Hi everyone. I returned home about a week ago from a WDW visit. I find it interesting that there has already been some lack of quality control in "It's A Small World" since it's restoration. On my previous visit in 2006, not long after the reopening of Small World after it's rehab, it looked and sounded gorgeous. It was an amazing finely tuned attraction. A little over a year later I noticed some things that were disappointing and I'm wondering if any of you notice these kinds of things happening at the Park as well.
For starters the new Clock in the boarding area was not working. No ticking, no motion, not even a spot light on it. It remained that way my entire visit. Another major difference I noticed was that the audio for the attraction was already lacking and volume levels for certain countries were almost inaudible. In fact the entire soundtrack was being played at a lower volume than it was a year ago, lessening the impact of the experience. The toy soldier music was hardly audible, as was the Can-Can music, and several others in the European countries. Later in the week the music's volume levels seemed to be up more, but there were still certain sections where you could not hear them as you could a year ago. A friend also was pointing out dirty areas of the attraction to me. Ledges with dirt and dust piled up. To which I replied that it's hard for them to keep everything clean and dirt free with this much use. Is it that early March considered an 'off season' so they don't care about giving us the attractions in perfect order? Do they even lower music levels to conserve power? It really makes me wonder. "Haunted Mansion" was much worse for the audio which is sad as well, but it has not had a major restoration like "Small World" just did.
"It's A Small World" is one of my all time favorites so it was a let down to see that it is not being given the attention it deserves so soon after it's wonderful restoration.
For starters the new Clock in the boarding area was not working. No ticking, no motion, not even a spot light on it. It remained that way my entire visit. Another major difference I noticed was that the audio for the attraction was already lacking and volume levels for certain countries were almost inaudible. In fact the entire soundtrack was being played at a lower volume than it was a year ago, lessening the impact of the experience. The toy soldier music was hardly audible, as was the Can-Can music, and several others in the European countries. Later in the week the music's volume levels seemed to be up more, but there were still certain sections where you could not hear them as you could a year ago. A friend also was pointing out dirty areas of the attraction to me. Ledges with dirt and dust piled up. To which I replied that it's hard for them to keep everything clean and dirt free with this much use. Is it that early March considered an 'off season' so they don't care about giving us the attractions in perfect order? Do they even lower music levels to conserve power? It really makes me wonder. "Haunted Mansion" was much worse for the audio which is sad as well, but it has not had a major restoration like "Small World" just did.
"It's A Small World" is one of my all time favorites so it was a let down to see that it is not being given the attention it deserves so soon after it's wonderful restoration.
My wife and I LOVE that ride but honestly it is in dire need of referbishment. As a person who works in Entertainment Production I'd say the lowering of volume levels isn't likely for power conservation. From my experience what most likely happened is they recieved complaints about it being too loud one day from several guest and turned it down without paying too much attention to the overal sound level. The difference in power consumtion by the audio amplifiers would not really have a significant effect on the power consumption of the attraction by their making a slight adjustment to the volume so power conservation isn't really an issue. 
