Comments on: Fat people are ruining Its A Small World

By: Jackie

Jackie — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 01:39:55 +0000

I’ve heard that Disney actually is very good about having their rides and everything suitable for people up to 400 pounds. I guess of course, since Disney is doing their part to help fat-acceptance, they’re going to have to deal with rotten press like this story. Cause the thin people get upset that they’re not having their thin priveliage anymore. “Why should I have to wait an extra 5 minutes in line, cause a fatty wants to ride? They shouldn’t be able to ride!” That’s what I’m reading from that article. Freaking infantile.

By: Micky

Micky — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 23:08:47 +0000

Having recently been to Disneyworld in Orlando I would say Disney runs a very well optimized theme parks. The employees might not agree ( I saw employees sneaking off between small breaks in the parade from one spot to another to get out of the park, I think it wouldn’t kill Disney to provide a small ride to them out to the parking lot). But they handled the long lines and filling of the rides with an efficiency I did not see anywhere else (I visited Universal Studios and Busch Gardens while I was there). Also, the employees were very friendly, the costumes were beautiful and transport around the parks was better than most american cities. There were trams, monorail, buses and a ferry to move people around.

By: kathel

kathel — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 18:49:00 +0000

I think Disney parks are only Mordor if you work there; they take guest relations and service standards VERY seriously.

By: piny

piny — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 18:02:57 +0000

That is impressive. I know Disney has a reputation as being the Mordor of amusement parks,* so I’m glad they’ve been so responsible about assisting families who need assistance, and with so pragmatic a sense of obligation.

*I’ve never actually been. My parents figured I could get overstimulated just fine at the local amusement park.

By: Kat

Kat — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 01:07:31 +0000

A little off topic…. I have a soft spot for the Disney parks. When I took my kids there, they gave my son (who has autism) a Guest Assistance Pass which gave us access to the alternate lines on most of the rides. He has a hard time with crowds and chaos, so this was very, very helpful. And, they obviously had spent some time training their people about disabilities–I was afraid we’d get some rolled eyes because he didn’t “look” disabled. But we were treated with respect at every ride we went to. It made all the difference in our experience there.

By: orlando

orlando — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 09:26:15 +0000

I can’t resist sharing this little jewel of an extract from an Australian TV show from back in the 90s, for the ultimate piece of subversive gonzo journalism in Disneyland. Really, you just have to see it, and keep an eye out for the part where John Safran makes a judicial adjustment the Small World attraction:

By: Sara no H.

Sara no H. — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 06:40:36 +0000

Nona — don’t forget Space Mountain! And they’ve been working on Matterhorn on and off throughout the years too. Personally I’d love to see the old Imagination ride back.

By: Nona

Nona — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 02:55:31 +0000

It seems like Disney is finally undertaking the large-scale refurbishments a lot of their rides have needed for some time– first Pirates, and then the Haunted Mansion got a much-needed revamp of its sound system and repair of the ride mechanism, and now it’s Small World’s turn.

Mostly this is down to everything getting worn out over the course of the cost-cutting Eisner years. It’s more than likely we’ll see other flagship rides closing for refurbishment once Small World reopens.

Now, if we could just get the old Imagination ride back, I’d be *really* happy about this.

By: Sara no H.

Sara no H. — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 00:44:07 +0000

I’m personally hoping that they’ll also take the opportunity to make the ride more wheelchair accessible. It was my late grandmother’s favourite ride, but we didn’t go on it very often because it was tough for her to get out of her chair and into the boats — not to mention getting back out of them, and through the exit queue (which has stairs and more stairs).

In other news: aw man, this was gonna be my Sunday Shameless Promotion post :p

By: haydin

haydin — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 23:37:58 +0000

The original blog post that the LA times article references can be found here : http://www.miceage.com/allutz/al100907c.htm .

Here’s a paragraph from it: “There are a few notorious bends and curves inside the ride where the heavier boats usually stop at (the Mountie representing Canada is one), and most of the time the offending boat doesn’t get much further than the S curve through the Scandinavian room before they come to a stop and create a traffic jam behind them. Believe it or not, there are absolutely no cameras or detection systems inside it’s a small world, which is just another throwback to its 1960′s roots. ”

I’m not saying that the blog is right or wrong, I’m just saying that the LA times article didn’t make up news, at worst it got wrong news from a blog without checking the sources.