After years of being missing from the attraction, the female ice skating figure has returned to the first scene of “it’s a small world” at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom.
The ride, which takes guests on a journey through all seven continents, contains many Mary Blair inspired animatronic figures. Many of these have seen mechanical issues over the years and have been removed and placed back after refurbishment. However, this particular ice skating figure has been missing for quite some time.
Recently, the figure was added back to the ride, although unmoving. In her previous state, she spun around in circles as the other figure skates around the rink. Check out our full-ride POV with the fully-functioning animatronic in action:
While there are reports that ice skater has shown movement since returning, we did not catch her in action.
The figure is clothed in a fuzzy pink hat and fluffy skirt. Her return comes along with several other small improvements and returns around Walt Disney World such as the robot dog at Space Mountain moving for the first time in years and a returning water leak effect in the queue of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror in Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
“it’s a small world” was an opening day attraction at Magic Kingdom. It was originally created for the 1964 New York World’s Fair and later moved to Disneyland Park before being recreated for Walt Disney World. Its theme-song, was written by the Sherman Brothers while the doll sized animatronics were inspired by Mary Blair.
Disneyland’s version of the ride is currently closed for refurbishment until sometime in the spring of 2025, but will be receiving a new “it’s a small world” song verse alongside a tribute to the Sherman Brothers for the resort’s 70th anniversary this summer.
Is “it’s a small world” a must ride or a skip for you on your Disney vacations? Let us know in the comments!
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