It’s not such a small world, after all

Although the Disney company doesn’t admit that plus-sized tourists are causing “It’s a Small World” boats to bottom out, longtime Disney watcher Al Lutz notes that “heavier than anticipated” loads have caused boats to come to a standstill on more than one occasion. The problem has become common enough that Disneyland has built a platform next to one tricky area where boats commonly get stuck.

Disney denies that weight issues are the cause of stuck boats. Instead, the company suggests that “layers and layers” of fiberglass have built up where maintenance teams have patched and re-patched problem areas.

Nevertheless, “It’s a Small World” will be getting an inch more of water, and some lighter boats. The ride will be closed for ten months beginning in January 2008.

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Amusement Park Rides That Could Be Movies–Kind of

With Pirates of the Caribbean’s popularity, perhaps the think-tank at Disney is wondering what other amusement park rides can spin-off into a blockbuster movie. With this in mind, at Blogzarro: “the blog of comics, movies, television and bizarre thoughts,” James A. wrote a clever post with such possibilities. Most of his ideas are horror film or action thriller varieties involving rides like The Cyclone roller coaster of Coney Island fame, bumper cars and the Tilt-A-Whirl.

In “The Cyclone: The Movie,” the plot has something to do with Bruce Willis working as a roller coaster operator. Things go haywire when an actual cyclone shows up and Willis has to save the day.

In another, Ashton Kutcher and Johnny Knoxville are illegal bumper car drag racers. James A has even made Disney World and Disneyland’s “It’s small world ” ride into a horror movie where everyone was shrunk by an evil giant and the soundtrack of “It’s a small world” has been switched to a song performed by Marilyn Manson.

If you want to go on one of these rides to see if blockbuster movie ideas come your way here are a couple recommendations:

At ThemeParkCritic.com the bumper car ride, Skooters at Knobels in Elysville, Pennsylvania is number three on the top rides list. It also names the Twirly Turtle at Storyland in Glen, New Hampshire as one of the best. In case you want to make your Tilt -a-Whirl ride experience even more whirly, here are some tips from RandomTerrain.