It's A Small World, Disneyland Paris

== IT'S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL ==

=== DISNEYLAND PARIS ===

I can guarantee that anybody who has ever had the pleasure to ride on "It's a Small World After All" in Disneyland Paris will now have 'that' darned song going round in there head!!

Most people either hate or love "It's a Small World".
Those that hate it often blame the repetitive theme song or saccharin sweet subject ...
...world of tears
It's a world of hopes and a world of fears
There's so much that we share
That it's time we're aware
It's a Small World after all.

There is just one moon and one golden sun
And a smile means friendship to ev'ryone
Though the mountains divide
And the oceans are wide
It's a Small World after all"

Now you ARE singing it aren't you!!
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IT'S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL

DISNEYLAND PARIS

I can guarantee that anybody who has ever had the pleasure to ride on "It's a Small World After All" in Disneyland Paris will now have 'that' darned song going round in there head!!

Most people either hate or love "It's a Small World".
Those that hate it often blame the repetitive theme song or saccharin sweet subject matter.

I couldn't begin to estimate the amount of times that I have sat through this ride, it must be in the hundreds!! This is mainly due to the fact that the majority of times we have visited Disneyland Paris has been for New Year or Halloween, and IASW is a great ride for escaping cold and wet weather - on one paticular occassion we sat through eight consecutive rides until my poor daughter was almost suicidal!!

This was due to my then five year old son's love of the ride and a way of keeping warm as the snow and frost fell ouside and killing some time as we waited for midnight on New Years Eve!!

I can't imagine that there are many people who do not know much about the ride but just what is IASW ?

"It's a world of laughter, a world of tears
It's a world of hopes and a world of fears
There's so much that we share
That it's time we're aware
It's a Small World after all.

There is just one moon and one golden sun
And a smile means friendship to ev'ryone
Though the mountains divide
And the oceans are wide
It's a Small World after all"

Now you ARE singing it aren't you!!

Classed by Disney as the "happiest cruise to ever sail 'round the world.", "It's A Small World" is a dark water ride in Fantasyland.
It was opened on 12th April 1992, the ride lasts for 8 minutes (no wonder that song gets stuck in your head), there are 24 boats that each hold 22 passengers - so it is a fairly easy ride to get on.
The ride features 281 Audio Animatronic characters, along with 48 animated toys and 247 animated accessories.The attraction is sponsored by France Telecom .

That's the basics of the ride, but what do you actually see and do?

The exterior of the ride is very pretty with pastel colours and lots of cutout turrets, towers, and minarets. Among the landmarks represented are: The Eiffel Tower, Greek Columns, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, a Russian Mosque, and a windmill from Holland.

The main feature is a huge clock with a happy face that swings back and forth. On the quarter-hour,a pair of doors at the base of the clock tower open and wooden dolls parade out of the clock through it as the song "It's A Small World" is played. After the last doll exits the clock, another pair of doors are opened to reveal two large toy blocks -- one block with the hour, and one block and gongs which are hit by puppets show the time once for every 15 minutes. The sounds of IASW dominate the area.

There are some lovely topiary displays in the surrounding gardens and the Disneyland Railroad actually passes in front of the main building.

The journey to 'the small world' starts under a covered loading area - the entire attraction, in fact, is indoors - so ideal for bad weather- it is also air conditioned so if the weather is warm it is nice and cool inside.

The boats have no restraints as this is a gentle ride, the only warnings are to keep arms and legs in and not to stand up.
As you enter the attraction the boat travels through a long tunnel as the Disneyland Railroad runs above this area. On the walls are travel posters from different locations all around the world.

The main part the ride features animatronic dolls in national costumes singing the title song in numerous languages.These are simple dolls with minimal movement but they are all very cute and there is a fantastic amount of detail. The backgrounds are very elaborate and most are two-dimensional with bridges and overcrossings to sail beneath.

Everytime you go on the ride you do notice something different as you go from country to country. A few examples are the Europe setting , where THAT song is sung in English with a Cockney accent and Italian, as well as having a yodeler in the section representing Switzerland. We have London buses, gondolas, the Alps etc etc.
In the The Arctic/North Pole settings , the dolls representing Scandinavia, and the song sung in Swedish. There are igloos and lots and lots of snow !! The last setting is the Finale and all cultures of the world are represented dressed in white and gold versions of their native costumes and singing in English in unison.

In February this year after a short closure Diseny characters were added to the ride, these are:

Peter Pan and Tinker Bell from Peter Pan
Alice and the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland
Cinderella, Jaq and Gus-Gus from Cinderella
Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket from Pinocchio
Aladdin, Jasmine, carpet, lamp and Abu from Aladdin
Mulan and Mushu from Mulan
Simba, Pumbaa and Timon from The Lion King
Donald Duck, Jose Carioca and Panchito from The Three Caballeros
Ariel and Flounder from The Little Mermaid
Nemo and Dory from Finding Nemo
Lilo and Stitch from Lilo and Stitch
Woody, Bullseye and Jessie from Toy Story 2

After embarking from the boat there is a walk-through show near to the exit. In this area, small TV screens are housed within various world landmarks and offer views of cartoon children communicating with one another. You do not have to walk through this but if you haven't seen it it is worth going through it at least once.

So what do I think?

Well (don't tell my daughter !!) I love it !!

I know that this ride just alot of dolls dancing around is nothing special but it is so well-done. It is an iconic Disney ride, and you have to do it at least once!!

And I actually like the theme song, I just hate when it gets stuck in my head.!!!!!!!
"It's a world of laughter, a world of tears"
 

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