"it's a small world"

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"it's a small world" Overview

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"it's a small world" is perhaps one of the happiest attractions in Walt Disney World. Boats carry guests through the different lands of the world and children from over 100 different nations are singing, dancing and playing.

No world is more universally enchanting than that of childhood. Its have Inside Walt Disney's "it's a small world," happiness and laughter blend into a single, living adventure, capturing the fleeting moments of youth. Through the topiary gardens and past the towering columns of the world, the small world boats drift silently with the tide into "The Happiest Cruise That Ever Sailed."

"it's a small world" History

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Pepsi had approached Disney about doing an attraction for the World's Fair, and the company initially turned them down. When Walt Disney heard about this he pledged to build the attraction. Heading up the design team and responsible for the overall layout was Imagineer Mary Balir. The entire design and construction of It's a Small World occurred in the space of only nine months. The initial attraction was a continuous chain of individual, fixed seats that enclosed you with speakers to either side of your head. There was a single sound track and each seat as it reached the same point heard the same part of the track.

Walt asked the Sherman brothers, who he had worked with in the past, to come up with a simple round that could be sung in many different languages and not sound like a cacaphony. By the end of the day, they turned in a simple draft of "it's a small world (After All)", promising that they'd punch it up the next day. Walt told them that they shouldn't bother, it was just right as it was.

When the attraction opened at the World's Fair in 1964. Disney and Pepsi designated all proceeds to be donated to UNICEF. The pavilion was staffed by 100 full-time employees and 450 part-time UNICEF volunteers.

After the World's Fair ended "it's a small world" moved to Disneyland in 1965. Then when Walt Disney World opened in 1971 "it's a small world" made it's debut in the Florida theme park on opening day.

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"it's a small world" Trivia

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• There are only two dolls inside "it's a small world" that represent the United States (A Native American and a Cowboy). They can both been seen in the final scene.
• The turrets and gold colored ornaments on the outside of the Small World Ride are actual 22K gold leaf. Normal gold tone paint had been used early on when the ride first opened but the paint would oxidize very quickly and need to be replaced on a continual basis. While initially expensive the gold is actually more cost effective in the long run.
• The sound systems for Haunted Mansion and It's a Small World are in the same room, which is one of Haunted Mansion's backstage rooms. The reason is that Small World is a water ride, the sound systems needed to be stored someplace dry, and Haunted Mansion is the nearest similar attraction.
• The "Turn-Off" for "it's a small world" is located in the Mexico scene at the bridge right before the volcano.

"it's a small world" Hidden Mickeys

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• In the Africa scene, look closely at the purple flowers on a vine at the elephant's left side.
• On the outside of the ride the nutcracker solider paintings have hidden Mickey's.
• At the end of the Africa room, on the elephants' left side, there are purple vines with flowers. The leaves/flowers up and to the right are Mickey silhouettes.
• In the Hawaiian section, there is a hidden Mickey. It is located on the swim trunks of the surfer. There is a purple shape of Mickey's head at the top of the trunks.

"it's a small world" Reviews

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5/22/2008

Reviewer: Brandon, MI, USA
There's no other way to sum this up other than classic Disney.

7/20/2006

Reviewer: Michelle Sayers, Sayerville, NJ, USA
It's a world of laughter, a world of cheer. It's a world of hope... It's A Small Worls is auch a classical ride to relax on. Another Disney staple that keeps people coming back for generations.

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