Americans Too Fat for Disneyland Rides?

It seems that Americans are becoming fatty boom booms. In an article posted on Wired's blog, Americans increasing rotundity are causing cute little Disneyland boats to lose their float. Literally running aground in the water.

Many have argued that we live in a bloated, capitalist society, but now we visibly wear our success on our fannies. Ironically, when you go to theme parks or vacation spots like this, you are met with a cornucopia of eats and treats that have little to no nutritional value.

Is Disney literally feeding its guest into the proverbial ground? Here's the scope as posted on Miceage.com

If there's a sadder commentary on the state of American society, we can't think of it –we've grown so fat we sink the boats of It's A Small World. According to Miceage.com, the boats routinely bottom out under the weight of super-sized riders, bringing the popular ride to a grinding—literally—halt.

That's increased the wear and tear on the fiberglass boats, which have been in use since the ride opened during the 1964 World's Fair, when Americans, on average, weighed 25 pounds less than we do today. It's a big problem.

Other rides, including the drop in the Pirates of the Caribbean, face the same problem, Miceage says, but nowhere is it more of headache than It's a Small World. The ride features several twists and bends where overloaded boats easily bog down, including the "S" bend through the Scandinavian room.

Employees—Disney calls them "cast members" —have been aware of the issue for some time now and so discretely leave empty seats in boats carrying heavy riders. But backups persist, and in some cases, no one realizes there's a problem until boats stop emerging from the ride.

Disneyland is putting the ride in dry-dock for 10 months to make it ship-shape again. The boats will be replaced with more buoyant models, and the new flume will be one inch deeper. Work will begin in January.

Source: Wired Blog via Miceage