[2DieFR]

Thank You for making this thread - if you hadn't, I would have.

I was shocked and deeply horrified to hear that it's a small world will now feature Disney characters. I can hardly express my utter dismay that the classic 1964 New York World's Fair attraction, successful and popular for over 40 years, is losing its creative integrity and purpose to become nothing more than a game of Disney character hide-and-seek. It is an insult to the message of world brotherhood and unity that the attraction stands for.

Disney needs to stop fixing things that ain't broke. The main purpose of the 9 to 10 month refurbishment is to deepen the waterway and add more buoyant boats to handle the heavier guests of the 21st century, and it's true whether Disney is going to admit it or not. Also, giving much-needed tender loving care to the set pieces and dolls (much of which are originals from the 1960s) was also in the plans, as well as making much more inviting "hello" and "goodbye" rooms to the bookends of the attraction itself. This is mostly restoration work - bringing the attraction back to its former glory, as well as doing out with the weakest parts of the attraction (the beginning and end, which are not original). What I'm NOT fine with is this bastardization work - adding figures that have no place in this attraction and straying away from the intent of both Mary Blair and Walt.

Everything about it's a small world - the song, the attraction, the message - has become and is today quintessentially Disney. Did someone assume the attraction is not Disney enough? Must an attraction feature Disney (or Pixar) characters to be worthy of the Disney name? I consider this rationale extremely nearsighted and downright sad. We have seen the trend - consider recent attractions such as Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, Enchanted Tiki Room: Under New Management, Stitch's Great Escape, Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, Tarzan's Treehouse...the list goes on. Not only has the realm of fantasy extended past the borders of Fantasyland, but Disney is forcing their animated characters into attractions that already have occupants.

Granted, small world resides in the world of fantasy, but Disney characters have no place in the attraction, no more than they do in the Matterhorn. Never should they be paired with boys and girls singing about how we really are (or ought to be) closer than we think we are. "There's so much that we share, that it's time we're aware..." Even children can understand and appreciate the message. Will that still be the case when they are more concerned about seeing Mulan in China, Aladdin in the Middle East, or Simba in Africa?

There is no logical explanation I can think of to justify this decision. Southern Californians know their Disney characters very well, and one would hope that they know in which part of the world they would fit without having to see them in this attraction. My suspicion is that it is another merciless ploy to get guests thinking about which Disney character they want to buy in the store at the exit of the attraction.

This is a sad day indeed. One of the few remaining "pure" attractions left in the original Disneyland Park, USA, is losing its identity.