Reviews of New "Small World" at Disneyland - Post HERE

[Armadillo4]

Here are my thoughts after riding the new IASW this weekend.

The addition of characters was a mixed bag for me. Some characters were done really well and I enjoyed seeing them (Alice/White Rabbit, Simba/Pumbaa) while others did stick out like a sore thumb (Stitch, Pinocchio). IASW was never one of my must-do rides to begin with, and these additions won't change my opinion. But the changes did make me ride it sooner than I would have at the start of the year. And I'll probably go back again to try the experience again. I missed some of the characters and didn't notice the added music at all, except in one section.

As others have stated, the refurbished lighting and sets were great to see. That's definitely a nice improvement. And big kudos to the attraction CMs on Saturday for running a smooth loading/unloading operation. Even though a good portion of the extended queue was being used, the line kept moving and we were on a boat in 20 minutes--posted wait time was 30 minutes.

[Dick O Dell]

Rode it on Friday, Feb. 13th. My wife and kids loved the America scene and wondered why it took so long to add one. I thought it looked better in person than in the pics I had seen. I didn't really like the Donald Stitch or Dory/Nemo additions. Flounder looks out of place too. I liked the rest of the additions though. Did anyone spot Jimminy Cricket and Tink?

All in all, I liked it but think they went a little overboard with a couple of the additions.

But I like the new boats and flume too along with the newly painted docks...

[Noctourne]

I enjoyed IASW, but it's one of my favourite atractions anyway. I was generally pleased with the characters, it didn't distract terribly from the experience, but Pinochio's musical cue ("When you with upon a star") was very loud, and Woody and Jesse looked deformed and a tad insane. The America scene didn't really fit, and was a different style then the rest of the rooms. However, I did like the way they filled in many of the dark hallways and made the ride brighter and more elaborate, or so it seemed.

[aurora1954]

I finally got down from Northern California to see "Small World" this past week-end. As someone who has loved the ride since it was first installed after the World's Fair, I was disappointed in some of the changes but pleased with others.
I do miss the original dolls where their mouths moved with that distinctive clicking sound. The new ones look so plastic! Their mouths and cheeks just don't look right to me. That is a common problem with collectible dolls now, too; they just don't have the individuality and attention to detail that dolls made in the 60s, 70s, and 80s did.
As for the Disney character additions, that was a mixed bag.
Peter Pan --- the first time through I didn't even notice Peter Pan, let alone Tink. It wasn't until the second ride that I noticed them.
Alice --- Alice looks a little forced there but the White Rabbit is absolutely adorable
Cinderella --- This one looks really out of place.
Pinocchio --- Actually, I thought Pinocchio was rather cute all done up in lights.
Aladdin and Jasmine --- Not very subtle but nicely done. I found myself liking it very much.
Mulan --- another favorite. She looks like she belongs in that particular scene. My niece, however, did want to know why the Chinese characters are singing in Japanese!
Simba, etc --- Cute!
Three Caballeros --- oh, please! Why not stick someone from "The Emperor's New Groove" up in the Andes portion of South America? The Three Cabelleros really did not fit at all!
Ariel --- Now I know what they did with the red velvet curtain from "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln." They put it on Ariel's head!!! Horrid!
Stitch and Lilo --- another loser IMO. The little surfer boy was so cute --- especially at Christmas! I will miss him and the girl dressed in the formal Hawaiian dress. This was always my favorite scene and they've totally ruined it.
Rain Forest --- at least they saved part of it! It wouldn't be "Small World" without the crocodile and his umbrella!
America --- absolutely hideous! Why on earth would they put the Hollywood Bowl in with a midwestern farm scene? The whole farm thing looks like an ad for the musical "Oklahoma." A question --- is the coyote atop the mountain above the cowboy supposed to be from "Pecos Bill"? Woody and Jessie look very contrived and forced. A big disappointment!
I also missed all the signs saying "good-bye" in numerous languages. As a child, that's where I learned how to say hello and good-bye in lots of languages --- by reading the "Small World" signs.
I love the outside lighting, though. It is so gorgeous when the exterior turns all the colors of the rainbow whenever the train goes through. That is a fabulous new touch!

[sir clinksalot]

Rode it over the weekend, my thoughts:

I voted Liked it. Not because I don't think it's 5 stars, because I don't think it's "Improved". It's the same ride it's always been, with a few small changes.

Most of the characters I have no problem with. Alice, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Tink (although I understand they have toned Tink down since opening). Mulan is fine, Aladdin and Jasmine are fine, etc.

The finale' room is AMAZING. The lights, the sounds, the mix ... all VERY well done.

The "Americana" scene:

Honestly ... I'm okay with it "in theory". IMO, they need more children in there than they have. There are what, 3 on each side??? And of course, there is the worst of the character additions, Woody and Jesse.

They are toys right??? If so, they are bigger than the "children" and would scare the crap out of them. Or are they meant to be big like Mickey Mouse and the kids are supposed to be taking a picture with them ... in the desert.

Honestly, if they would take out Woody and Jesse, put some more children in that scene it would be perfect.

[Sub_Voyage fan]

Hey folks, I have had the opportunity to ride this class attraction and I have to say this. What I saw I wasn't expecting. In fact I was not expecting much at all. But in the end I loved it! Just the simplisticy of these audio animatrioncs works wonders in my eyes.

But I was suprised about a new addition which has not been mentioned before and here it is: Right after Dori if you look above the mountains you can see baloo and mowgli there.

[PeoplemoverMatt]

My favorite part of all the changes is the new nighttime exterior lighting setup. That looks far & away better than what has been there previously, and what other parks still are offering.

The changes inside, aside from the maintenance & upgrade in technological quality changes, those the attraction could easily have done without. I still say adding characters was 100% not necessary, especially because the attraction would still look just as great as it does now without them. They don't add much, so why have them there at all? Merch would still be flying off the Toy Store's shelves irregardless of their addition happened or not.

[Coheteboy]

Originally Posted by aurora1954

I finally got down from Northern California to see "Small World" this past week-end. As someone who has loved the ride since it was first installed after the World's Fair, I was disappointed in some of the changes but pleased with others.
I do miss the original dolls where their mouths moved with that distinctive clicking sound. The new ones look so plastic! Their mouths and cheeks just don't look right to me. That is a common problem with collectible dolls now, too; they just don't have the individuality and attention to detail that dolls made in the 60s, 70s, and 80s did.
As for the Disney character additions, that was a mixed bag.
Peter Pan --- the first time through I didn't even notice Peter Pan, let alone Tink. It wasn't until the second ride that I noticed them.
Alice --- Alice looks a little forced there but the White Rabbit is absolutely adorable
Cinderella --- This one looks really out of place.
Pinocchio --- Actually, I thought Pinocchio was rather cute all done up in lights.
Aladdin and Jasmine --- Not very subtle but nicely done. I found myself liking it very much.
Mulan --- another favorite. She looks like she belongs in that particular scene. My niece, however, did want to know why the Chinese characters are singing in Japanese!
Simba, etc --- Cute!
Three Caballeros --- oh, please! Why not stick someone from "The Emperor's New Groove" up in the Andes portion of South America? The Three Cabelleros really did not fit at all!
Ariel --- Now I know what they did with the red velvet curtain from "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln." They put it on Ariel's head!!! Horrid!
Stitch and Lilo --- another loser IMO. The little surfer boy was so cute --- especially at Christmas! I will miss him and the girl dressed in the formal Hawaiian dress. This was always my favorite scene and they've totally ruined it.
Rain Forest --- at least they saved part of it! It wouldn't be "Small World" without the crocodile and his umbrella!
America --- absolutely hideous! Why on earth would they put the Hollywood Bowl in with a midwestern farm scene? The whole farm thing looks like an ad for the musical "Oklahoma." A question --- is the coyote atop the mountain above the cowboy supposed to be from "Pecos Bill"? Woody and Jessie look very contrived and forced. A big disappointment!
I also missed all the signs saying "good-bye" in numerous languages. As a child, that's where I learned how to say hello and good-bye in lots of languages --- by reading the "Small World" signs.
I love the outside lighting, though. It is so gorgeous when the exterior turns all the colors of the rainbow whenever the train goes through. That is a fabulous new touch!

Welcome to micechat and great observations. Very honest and I pretty much agree with you on just about all of them.

As for chinese characters seeing in Japanese, well, it's probably too dificult to tell because the space is so small. They basically just stuffed Korea, China, and Japan in that corner.

Meanwhile, America has all this space but nothing to fill it.

[CinderelLaura]

Originally Posted by PeoplemoverMatt

My favorite part of all the changes is the new nighttime exterior lighting setup. That looks far & away better than what has been there previously, and what other parks still are offering.

Now THAT I would like to see! Looking forward to that part at least, I've heard that it looks simply amazing! And Disney's always been known for really being able to help their iconic buildings shine at night, they always look great. :-)

[disneylandfan95]

So I finally rode the "new" Small World on Monday, so here are my thoughts:

1. I thought that almost all the characters fit seamlessly. Alice,
Cinderella, Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, Mulan, Lilo... all of them were great.

2. The lighting and sets were awesome!!!

3. Ariel's voice was too loud and pretty distracting from that scene, otherwise, I didn't notice any other changes in the music.

4. America room was.......... The room felt so forced. And it didn't match the rest of the ride. During that section, I looked at my sister and she was all . I didn't tell her that there was the new sece and she came out saying that it wasn't there before.

5. Last, but definitly not least, the Woody and Jessie dolls looked HORRIBLE!!!!! And why were they so much bigger than the other dolls. UGGHH!!! I thought that everyting was great, until I saw America!!!

Well that is my opinion. Thanks for reading!!!!

[FigmentLover]

I agree with most people who have posted thus far. My thoughts (in no particular order):

• America was awful. It was empty, the backgrounds were flat, there was not much movement, and the Toy Story characters did not fit in the ride and were unattractive. The searchlights on the arch did not fit the cultural history that the rest of the attraction intends to convey or the tone of the America room itself. The fiber optic things above the arch did not add anything to it and just seemed odd; I still don't know what they were supposed to represent.
• Stitch was enormous and looked like he was making the surfboard front-heavy. I miss the original surfer.
• The Lion King characters and Mulan (though one of the Mushus could go) were perfect; there was nothing I would have changed.
• Saludos Amigos was annoying.
• Little Mermaid figure looked ok, but I thought the new soundtrack there is obnoxious (I miss the burbled singing by more than one mermaid). Flounder does not match; he is painted while the turtles around him are covered in glitter; Dory/Nemo have a similar problem covered with glitter when their surroundings are not.
• Aladdin/Jasmine/carpet looked ok but were placed oddly; they either should have their own space off to the side or be one of the moving carpets. Abu was placed perfectly and I would not change him.
• Pinnochio was fine, but the lights around him were unnecessary.
• Alice in Wonderland and Cinderella sections were very well done (the figures), but the musical variations they added just makes it a cacophony; there are 3 songs trying to be played at the same time in a short amount of space. This was the worst as the boat neared Cinderella.
• Peter Pan needs movement; right now he just looks like a body in green attached to a ceiling fan. Tinkerbell looks like an equally lifeless counterweight.

Overall, I thought a few character additions would have been fine, but they went overboard. It looks like they took out some of the backgrounds so that the area around the characters is empty (Pinnochio is a prime example; it is empty between the Dutch area and Pinocchio's curtain).

I also found it annoying that many of the characters were placed directly in front of the boat. The figures I liked best (Abu, Alice, Cinderella, Lion King) were consistently those which were placed off to the side and complimented the scene by blending into it. The figures I found most offensive (Toy Story, Saludos Amigos), were those which dominated the scene.

That being said, I love that it has been freshened up. It looks brand new inside. The exterior lighting is likewise entertaining to watch all by itself, much like it has been for the Christmas season. I simply do not think these restorations/enhancements also required the addition of those Disney characters intended to become focal points in various scenes of the attraction.

I will definitely wander over in that direction more often to soak up the atmosphere and watch the colorful lights reflecting off the facade. Will I ride it more often than I did prior to the refurb? Decidedly not.

[MikeChat]

I know it's a little late but here's a newspaper article

Revamped `Small World' big letdown for Disney purists

[pianoman13]

I know im pretty late for a review but I finally rode it and I want to get my two cents in here.

Overall, I liked it, the new lighting is GREAT, everything is shiny and nice and much improved. The new entrance room is really cool and I think was a great idea. The disney characters are so weird though, it just stroke me as random that they are there, and i'm sure that it would for anyone else, disney fanatic or not. Yes, some are better blened in than others but the fact that they're there period sickens me. The America scene is.... odd, it doesn't fit with the rest of the ride. For some reason it just seems dead, theres no life to it, no clever or cute gags. The finale though is really good though, I love how the lighting changes just like the outside lights and it really ties it all together. So all in all, the non-contoroversial changes were good, but the america scene and disney characters don't "improve" the show, they actually harmed it, they're just not as bad as everyone whines about.

[J Thaddeus Toad Esq]

I won't vote yet since I hadn't ridden it yet since it reopened, I'm looking at it with restrained optimism, basically I hope when I ride my feeling will be, "well that's not too bad".

[disneyfann121]

Not overly optimistic, Toad. I'm hoping to actually like it.