The Obesity Epidemic Was Sinking Disneyland's It's A Small World Boats

It has been a long long time since I rode the It's A Small World ride in Disneyland. The first time I  rode that ride I think I remember thinking it was cute. And it was fun being in a boat.

I don't think I was ever back in a It's A Small World boat after I left my teenage years.

It's A Small World is now in pretty much all the Disney parks around the world.

The It's A Small World version in Disneyland was shut down from January til November 2008 for some major refurbishment.

Disney denies it, but it is widely believed that American Obesity is the major reason Disney had to shut down It's A Small World for almost a year.

Seems there were some problems with boats getting stuck, causing It's A Small World traffic jams, which made those behind the stuck boats cranky.

When It's A Small World was designed, Disney Imagineers calculated the boat's load capacity based on the average male rider weighing 175, with the average female rider weighing 135. Those figures are as out of date with 2010 reality as the City of Tomorrow.

Over the years, to compensate for the ever growing heft, ride monitors would leave seats open. This annoyed those waiting in line. I guess Disneyland did not think it a good solution to put up a sign informing those in line that due to the Obesity Epidemic the boats could not be fully loaded.

Even with leaving seats open, so the boats could be buoyant enough to successfully float, occasionally one would bottom out at some point in the ride. The ride monitors then would have to locate the stuck boat and tactfully get the plus-sized persons off the boat and on to the emergency escape route. Some passengers did not take kindly to being selected as the cause of the boat not floating.

Disneyland needed a solution to the BIG problem with It's A Small World. So, the It's A Small World's water way and boats were replaced, with deeper water and more buoyant boats.

I don't know how long it is estimated the new boats will be able to reliably keep floating before the Obesity Epidemic starts sinking them again.

If you have never been to Disneyland and have never heard the It's A Small World song, or ridden the ride, watch the video below. You will likely see why being stuck on a boat hearing that song over and over again would quickly get quite annoying.