There's a lot of people upset about the long refurb of "It's A Small World" going on right now. The renovation which is due to be done at the end of the year has attracted an unusually large amount of attention lately with the announcement that classic Disney characters will be placed in geographical relation to their stories.
It seems that Brady MacDonald over at the
L.A. Times Travel Blog and the
Re-Imagineering Blog have stirred up quite a bit of dust. The guys at WDI are scrambling to make sure the public doesn't turn on them. In an open
letter to them Kevin Blair(Mary Blair's son), had smacked the Mouse across the face about some of the proposed changes. Now, from what I know most of the changes are due to age and not because of weight... this ride hasn't had an extensive refurb like this in decades. The changes involved in adding the characters were supposed to be subtle with the style fitting more closely to that of Blair's artwork, but it has a divided camp inside WDI as well. Some feel that they shouldn't be messing with the classic attraction while others feel the need to tinker with the ride now that there is an opening during this long refurbishment.
The publicity arm seems to be trying to control the damage from people sending e-mails and all the media exposure that is shining a light on this. Some people are saying this is not near as big a departure as the "Pirates" refurb and that fans should wait and judge the results come the Holidays...
One things for sure, when Disney starts enhancing the classic attractions it better tread lightly and carefully. This story about a Small World seems to be becoming very big.
Developing...
