Did you hear about Disneyland closing the Small World ride? They are going to revamp it starting this month. Apparently we are not so small – and we are growing bigger each year. So much that the ride is getting stuck from too much weight in the boats.
I have been reading about the ride since I got my XbigMan email. I found a lot of information on MiceAge, too.
The boats were originally designed in 1963 and installed for use at the New York World’s Fair in 1964 and 1965. The Imagineers who designed the ride for the World’s Fair assumed that adult men would average 175 pounds, and adult women would average 135 pounds. Needless to say, those 1960’s statistics are hopelessly out of date in today’s world. The cast members at Disney have been eyeing the line and leaving empty rows if larger passengers get on the boat. But then they get yelled at by guests in line about the empty rows. The worst part is once the boat gets stuck, the cast members come and ask the heavy passenger to get off at an emergency exit. Once they step off the boat, the boat goes up an inch and it goes back to moving along. How embarrassing! The worst part is the guests being asked to step off the boat are given food vouchers.
It is easy to see how we are growing so wide over the years – you drive down the road and everywhere you look is terrible food. I’ve started keeping gluten-free vegan granola bars in my purse for times when I get hungry on the go. Otherwise I am stuck eating gluten and sugar!