Small World Holiday Soft opened on Thursday, sparkling and shining like a jewel out of Christmas Town. And after nearly a year of refurbishment, it was a wonderful holiday treat indeed. Join us for a photo tour of the highly anticipated reopening of this classic attraction.
Into the show building
The deeper boat canal and higher sides:
When entering the Germany section the scent of Pine from the big christmas tree fills the air:
When entering the Germany section the scent of Pine from the big christmas tree fills the air
Passing under this candy archway a candy scent wafts towards the boats:
We enter the South Pacific room that now features the newly relocated Rain forest scene:
the new sun:
And that’s our virtual tour of Disneyland’s It’s a Small World Holiday. The ride looks and sounds WONDERFUL and shimmers with the joy of the holidays. The tacking on of the Rainforest scene in the South Pacific room seems to work but we’ll save that discussion for when the ride comes back in it’s “regular” form early this Spring.
Much thanks to MiceChat’s very own Fishbulb for these wonderful photos!
Happy Holidays Everyone!
View: First Look At Disneyland's Refurbished It's A Small World Holiday
27 Comments, Comment or Ping
Melonballer
Great pics. Thanks Fishbulb!
Nov 21st, 2008
doombuggy driver
Those photos are amazing! Thanks for the tour and I can’t wait to see the non Holiday version!
Nov 21st, 2008
sir clinksalot
Thanks for the photo’s Fishy. Looks awesome. Glad to have the ride back.
Nov 21st, 2008
lighttragic
Its funny all that money spent to make the boats more buoyant and yet when we were waiting to get off the boats in the canal on the turns they still get offly close to tipping to one side, we witnessed one gentelman almost have his hand crushed.
Nov 21st, 2008
SpectroMan
Tell me I’m dreaming….did I actually see FIVE grass skirt girl dancers in a row again after seeing only 3 for the past 10 years???!
Nov 21st, 2008
WheresMickey
Thanks for the pictures!
Nov 21st, 2008
MasterGracey
Excellent shots, Fishbulb!
Nov 21st, 2008
wdwnut4life
fabulous job they did!!!!
Nov 21st, 2008
Disneykin Kid
We saw it last night, I quickly noticed upon entering that they fixed and repainted all the cracks and stains in the black walls and ceilings of the ‘Hello’ room. Everything was sparkling, I noticed new small design elements like flowers, puffs of wind on the mountains (in Scandaniavia) etc. that I’m pretty sure weren’t there before.
I also noticed some different colors and different designs all around, the Eiffel tower is pink, I don’t think it was before, or at least it’s now brighter, and the Mary Blair doll on top is a little more obvious. The Christmas decorations are pretty much the same, with a few small additions like new signs. The red archway in South America is pretty garish (It didn’t hit me so much that way before) the letters on it look kind of amateurish now. Hopefully they’ll improve the Christmas decs for next year.
In Holland, there is only one goose, I thought originally there were like three, I was hoping they’d bring back the others. The Arabian belly dancers are back in full force. The rain forest in the South Pacific room is ok, it looks nice, but I think they could have expanded it a little more, but it’s done. The South Sea masked drummers didn’t make the cut though. I think it’s a fair compromise to those wanting to save the rain forest.
Maybe I should wait til I see the finished product, but I think it’s ok to end with a salute to America. The rain forest and the drummers to me didn’t seem like a ‘finish’ before the white room. In terms of more of a storyline, it seems more appropriate to finish with America, then go on to a gathering of all nations.
Also I tried to spot areas where they’re going to add Disney characters, I couldn’t really tell. There’s buzz that they’re going to mix in Disney animated film music, I just checked it out on youtube in Hong Kong DL, I have my doubts about that, it sounds just muddled.
The original sound track is so great, I don’t know if people realize that through a good portion of the ride the dolls aren’t singing, it’s just very melodic, atmospheric theme music. People complain about the song sticking in their head, but I think it’s mainly due to them blasting the song in the white room, by the time you’re out you’ve probably had enough, but before that the song is very pleasant and not overpowering.
One complaint I have about the holiday version is that the music doesn’t have the same subtlety of different sub-themes, it’s just the same intensity of singing in every room, or at least that’s my impression.
Nov 21st, 2008
AliKzam
Mmm… Scents…
Beautiful photos! Thanks, gentelmen!
Nov 21st, 2008
Mac Daddy
Great shots, Fishy! I was just on it this morning. I’m glad a piece of the rain forest remained. Thanks for posting these for us!
Nov 21st, 2008
ron
Haven’t seen it yet, but if they spent all this time re-doing it and still only have one goose in Holland, that’s lame. They just threw tons of money on the upgrade, I would’ve thought a few bucks could go towards a couple more geese. Of course, maybe they just weren’t ready yet, or that’s a spot for Disney characters? But if the finale still has three geese, it still doesn’t match.
Still, I’m looking forward to seeing it. I love it at Christmas the most. A little less insidious. lol
Nov 21st, 2008
smiley_face2
Really great photos, so nice and clear! Are the colors much more vibrant? It looks that way in your photos. And the addition of some good smells is a nice touch.
Nov 21st, 2008
DonDuck
Oh man, how I wish I could make it to the park this holiday season! IASW looks amazing.
Nov 21st, 2008
disneylandfan95
Looks GREAT!!!! I don’t mind that they downsized the rainforest. When the America scene is put up it all will look GREAT and (hopefully) better than before!! Great photos and can’t wait to ride.
Nov 23rd, 2008
TDLFAN
I love how some elements from TDL’s IASW Holiday are also here in the DL version as well. Looks quite lovely!
Nov 29th, 2008
Bear-y Tales fan
the tiki drummers are back now.2 of them are there when i went but 2 were still missing.
Jan 13th, 2009
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