"It's a Small World" Closing For Most of 2008

Hey all you "It's a Small World" fans, and parents of fans, looks like the attraction will be going down in January through about October of next year for some much needed refurbishment. Below is a link to the msnbc story:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21713571/

Apparently the expanding size of people is causing boats to bottom out, which is a problem Disney must deal with so the boats don't get backed up. Disney is too tactful to say all of this in that way....but come on....I think this should worry all of us. We are getting too fat for Disneyland. That is enough to make me want to drop a size or two!

I know there will be a lot of disappointed people over the next year, sad that their favorite attraction is down. Our kids will ride on "Small World" over and over, and we try to go at least once per day on our 6-day visits. Even if the song can get a bit tiresome, what a relaxing time to just sit, relax and float along the water that attraction always is for us.

It is said that the refurbishment will involve replacing the entire flume (river-like pathway) inside the attraction and replacing the boats with lighter more buoyant ones. Let's hope there are at least some visible upgrades to the "quaint" dolls and sets inside. I know there is love for the nostalgia of the entire attraction, but I have often felt bringing it into the 2000's a bit more would be a welcome improvement.

Missing Blogger Returns with a Fun Disney Tip

Wow - talk about playing disappearing blogger! I apologize to my loyal readers for being remiss in my postings. I fear law school is reaching its peak demands this semester with papers due and presentations to prepare, so my personal life has fallen a bit by the wayside. Let me see if I can come up with something quick and fun in the way of a useful kid-friendly tip.

OK - here's a good way to keep kids busy in the airport or in the Disneyland lines. Make up your own Bingo Cards.

Using pictures from the internet, or magazines, or just words if your kids are old enough, make up 5x5 or 6x6 grids of things people are likely to see on vacation. In an airport you might consider a restroom sign, a no smoking sign, a trash can, a backpack, and a camera. In Disneyland you could select the Mickey Head shape, an apple, a water bottle, a Tigger T-shirt and a specific character. Each person playing gets a card and whenever they see an item from their card, they draw an X through the picture (or word). Whoever completes a row first wins. Or, to make the game more challenging, have players complete the entire card. Our son loved playing this game, and when he was tired of it, he made up his own game (rules known only to him) using the spare cards.

Enjoy!