's wrong" category. I'll still ride when I'm in town, but I'll probably be grouchy.

[Alex]

The ride could hardly be worse than it was but I suspect it'll be many, many years before I experience it so no opinion.

In my view small world is one of the best Disney attractions ever from the outside and quite possibly the worst ever from the inside. I'd rather alternate between Innoventions and Pooh for a full day.

[Snowflake]

The ride could hardly be worse than it was but I suspect it'll be many, many years before I experience it so no opinion.

In my view small world is one of the best Disney attractions ever from the outside and quite possibly the worst ever from the inside. I'd rather alternate between Innoventions and Pooh for a full day.

Wow, that's saying something. I'll not willingly go near Innoventions (or Star Tours) again.

[bewitched]

The ride could hardly be worse than it was but I suspect it'll be many, many years before I experience it so no opinion.

In my view small world is one of the best Disney attractions ever from the outside and quite possibly the worst ever from the inside. I'd rather alternate between Innoventions and Pooh for a full day.

I am SO with you!

[scaeagles]

They seem to be tastefully done, but I'm with Alex....I've just never been excited about Small World in the first place, so this isn't going to do anything for me either way.

[SzczerbiakManiac]

What's the point of going on this ride anymore if we cannot sink the boats?

[innerSpaceman]

What's the point of opining about the impact of the changes if you don't like the ride in the first place?


Oh, and we WILL prove the boats can be sunk. :evil:

[Morrigoon]

I've heard it's been done

[RStar]

While some of the additions were not that great, I thought the whole ride over all looked and sounded wonderfull.

I'll give it 8 out of ten headless dolls

:decap: :decap: :decap: :decap: :decap: :decap: :decap: :decap:

[Kevy Baby]

What's the point of going on this ride anymore if we cannot sink the boats?Was there any other reason to go?

[Gemini Cricket]

I guess the only part that bugs me is the Lilo and Stitch part. I mean, Stitch is annoyingly huge and Lilo is surfing in a mu'umu'u. No one surfs in a mu'umu'u.

[Moonliner]

No one surfs in a mu'umu'u.

Really? I thought Kevy had been to Hawaii.

[Prudence]

Is no one but me bothered by the lifelessness and sterility of the USA room?

[lashbear]

As I said in the Soooo thread, the only think I dislike is that Stitch distracts everyone from Australia. He has to go.

[Morrigoon]

But Nemo and Dory can stay?

[RStar]

But Nemo and Dory can stay?

They have to, they are nailed to the wall....

[Gemini Cricket]

Al Lutz's review on the ISAW changes (http://miceage.micechat.com/allutz/al021009a.htm)

[Kevy Baby]

Al Lutz's review on the ISAW changes (http://miceage.micechat.com/allutz/al021009a.htm)One doesn't even need to get past the headline to know his opinion: it's a mall whirl
Trashing an attraction...

[Mary Blairiffic]

It looks like the idea was nicely executed, but I firmly disagree with the idea philosophically. The characters are unnecessary. Their presence says to me, "China by itself isn't relevant or interesting, but hey, Mulan and Mushu, huh? Africa - not worth a damn until you add Timon and Pumbaa. And hey, you can't talk about Hawaii without Stitch can ya? Of course not!" World cultures only exist for Disney to market to. Whee!

I can almost (almost) see the justification of having Alice or Pinocchio represented in the countries where their stories originated. (Still, they have entire attractions of their own already!) But Stitch!?! Yeesh. (And by this logic, Ariel belongs in Amsterdam, not in the actual ocean. And Nemo and Dory just plain don't belong!!! Okay, I'd best just stop.)




I'll have to agree with you. We don't need gratuitous product placement in an attraction about global unity.

[innerSpaceman]

I'll be checking this out Friday evening with Isaac, if anyone cares to join us ... and then for the stiff drink I'll need afterwards, no doubt.

[CoasterMatt]

I would love to join you. I'll hand out earplugs, and scream the whole way through, just like Matterhorn :D

[lashbear]

But Nemo and Dory can stay?

Yes they can, cos they,re from Australia. And they're both to portside.

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

I went yesterday with an open mind and a closed wallet. It really reeks of merch, mostly because the kids walking out near me were pleading with their parents to buy them something.

The paint & lighting restoration is really beautiful. The colors inside are just vivid and wonderful. The music is pretty well hidden and I only heard a tiny bit of Alice while going by. I didn't hear anything by the others. The new dolls are ok but are much better than I expected. The most annoying thing were just about everyone in the boat screaming "JASMINE!" etc etc.

America section was nothing short of amature. It's "Pooh" cheep and though I don't mind the western cowboy's and indians theme (how about a stereotype folks) the neon is so out of place it's not even funny. It's a punch in the face, imho.

The outside lighting seemed like a good idea but its like they had extra lights and they just pointed at the facade. The idea is there but someone who knows lighting should have worked on it. (snap!)

[Kevy Baby]

It really reeks of merch, mostly because the kids walking out near me were pleading with their parents to buy them something.How is that different than before? The exit through the gift shop has been there for as long as I can remember (a more intense Disney freak will know exactly how long, but I am not that good).

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

How is that different than before? The exit through the gift shop has been there for as long as I can remember (a more intense Disney freak will know exactly how long, but I am not that good).

Geez, you don't know how long that shops been there? Time to hand in that AP!!

I think it was really the first time I had ever heard/ seen kids booking it for the Merch from the unloading area.

[innerSpaceman]

Well, it's a sad world after all.


I hated this far worse than I expected to.

I think it's because I saw pictures of some of the new Disney dolls and wasn't repulsed. And in the ride, the first few aren't so bad. Peter Pan's up above with Tink and not in your face. Alice and the White Rabbit are off to the side and looking strikingly MaryBlairish.

But then the dolls start getting right up in your face. Cinderella practically jumps into your much smaller Fisher Price boat. But Jacques and Gus also look MaryBlaired ... except that's the end of that trend.

From then on, you're riding "it's a small world STARRING YOUR FAVORITE DISNEY CHARACTERS" in vaguely dollish style, but dedidedly not Blairic.

The Disney music queues mixed in with the soundtrack are unsubtley annoying. The obvious game of spot-your-favorite will destroy the charm of it's a small world for years to come. It's such a shame ... because the rest of ride that's now decidedly in the background is spruced up nicer than I've seen it in decades. OMG, it may be the first time since the 70's I've seen All Five Tahitian Dancer Girls all there ANd all WoRKinG!

To top it all off - the America section is beyond Streetcorner-Carnival lame and tacky.


What a crushing disappointment. I skipped this attraction entirely during the decade they replaced the real soundtrack with the boring Paris version, and I've a feeling I'm about to miss another 10 years of so of it's a small world.


The really sad thing is this could have been a perfectly acceptable alterative for including in the seasonal Holiday version.


Oh, and I was wondering why Alice, the White Rabbit and Jacques & Gus were done so perfectly Mary Blairish while all the other characters fell flat. Then Isaac reminded me of the wonderful storybooks I read as a child (featured a while back in a Disney Gallery exhibit). Mary Blair did the illustrations for such tales as ... oh yeah, Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland.

They simply CoPiED her designs for those few characters in the new HongKongization of small world. Then went on to display their complete lack of adapting her style.

Piss Freaking Poor.



Sad = Me :(

[Chernabog]

Do they have cameras in there yet? Where I can purchase a spitball gun. 100 points to anyone that hits Mushu!

Then it could be a ride that you're SAVING the Children of the World from crass commercialism and Disney greed.

[CoasterMatt]

Screw the gun...

[innerSpaceman]

Our small ride last nite: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzrrK3nPQ5M&eurl=http://lj-toys.com/?journalid=16778436&moduleid=2&preview=&auth_token=sessionless:1234666800:embedcontentiurl =http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/pzrrK3nPQ5M/hqdefault.jpg

[alphabassettgrrl]

I'm not a fan of the new changes. I thankfully didn't really hear much of the new soundtrack except for Ariel, but the non-Mary Blair dolls are really obnoxious. The America room feels like an afterthought. I could deal with a cowboy and indian, but the specificity of it all bothered me. It's not just a cowboy, it's *Woody*. Whatever. They could have done so much better, if they *had* to have an America room (which I don't think was necessary at all).

[Mousey Girl]

Do they have cameras in there yet? Where I can purchase a spitball gun. 100 points to anyone that hits Mushu!

Then it could be a ride that you're SAVING the Children of the World from crass commercialism and Disney greed.

And Bullseye is already decorated for the spitballs.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Haven't read the thread since I've been avoiding spoilers/being colored by others' opinions. Finally rode it today. Here are my impressions.

New character dolls: Taken as a whole, they get one big "whatever" from me. I found some more sore-thumbish than others, but nothing awful enough to bother itemizing. I wish they weren't there, but they don't detract from the ride too terribly.

Audio changes: Hardly noticed them. I guess part of it was I was too busy looking so I wasn't really listening. I didn't even notice "when you wish upon a star" until CP said something about it. I don't have a particularly good ear for music, especially when there are multiple things layered on top of each other. I just don't register it.

I've been informed that I'm supposed to have been horrified by Ariel's singing voice. Between he fact that I found her to be the most visually distracting of all the character additions, looking ahead for other characters, and the general cacaphony of that area, I wasn't even aware that she had a separate singing track until we were almost out of earshot, so I can't even really tell you what it sounded like.

Salvaged Gay-tor: Bleh, bleh, bleh. What a mess. Very very sad.

America section: UnbeLIEVAbly awful. Holy hell is that crap. It's like they found some high school theater department that did a play set on a farm and begged them to have their set pieces when they were done. The whole thing is tacky and garish beyond belief. I find it incomprehensible that someone looked at that design and gave it a thumbs up.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

:(

:(

:(

I'm a fan of this ride, always loved it since I was a kid. Already I've been avoiding it during "Christmas" (Nov thru mid-Jan) since I'm not a fan of red and green vomit, but now, I know I'm going to go on it much less than I used to, year round.

I love the new lighting outside, and the colors inside are amazing, as Borneio mentioned. Everything (original) looks gorgeous.

The character dolls were nice looking. I liked the styling on the sidekick characters a lot. Even Abu as Mary Blaired looked good. But, for the most part they were stationary, with a spotlight on them, and they detract from everything else around. (Why does MuShu get TWO representations?)

The only new music I noticed was When You Wish Upon A Star near Pinocchio, but I wasn't listening for it (avoided spoilers). Seemed unobtrusive to me.

Disco Nemo and Fat Dory...wtf?

Even so, I would have been able to get over it. But the sad, squeezed in rainforest. :( And the worst thing ever, the America Room. :( :( :(

I was in shock, and I almost couldn't look at it, it was so awful. The theme is fine by me, and hell, I could even get behind the idea of a new room, and America room, whatever, but that was a piece of sh.t. It was as if they spent 50 bucks on some cardboard. How can they fvcking do this and not realize how terrible it looks?? I did like Woody and Jesse. But oh, God, not worth it for the awful, awful room.

Getting off the ride, I just felt weary. I remembered protests of the past - the City Hall visit for the teacups, the hand clapping in the Haunted Mansion to resurrect the cymbals monkeys. I feel so angry and yet so defeated. I'm no longer a serious geek, as it took me so long to even get to the park to see this. I don't have the resolve to cause a stink about it.

It's times like these that I'm glad Al is around, though I'm sure he's taken with a grain of salt by Disney. I do hope that those at the other sites are mad too, and perhaps making their voices heard....though it hardly will make a difference, I'm afraid. So says I, Davy Jones.

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Ya know what's weird - Is I've rode it maybe 4 times now and the last time the audio around the new characters with the Disney music was really loud, so makes me wonder if they haven't found a happy medium yet.

Also, I discovered what the neon is doing in the America room - its the enterance to the Casino....

[SzczerbiakManiac]

Salvaged Gay-tor: Bleh, bleh, bleh. What a mess. Very very sad.What did they do to my Gay-tor?

[Disneyphile]

We finally rode it on Thursday afternoon.

Thankfully, a CM was standing at the exit and asked for our opinions about it. And, she wrote down everything we said, and even acknowledged that we weren't the first* to point out some of the negative aspects, and she even seems to agree with us. She also said that they are still tweaking things and are really taking the guest feedback seriously while doing so.

In a nutshell, here's our review:


The new dolls - really cute, seemed to blend in.... *except for Ariel who just doesn't blend at all.

The "non-human" characters - excellent preservation of the original artist's style, except....

*Flounder - stood out like a sore thumb. WAY too shiny and doesn't fit in at all.
*Bedazzled Nemo and Dori


The music was subtle enough that it blended nicely and wasn't even noticeable unless listening for it... except for Pinocchio's section, which was really loud.

Everything about the America section, *most notably that it just doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the attraction.

[Ghoulish Delight]

What did they do to my Gay-tor?They took him, and a few other elements from the rain forest, and shoved them at the end of the previous room.

[Chernabog]

They took him, and a few other elements from the rain forest, and shoved them at the end of the previous room.

Except you aren't looking at him due to the giant neon monstrosity that you can see in the next room.

[Ghoulish Delight]

A coworker just reminded me of something that, in my horror over the hideous America room, I'd forgotten about.

The lion in Africa. Always that freaking garishly bright? Was there something in front of it before that made it less of a radioactive beacon? Because really, I don't remember it being quite so....eyesorish.

[Moonliner]

Dinner Party:

Guest 1: My daughter just got back from Disneyland in California!

Me: How cool, What did she think about the updated "It's a small world"?

Guest 2: They decided against doing any changes to that ride.

Me: Actually it just reopened with the Disney characters integrated into the ride, they also changed the song to include bits of other classic Disney tunes.

Guest 2: No, the ride is the same as it has been for years.

:rolleyes:

[Ghoulish Delight]

I presume this conversation had to have occurred Hellen Keller style?