[PrincessFan]

Has anyone else heard this? When I heard the tag line on the news this morning, I thought it had to do with the portrayal of people (the signing dolls) not the size of the boat.


Disneyland closes It's A Small World rideFrom correspondents in Los Angeles
November 11, 2007 12:00am

DISNEYLAND will close the popular It's A Small World attraction for renovations next year, but insists the upgrade has nothing to do with the expanding girth of park patrons.

Disneyland plans to close the 41-year-old water ride in January for a facelift - and deal with the problem of bottoming-out boats.

Heavy loads have been causing the boats to stall in two different spots, said Al Lutz, a long-time Disney watcher, whose website MiceAge.com first reported the refurbishment plans.

Mr Lutz said he'd been on the ride when several guests were asked to get off to lighten the load.

"They've even built a platform (there) ... because they've had so many problems," he said.

But Disneyland, which will deepen the water by 2.5cm and build lighter boats, said overweight tourists are not to blame.

The boats get stuck because "layers and layers" of fibreglass have built up, where maintenance teams have re-patched problem areas, a spokesman said.

Disneyland has recently redesigned costumes in larger sizes to accommodate patrons' wider waistlines.