After a bit of a hiatus we’re returning to our blog series looking in depth at Disneyland Paris attractions. We’ve previously looked at Phantom Manor and Pirates of the Caribbean, and today we’re visiting the happiest cruise that ever sailed – It’s a Small World!

Making of the attraction

Like some other classic Disney attractions, It’s a Small World had its origins in the 1964 New York World’s Fair. For this fair Disney were asked to collaborate and design several pavilions. For Walt Disney and the Imagineers this was a great chance to try out new technologies and design new rides that could eventually be moved to the original Disneyland in California. It’s a Small World was one of 4 attractions developed for the fair, and has gone on to have a long Disney history since!

The aim of the original It’s a Small World was to show unity among the children of the world – the pavilion was for the charity Unicef, with Pepsi as the sponsor. (Kinda ironic now considering it’s impossible to get a Pepsi in the US Disney Parks or Disneyland Paris!) The original name was ‘Children of the World’. It was hit on to have animatronics and themed areas to the different countries and continents of the world. For the attraction’s styling they wanted it to be fun, colourful and whimsical, and so they asked Disney artist and Imagineer Mary Blair to take the lead on the design. Her bold colour choices and use of symmetrical shapes and patterns in the background has become a signature part of the look of It’s a Small World. A husband and wife team took on designing the dolls themselves – legendary Imagineer Marc Davis designed the characters and their movements, while his wife Alice Davis designed the doll costumes. Boats were chosen as the best means to move people through the attraction, a first for Disney at the time for an indoor attraction.

Probably the most known element of It’s a Small World is the iconic theme song (yes it will get stuck in your head!). Originally though it wasn’t going to be part of the ride! Walt Disney actually wanted all the dolls singing their own national anthems – the result though would have been such a cacophony of noise that the idea was soon ditched and legendary Disney songwriters the Sherman Brothers penned the theme song instead. (They also worked on Mary Poppins and the Jungle Book, and other Disney attraction themes like ‘There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow’ for the Carousel of Progress – which also debuted at the 1964 World’s Fair!).

Needless to say, the attraction at the World’s Fair was a big hit, and in 1966 the original attraction opened in Disneyland in California after the World’s Fair closed. The attraction quickly became one of the most popular rides in Disneyland, so unsurprisingly it was replicated in Disney’s later parks. A version opened in Magic Kingdom at the park’s opening on 1st October 1971, and another opened in Tokyo Disneyland in 1983. So when Disneyland Paris opened in 1992, it’s not surprising that a version opened here too!

Paris’ version has some differences to the other versions of It’s a Small World around the world. It’s the only version of the ride to all technically be in one room, with arches separating the different spaces. The scenery here also owes less to Mary Blair’s original designs than some of the other versions, although her designs are still used in the finale scene and were very influential on the ride’s facade. It also has rather less dolls than some of the other versions – only 178 in Paris to over 600 in the version of the Magic Kingdom!

While the Paris version of the ride has had a few big refurbishments over the years, at its heart the attraction is very much the same as when it first opened here – and back in the New York World’s Fair back in 1964. It celebrates the different countries of the world and emphasises that humans have way more in common than we do differences.

The attraction story

In all honesty, It’s a Small World doesn’t really have a story! As the ride’s tagline suggests, it’s designed to be a cruise around the World. The happiest cruise that ever sailed!

After a welcome scene, in the ride you sail past scenes set in different countries around the globe, each with dolls in suitably themed costumes and singing ‘It’s a Small World’ in their own languages. The countries are grouped together roughly by continent. In a large finale scene dolls from different nations come together to sing the song in a sort of funfair style scene, with the dolls dressed in shades of mostly white, cream and gold. Here the ride’s theme song is sung in both English and French. After this cut out flowers in a brief final scene bear signs wishing you ‘farewell’ in various languages.

There’s a couple of notable things about the countries featured in the Disneyland Paris version. It was the first version of It’s a Small World to feature dolls themed to the Middle East and singing in Arabic. And it was also the first to have a section for North America featuring figures from the US and Canada!

Really It’s a Small World isn’t designed to pull you into a story, instead it aims to take you on a journey through the countries with fun, joy and happiness along the way.

Finding the attraction

It’s a Small World is towards the back right hand corner of the park, in the right hand side of Fantasyland (as you look at the castle).

To find It’s a Small World you can either enter Fantasyland through the castle, go round the right hand side of the Carousel and follow the right hand path to the ride. Or you can go down the wide path that cuts to the right hand side of Sleeping Beauty Castle, past a set of Toilets and Pizzeria Bella Notte. It’s a Small World will be right in front of you. Also, if the cut through path from Discoveryland to Fantasyland is open, you can walk out of Discoveryland next to the Hyperion theatre and will enter Fantasyland directly next to It’s a Small World. (This is also where parades enter the park).

Notes for the differently-abled

It’s a Small World is a seated boat ride. It’s extremely gentle, has no height requirement and is suitable for all ages. Actually, a lot of younger children seem to love it!

There is a step down from the loading area to get into the boats – you can step onto the seat and then down into the bottom of the boat to reduce the height of the step. There’s then a step up to get out of the boats – again, you might want to step onto the seat first to make the step up smaller.

One really nice aspect of It’s a Small World is that it has boats suitable for wheelchairs, meaning that guests in wheelchairs don’t need to transfer. To access these boats you’ll need to head into the attraction via the ride exit, where a cast member can assist you. They’ll put ramps onto the boat to make wheeling straight onto it a breeze! It’s worth noting though that there’s not a huge number of wheelchair accessible boats, so depending on how many guests in wheelchairs are waiting you might have a little bit of a wait before you can board. Guests with a Priority Pass that have mobility differences (but are not necessarily in wheelchairs) might also be directed onto the ride via the exit as this is a ramp. The main queue line has a few steps in it – not many but they are there!

The ride itself is extremely slow and gentle. You may get a slight bump into the back of your boat from the one behind while waiting to unload, but otherwise it’s a serene float through the attraction. And sights wise there’s nothing dark or scary here to worry about. The only other slight warning I might give with It’s a Small World is that it’s very bright and colourful and of course that iconic song is always playing, so it may be over-stimulating to some. Having said that I’ve never really heard reports of anyone struggling with the ride.

Hidden details and cool facts

Despite being a very simple ride on the surface, It’s a Small World does have some cool facts behind it!

• In a 16 hour park day, the song is played around 1500 times. In 2014 it was estimated that the song has played over 50 million times in the Disney attractions alone around the world, making it one of the most performed and translated songs ever. It’s also been added to the US National Recording Registry because of its importance to cultural heritage. Take that, song haters!
• In Disneyland Paris, the Disneyland Railroad actually drives through the middle of the It’s a Small World facade as opposed to behind the building. You can get great views of the ride loading area from here!
• Speaking of the facade, Disneyland Paris’ version has a lot of similarities to the one in Disneyland in California, but it has its own unique features too such as a redesigned clock tower, and the facade featuring a sun and moon – a tribute to the line in the ride’s theme song ‘There is just one moon and one golden sun’
• While many think the ride facade was designed by Mary Blair (and it owes a lot to her designs), the original one at Disneyland was actually designed by Imagineer Rolly Crump. Elements of his facade design are at Disneyland Paris too, notably the rotating clock face.
• Many facades of It’s a Small World feature gold, but at Disneyland Paris this is said to be actual 24 carat gold leaf! It was thought to hold up better to the damp climate in Paris.
• Unlike previous versions of the ride, several online sources say that the Disneyland Paris version was actually built by Intamin, a ride design company probably most known for rollercoasters. Their input might explain while some of the set piece’s in Paris’ version are more of a departure from Mary Blair’s style than previous versions of the ride.
• The UK section of It’s a Small World in Disneyland Paris contains a nod to a defunct Epcot attraction! In this section there is a figure looking straight into the eye of the Loch Ness monster with a telescope. It replicates a scene in the sadly long gone World of Motion ride, where a sea explorer looked into the eye of a sea serpent.
• The versions of It’s a Small World in Disneyland in California and Tokyo Disneyland have had several Disney characters added. While this hasn’t happened in Disneyland Paris, there’s no doubt that some of the figures have a bit of a resemblance to some Disney characters regardless. Look out for a Slinky Dog in Germany, a figure holding a lamp with a genie coming out of it in the Middle East section, and a mermaid that has some similarities to Ariel in the South Seas portion!

When to visit

It’s a Small World is a popular attraction. Thankfully though, due to its boat ride system, it’s also a very efficient one!

Because of this it’s rare to see waits here of more than 30 minutes – and mostly much less! It’s probably worth avoiding around the peak middle of the day of around 11am to 3pm, particularly in busy seasons. Often though in the early mornings or the evenings you can get on It’s a Small World with little to no wait. If you’re visiting at a peak period and the lines are super long you can buy a Premier Access for this ride to help bypass most of the ride line. It tends to be one of the cheapest available! But typically you’re not likely to encounter too much of a long line here.

Final thoughts

Here’s some final things to consider when riding It’s a Small World:

• The ride is about 10-12 minutes long, or could be longer if you end up waiting a while to disembark (this can happen in busier seasons, or if they’re loading or unloading a wheelchair in one of the boats ahead of you). As a result it’s not a bad idea to use the toilet before getting in line – the nearest set are over next to Pizzeria Bella Notte.
• Please don’t put your hands in the ride water! It can be tempting but there’s gears, mechanisms and all sorts under there so it could very well be dangerous. (And it’s quite likely a cast member will come over the tannoy to tell you to stop, ruining the experience for everyone. Yes, they are watching!)
• Part of the extended queue of It’s a Small World gives a really good view of the parade as it enters the park – if you watch it here and then hoof it onto the attraction you’ll probably get a really short wait! However, if you’re not already in the queue as the parade finishes passing by we wouldn’t recommend heading straight to It’s a Small World, because a lot of people round you will probably be doing the same thing!
• Please give this ride a chance. I know it’s the trendy thing to moan about the song and everything. But this ride really is pure Disney magic and nostalgia, and has a pretty good message of world unity. Something that can feel very lacking at times!

So that’s our look at It’s a Small World! Personally, I unashamedly love this ride and consider it a must do. What attraction should we look at next? Let me know in the comments! And while you’re there, please subscribe to our blog – you’ll receive our future blogs in your inbox, and get a free copy of our Magically Different Guide to Disneyland Paris Attraction Accessibility (typically £3). We’d also love to see you over on our YouTube channel! And if you’d like to support our work, please do consider leaving us a tip. Thank you! And now I’m off to hum the It’s a Small World song for the next several hours…