TikTok Video Reveals How Disney's 'It's a Small World' Gets Kind of Creepy After Dark
It's a small, creepy world after all.
Disney's "It's a Small World" ride is one of the theme park's most iconic attractions. It dates back to even before the theme park opened to the public and is considered an essential part of any Disney park visit. But what most riders don't know is that the attraction turns into a spine-tingling spectacle when the park closes.
This week, a Disney TikToker revealed that when the park closes for the night, the lights and music in "It's a Small World" shut off, but the more than 300 animatronics do not. So every single night when visitors leave, the animatronics keep working, just dancing and waving in the dark until the lights turn back on in the morning.
"The dolls are moving 24 hours a day, seven days a week," the video from The Mouselets said, who showed footage from the Florida park.
The ride's original intent was to bring people together across cultures — and perhaps there's nothing more unifying than agreeing that robots dancing in the dark is pretty creepy.
Courtesy of Disney
According to Disney, the always-on animatronics are dressed in authentic attire under the direction of designer Alice Davis. Each of the costumes was made using materials that would be found in each region, like silk for Indian saris and fine Scottish wool for the bagpiper.
The "Small World" attraction isn't the only one whose animatronics play 24/7. The TikTok account revealed that the Native American animatronics on the riverbank of the Magic Kingdom's Liberty Square Riverboat ride also stay in operation all night long.
Cailey Rizzo is a contributing writer for Travel + Leisure, currently based in Brooklyn. You can find her on Twitter, Instagram, or at caileyrizzo.com.
