There’s an interesting blurb on Miceage about the Small World ride at Disneyland. It seems our west coast friends plan to shut down the ride for 10 months starting next January for some major refurbishment. Why?
The people riding it are just too damn big and the boats keep bottoming out.
According to the article, the boats used in the ride are 43 years old and originally served in the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair. They’ve come to the end of their useful lifespan and need replacement. Wear and tear is part of the reason, but another aspect simply has to do with the size of the average park visitor. When the boats were designed in 1963, the average adult male weighed 175 pounds and the average adult female weighed 137 pound. Fast forward to the present time and it’s not hard to conceive that a boat filled with multiple adults weighing more than 200 pounds each is going to hit bottom and stop.
The only notice that a cast member has about a stuck boat is when the everything starts getting backed up and jammed. Some poor soul has to run forward to unclog the overloaded boat and get things moving again. It also means that cast members have learned the art of sizing up visitors and loading them appropriately to avoid potential problems. Unfortunately, it’s not something that they can easily explain to guests without hurting some feelings.
“I’m sorry that I can’t accommodate your entire family reunion on this 43 year old boat, but you’re all just too heavy to go anywhere.”
So how does this issue affect boat rides at Walt Disney World like It’s a Small World and Pirates of the Caribbean? Both of those rides are newer and have already been through refurbishments. Good thing, because I doubt DIsney visitors in Central Florida are magically lighter than their California counterparts.