It's A Small World on the Today Show this morning!

Originally Posted By WDWFreak92

Did anyone else see the Today Show this morning? They had a spot on about the upcoming 10 month closing of the ride. They played that famous song throughout the whole thing and showed recent clips of the ride. They also talked about the rumor that the boats are not able to withstand the weight of overweight guests anymore. I thought that was funny.

 

Originally Posted By jonvn

Does the ride in florida have this problem? Same boats.

I think this goes to show how a couple things.

1) The press is filled with idiots.
2) Disney needs to do something about people who are spreading basically false stories about them, if it is a false story.

 

Originally Posted By WDWFreak92

Well actually they really just reported on the actual closing of the ride and the reason. They made one remark about the possibility that the boats may not be able to withstand the weight of the passengers which they said was the idea of a Disney blogger. After this, they said that the official reason is that the boats have been refurbished so much that the boats themselves have become overweight. Sorry, I should've made that clearer earlier.

 

Originally Posted By Darkbeer

Florida has a totally different flume system (not sure of the boats), Florida's version is the "flooded" version and is much different than the original version.

Why did Disney add the platform in front of the Mounties area of the ride, if not for the issue of boats getting stuck at the area?

<a href="http://travel.latimes.com/articles/la-trw-disney9nov09" target="_blank">http://travel.latimes.com/arti
cles/la-trw-disney9nov09</a>

>>Heavier-than-anticipated loads have been causing the boats to come to a standstill in two different spots, allowing for an extra-long gander at the Canadian Mounties and the Scandinavian geese, said Al Lutz, whose website MiceAge first reported the refurbishment plans.

"If these boats get stuck . . . they have to send someone back in there to lighten the load on the boat," said Lutz, who has been on the ride when a guest or two was asked to disembark.

"They've even built a platform next to that [Mounties] curve because they've had so many problems."

Disneyland plans to add an inch of depth to the water channel and design more-buoyant boats, Lutz said.<<

And why does the CM's running the attraction run boats that are less than fulll (sometimes empty rows) with long queues when "full bodied" adults are the only riders?

I know Post 2 said "If", but this story is a lot of basis in fact... Let me be lazy and post something I wrote yesterday at MC....

>>What I have a problem is that the Disneyland Spokesperson(s) in the NY Times (last week) and now in the LA Times basically claim Al Lutz is lying.

And that is NOT the case.

Is it the ONLY reason why "iasw" is closing? The answer to that is clear... NO, it is an older ride and needs things to be repaired and replaced.

But why are they making the flume deeper and redesigning the boats.

Because they have had weight issues, CM's working the ride are trained to watch the weight distribution and are told to send off boats that are not fully loaded (even with a long queue) if they feel the are too many "full bodied" adults on the single boat.

Weight, and the fact the average guest is about 25 pounds heavier since the 60's, based on government statistics, is just plain facts.

Does Disney need to promote the fact that one of the main reasons for the new design is weight? The answer again is NO. But all they needed to say was the fact they were addressing the issues of maintenance and the fact the ride is over 40 years old, and they are improving the ride.

What they DIDN'T need to do is claim that Al Lutz was lying..

Here is a quote from the NY Times on November 3rd...

<a href="http://www.micechat.com/forums/showthread.php/let_us_pray_wealth_new-82270.html" target="_blank">http://www.micechat.com/forums
/showthread.php/let_us_pray_wealth_new-82270.html</a>

Quote:

A Disney spokesman said Mr. Lutz has it wrong. Repairs have caused a buildup of fiberglass in the flume, decreasing the clearance. The repairs, which will close the ride for 10 months starting in January, “have nothing to do with weight,†he said.<<

 

Originally Posted By Darkbeer

<a href="http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article3146414.ece" target="_blank">http://news.independent.co.uk/
world/americas/article3146414.ece</a>

>>The reason? Disneyland's visitors have been getting not smaller but bigger, wider and fatter, and the boats on the "It's a Small World" ride have developed an annoying habit of running aground under all the extra weight.

The company itself denies that obesity has anything to do with it: it says the renovation is necessary because a series of fibreglass patches on the bottom of the waterway have created obstacles that need to be cleared.

But visitors, former employees and self-appointed Disney watchers all attest to the frequent occasions on which the boats on "It's a Small World" back up because a vessel carrying more pounds per square inch than anyone could have reasonably envisaged back in 1964 has ground to a halt.

"The Cast Members [Disney employees] operating the ride try their very best to eyeball the girth and size of the riders coming down the line and purposely leave a row or two empty on many boats," an assiduous Disney watcher called Al Lutz reported on his website this week. "Even those discreet tactics don't always work with today's riders."<<

 

Originally Posted By jonvn

"Why did Disney add the platform in front of the Mounties area of the ride, if not for the issue of boats getting stuck at the area?"

Who said they weren't getting stuck in the area. Disney has said the flume is in bad shape and needs to be replaced.

Don't quote Lutz to me, you might as well be speaking Mandarin. His comments are meaningless.

"But why are they making the flume deeper and redesigning the boats."

It's one inch deeper. That does not speak to the reasons we've seen.

"Does Disney need to promote the fact that one of the main reasons for the new design is weight? The answer again is NO."

Neither do they need to categorically deny it. Why bother? They have no reason to.

"What they DIDN'T need to do is claim that Al Lutz was lying.."

If he was, then yes, they did. I didn't see where they said he was lying, but if they actually went out of their way to say he was LYING, then he likely was.

BTW, saying that he 'has it wrong' does not equate with Al lying. That simply means he is (shock) misniforned and spreading misinformation. If he did not knowlingly tell a false statement it's not really lying. It's more his stock in trade of furthering false rumors to make Disney look bad, and pretending they are true when they are not necessarily so.

 

Originally Posted By jonvn

That's why he needs to stop acting like everything he says is true, and instead just rumors, because he can be accused of lying by acting the way he does.

 

Originally Posted By berol

How much weight can the extra inch of water keep buoyant? I had that in physics, but I long forgot how to do figure it.

I was all set to say 'does not equate with lying' til post #6 beat me to it.

 

Originally Posted By 550Deano

I work in the Resort as a Fireman and it is TRUE....People who are too big are causing the boats to bottom out...The Resort is trying to be politically correct...It is a FACT...No RUMOR...

Sorry if this hurts anyones feelings....

 

Originally Posted By 550Deano

I would like to add that the same thing is occuring on drop #1 on POTC daily....

 

Originally Posted By darkangel4evr2u

Ok so even if that were true that it's getting stuck due to overweight people which I don't think so are big people not to ride it anymore? Just cuirious

 

Originally Posted By 550Deano

What part didn't you understand...Disney is trying to be kind in their wording...The boats are getting stuck due to overweight passengers on IASW and POTC...Do you think thy would hold a press conference and state "DUE TO FAT PEOPLE...." It is a fact that is being talked about at the resort...No Rumor...

 

Originally Posted By jonvn

"I would like to add that the same thing is occuring on drop #1 on POTC daily...."

That started specifically and exactly after a repair was made. I remember when that started to occur.

People didn't suddenly get too fat after a particular rehab.

These are 40 year old fiberglass constructions that have been patched and patched. That is what is causing the problem.

 

Originally Posted By jonvn

"...Do you think thy would hold a press conference "

No, but they would not go out of their way to deny it, either.

 

Originally Posted By Zwitek

<<< No, but they would not go out of their way to deny it, either. >>>

They most certainly would. Most company's would, and do deny things that would make their customers feel uncomfortable.

 

Originally Posted By jonvn

Most companies would not, and do not.

And how does it make anyone feel uncomfortable?

Basically, they denied it to be the case, and unless there is some reason to believe otherwise, then that's it.

 

Originally Posted By 550Deano

Jon is under the Disney Mojo...he doesn't believe anything other than the mouse...Come on Jon...Companies always side step the obvious as to not alienate any particular class...

 

Originally Posted By jonvn

They didn't sidestep anything. They directly and categorically made a statement.

I'm under no "mojo." I simply refuse to believe stupid stories from dubious sources.

 

Originally Posted By berol

It's not gonna get proven in either direction even if we get to post #1000.

 

Originally Posted By jonvn

In order to prove something, you need actual information.

On one hand, you've got people seeing heavier folks having to get off the ride.

On the other, you have Disney adamantly stating that it's not them that's causing it, but the ride itself is simply in bad shape.

The thing probably is runnable just barely with a "normal" amount of weight on it. You push it a bit, and it gets stuck. That seems to be the situation.