{"id":46401,"date":"2016-05-10T12:00:17","date_gmt":"2016-05-10T16:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/?p=46401"},"modified":"2022-04-12T13:33:58","modified_gmt":"2022-04-12T17:33:58","slug":"disneylands-rivers-america-retrospective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/disneylands-rivers-america-retrospective\/","title":{"rendered":"Disneyland\u2019s Rivers of America: a Retrospective"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RoA<\/p>\n

\u2018The Rivers of America to close for Star Wars Land\u2019 was the headline on the info-splash my friend tagged me in on Facebook.\u00a0 My heart stopped. After all, one of the many things that make a \u2018Magic Kingdom\u2019 park is the brilliant use of water.\u00a0 In Disneyland (the prototype of these types of parks) you will encounter many ponds, pools, rivers, and other forms of water.\u00a0 The water adds to the ambience because of the connection between water and adventure.<\/p>\n

My friends know my love of the Rivers of America and the experiences found there (a quick look at my past posts will confirm my interest on the Disneyland waterways).\u00a0 Hence they wanted to warn me that my beloved waterway and its attractions were closing.\u00a0 Over the months before the Rivers\u2019 closing, the press releases filtered through and I found that the grey clouds over the waters were not as dire as originally portrayed\u2026but there would be change.<\/p>\n

\u201cDisneyland is like a piece of clay: If there is something I don\u2019t like, I\u2019m not stuck with it.\u00a0 I can reshape and revamp.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>~ Walt Disney, as quoted in The Quotable Walt Disney<\/em> by Dave Smith<\/p>\n

Walt Disney had every intention to continue to change, improve, and develop Disneyland as demonstrated often in his interviews, inter-office messages, and letters.\u00a0 The Rivers of America were no different from the other areas of the park.\u00a0 In this blog I thought that we should take a trip around the Disneyland Rivers of America as it has changed through time.<\/p>\n

\"RoA<\/p>\n

Pre-Opening Day:<\/span><\/p>\n

From the earliest concepts of a \u2018magical little park\u2019, Walt Disney had three consistent attractions.\u00a0 The first two were a train and a ghost house; the third was a lake with a reproduction of a river steamboat.\u00a0 This park, originally envisioned for a small lot beside the Disney Studios is often referred to as the \u2018Riverside Drive Park\u2019, the \u2018Studio Park\u2019, or \u2018Mickey Mouse Park\u2019.\u00a0 Whatever you call it, Harper Goff worked on beautifully detailed maps of the small amusement area that shied away from the normal amusement fair and included green ways, relaxation, and cleanliness, eventually became Disneyland.<\/p>\n

Many Disney fans have heard that Walt and his team built Disneyland in 12 months \u2013 from ground breaking to opening day.\u00a0 What some may not know is that Walt took a personal interest in what would become the Rivers of America and the iconic Riverboat, Mark Twain<\/em>.\u00a0 Both of which were part of the opening day back on July 17, 1955.<\/p>\n

It was decided as the plans began to transform from Mickey Mouse Park into Disneyland that the \u2018lake\u2019 idea for their boat adventure might not hit the mark.\u00a0 Walt wanted a bit more of an adventure. He was so focused on this attraction that Walt mortgaged his family home to pay for the Mark Twain<\/em> to be financed.<\/p>\n

As with many things related to the very beginning of Disneyland, who drew up the original designs for the River of America is hazy.\u00a0 But we do know that Walt was not wholly satisfied with the outcome.\u00a0 Reports say that he sent the plans back for \u2018fixing\u2019 several times but still did not agree with the design.\u00a0 So, the night before the ground breaking for what would become the Rivers of America, Walt took the project home and worked on the design himself.\u00a0 The paper plans that he brought back the next day were the ones used to make the waterway.<\/p>\n

Once the banks where settled, the river (or rather, a large pond with an island in the middle) was filled with water.\u00a0 The sandy substrate of the pond, allowed the water to run straight out, so a clay layer was added to the river to help hold the water in.\u00a0 This clay clouded that water and hid the tracks of the largest attraction in the water, the Mark Twain<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Mark Twain<\/em> and the Rivers of America actually hosted guests before the official opening of Disneyland.\u00a0 On July 13, 1955, Walt and Lilian Disney celebrated their 30th<\/sup> wedding anniversary with a party in Frontierland.\u00a0 This included guests sailing on the river boat and enjoying the entertainment in the Golden Horseshoe.<\/p>\n

Opening Day:<\/span><\/p>\n

Your only option for touring the rivers on opening day was to travel on the Mark Twain<\/em> Riverboat.\u00a0 Back then, your tour would have been very different to now. The waterway was the same, the track the Mark Twain<\/em> took was the same, but the scenery would have been very different.\u00a0 The banks of the river (and the island as well) were bare mounds of turned ground because there was no time to add any landscaping to the banks.<\/p>\n

\"RoA<\/p>\n

The first year:<\/span><\/p>\n

As the year progressed, the Mike Fink Keel Boats began their run.\u00a0 By December 1955, both the Gullywhumper<\/em> and the Bertha Mae<\/em> were chugging round the yet unnamed Island.<\/p>\n

1956 marked the addition of the Indian War Canoes (now called the Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes).\u00a0 This attraction allowed Guests to expend some of their excess energy to power their way around the island.\u00a0 This was also the year that the central isle of the rivers was opened for visits.<\/p>\n

\"RoA<\/p>\n

Tom Sawyer Island was hand designed by Walt Disney.\u00a0 He wanted to add the excitement of childhood adventure found in the books by Mark Twain, with caves, treasures, barrel bridges, treehouses, an old mill, and a fort where younger (and older) guest could shoot the marauding Indians.<\/p>\n

Also arriving in 1956, the Rainbow Caverns Mine Train steamed along the Living Desert.\u00a0 Parts of this ride could be seen from the river boats.<\/p>\n

\"RoA<\/p>\n

The last of the 1950\u2019s:<\/span><\/p>\n

The river way was still very popular.\u00a0 To increase the number of people on the water and to include another portion of American history, Disneyland added the Sailing Ship<\/em> Columbia<\/em> in 1958.<\/p>\n

\"RoA<\/p>\n

Roll on the 1960\u2019s:<\/span><\/p>\n

The Rainbow Caverns Mine Train was refurbished and the track lengthened to include a loop along the Rivers of America\u2019s banks.\u00a0 The attraction was renamed the Mine Train through Nature\u2019s Wonderland.\u00a0 With the track upgrade, the Rivers\u2019 bank was upgraded to include waterfalls, trestles, and caves.<\/p>\n

\"RoA<\/p>\n

The next big change:<\/span><\/p>\n

It was 1992 and a buzz hit Disneyland.\u00a0 In September, Fantasmic! the night-time spectacular came alive on the waterways.\u00a0 This came along with early closing of the Island on show nights and a refit of the section of the Island closest to New Orleans Square.<\/p>\n

The Mike Fink Keel Boats continued to run until May 17, 1997.\u00a0 This date is famous amongst fans of the Rivers of America, because that is the day that the Gullywhumper<\/em> rocked and then tipped over with a full load of guests.\u00a0 Neither the Gullywhumper<\/em> nor the Bertha Mae<\/em> ever sailed again.<\/p>\n

\"RoA<\/p>\n

And the Pirates invaded:<\/span><\/p>\n

Tom Sawyer Island was updated again in 2003 when the pirates from across the waters came to hide their treasure.<\/p>\n

And that brings us to January 2016, where major changes to my beloved waterways.\u00a0 Star Wars Land is forcing the change of route of both the train and the Rivers of America.\u00a0 Tom Sawyer Island will lose some of its land and the river will be reduced in length substantially; however, we will be getting a return of the trestles and waterfalls.\u00a0 So, bring on the changes.\u00a0 We will miss the Rivers as they used to be, but we will embrace the new adventures in a galaxy far, far away.<\/p>\n

\"RoA<\/p>\n

\u201cDisneyland will never be completed.\u00a0 It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world.\u00a0 It is something that will never be finished.\u00a0 Something that I can keep developing and adding to.\u201d<\/em> ~ Walt Disney<\/p>\n

\u00a0What are your thoughts of the Rivers of America at Disneyland and the proposed changes?<\/em><\/p>\n

Incoming search terms:<\/h4>
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