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There’s good news today for everyone who loves the “it’s a small world” attraction at Disneyland.
Though damage from a flood at the attraction threatened to keep the iconic attraction away from Guests this holiday season, Disney has just announced that the experience will reopen to Guests next week at the Disneyland Resort in California–and without missing a beat. The ride will reopen as the “it’s a small world holiday” attraction, dressed in its holiday best.
Credit: Disney
Crews have worked day and night to save the “it’s a small world” ride at Disneyland from further damage. The flood happened early in the morning on November 10, just before the iconic attraction was to make its holly jolly debut for the 2021 Christmas season. A maintenance room underground was filled with water while the “river” along which the ride vehicles move was being refilled.
Let’s just say it was a huge mess.
“I don’t think you could have planned this to happen at a worse time,” said Jason Tomlin, the ride systems manager at the Anaheim park.
The flood damaged the “central command” part of the attraction–the “brain” of the “it’s a small world ride.” The damage took place when the maintenance room under the load and unload station filled up with water. Electrical equipment and ride controls that operate the water pumps and conveyor belts of the ride were overtaken by water.
Credit: KTLA 5 Los Angeles
Repairing the damage should have taken months, but it had to be completed in only a few weeks if the ride was still going to be open to Guests during the very busy holiday season.
Credit: Disney
First, water had to be pumped out of the maintenance room. This was helped along by a huge dehumidifier the size of one of the cars found in the Autopia attraction at Disneyland. Then technicians had to determine what would need to be replaced and what could be salvaged.
Then crew members began working tirelessly to find the parts they needed to make the repairs. The team reached out to other Disney Parks with the “it’s a small world” attraction to see if they had parts available and whether they could have them delivered overnight, if possible.
Credit: Disney
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After it was all said and done, a global effort–one that stretched from Japan to China to Florida to France–was what finally brought together everything that was needed to make sure the Disneyland California attraction could be back to its old festive self as “it’s a small world holiday,” just in time for the merrymakers who visit during the holidays and think of the attraction as a staple of their visit.
The attraction is set to open next week, according to Disney. On Disneyland’s website, available times for the attraction look to begin on Sunday, December 5.
