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Two Dancers Are Missing From it's a small world at Magic Kingdom, and the Facade Is Peeling Where It Meets the Water
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Two Dancers Are Missing From it's a small world at Magic Kingdom, and the Facade Is Peeling Where It Meets the Water

Michael Travels
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Published

Two of the dolls are missing. WDW News Today reports that the Irish dancer and the flamenco dancer inside it's a small world at Magic Kingdom "have been missing for an extended period," and the outlet does not put a date on when either left.

The dolls come up in a broader condition report the site published on Saturday, September 5, after what it describes as a recent trip to the park. Its reporters say they noticed "multiple incidents of grime and deterioration" on the 1971 Fantasyland boat ride.

A Beefeater doll in a red and gold tunic with a white ruff collar and a wide black hat trimmed with red, white and blue ribbon rosettes holds a tall silver spear inside the Europe room of it's a small world. Behind him are a red, white and blue Eiffel Tower hung with pennants, dolls in blue and white dresses standing on a fleur de lis boat, red and white swirled lollipop props, and a doll suspended from a cluster of balloons overhead.

The Europe room of it's a small world as Disney presents it. Neither doll WDW News Today reports missing, the Irish dancer and the flamenco dancer, is in this frame. Image: Disney

What it looks like from the boat

The waterline is where the report is bluntest. WDW News Today writes that "the white material of the facade is peeling away from the base, and several light bulbs are burnt out on one of the arches," and that dark lines run along the join between the facade and the water. Its summing up of that stretch: "the set pieces look dingy and grimy."

A close view from the water of a cream and gold arched set piece on it's a small world where it meets a black waterline base. The white surface layer is peeling and chipping along the curved left edge, exposing rough substrate and a row of screw heads, with dark staining running down the panel. A white panel carrying a gold and white pinwheel medallion stands at right, with a teal backdrop visible between the two.

The peeling along the base of a set piece at the waterline, with the surface layer lifted away and the fixings exposed. Image: WDW News Today

The queue has its own list

Before the boats, the report flags a "wrinkled mystery scrim" still fixed at the foot of the white and gold mural, marks on the white paint of the queue bridge, and "grime on the underside of the gold-colored metal beam."

Looking up at the underside of the queue bridge inside it's a small world. A white arch band decorated with a row of gold triangles runs diagonally across the frame, and a dark grimy line runs along the underside edge of the gold-colored beam above it. Gold and white lattice railing is visible at upper right against a deep blue backdrop.

The dark line running along the underside of the gold-colored beam on the queue bridge. Image: WDW News Today

The second report in under a month

This is not a one off observation. On August 12, WDW News Today published a separate piece on the same queue, reporting "significant dirt buildup" in two places: dark marks and clumps of what it called an unknown material on the queue structure that boats pass beneath toward the end of the ride, concentrated at the yellow beam's joins and edges, and a dark, stringy deposit under a low stretch of queue back near the start. That article included a caveat worth repeating: of the worse of the two spots, the site said "there's no danger of it falling on guests."

The September piece notes the site has been reporting on the ride's condition "for the last couple of weeks."

The toy soldiers on the clock

The report also says some of the toy soldier dolls, which it calls part of the attraction's "trademark exterior clock," "need a little extra care."

Three wooden toy soldier figures on the it's a small world facade, in red tunics with white cross straps and tall black hats topped with pale curled plumes, standing on gold half round plinths against a pink panel. One holds a gold trumpet and one holds a gold drum with drumsticks. Thin metal rods and a wire run along the bottom edge of the panel, with a bulb lit teal arch at right.

Toy soldiers on the clock facade. The report says some of these dolls "need a little extra care." Image: WDW News Today

A busy few months for the ride

The condition reports land after two other disruptions on the ride this year. On Saturday, June 6, the ride opened with a short posted wait, was listed as temporarily closed by 11 a.m., and was still listed closed at 8 p.m., which WDW News Today calculated as roughly 10 consecutive hours unavailable. The closure did not appear as a scheduled refurbishment, and no cause for it was reported.

Then on July 1 there was a fire. Disney confirmed to WDW News Today that a guest's personal phone charger caught fire while on the ride, likely during loading or unloading. Cast Members put it out immediately, nobody was injured, and ride operations resumed shortly after. That one was not a maintenance issue.

What happens next is not announced

WDW News Today ends its report by asking readers whether they think a refurbishment is coming soon, which is roughly where things stand. Neither condition report described the ride closing, and the outlet did not report a safety problem in either one. What it documented is a cosmetic list, on one of the park's original attractions.

Sources

WDW News Today, "'it's a small world' at Magic Kingdom Showing Visible Signs of Deterioration"
WDW News Today, "Visible Dirt Hanging Above Guests' Heads on "it's a small world" at Magic Kingdom"
WDW News Today, "'it's a small world' Closed for Nearly Entire Day Yesterday at Magic Kingdom"
WDW News Today, "Cause of Fire at Magic Kingdom's 'it's a small world' Attraction Confirmed"

Image credits: Disney (Europe room), WDW News Today (peeling facade, queue beam, toy soldiers).

Mentioned in this story

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it's a small world

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