This week’s topic is actually really fun as it is not something that comes up all the time as a Disneyland fun fact- possibly because Disney is a bit embarrassed and doesn’t really want people drugging up their sunken ships. Get it? Haha. This week we will be discussing three- yes three, count them – defunct Disneyland boat attractions. I had only ever heard of one out of the three and I would be super impressed if you’ve heard of any of them – much less all 3. If you have heard about all three please email me at fastpasstothepast@gmail.com. I’d love to have you on the show. Teaser: Without further ado, let’s take a deep dive into some of Disneyland’s history starting with the Disneyland’s shortest-lived attraction. 

Part #1: Tomorrowland Boats/ Phantom Boats 
Most hard-core Disney Fans know (sorry, that was kind of an oxymoron haha) that Tomorrowland was far from finished when Disneyland opened it’s gates in 1955.

They say Rome wasn’t built in a day, but Disneyland was built in a year and a day – an incredibly short timeframe. There was also just not a lot of money to go around and Walt Disney, having lost faith in the Tomorrowland concept, directed the money to other ventures – intending Tomorrowland to open in a Phase 2. However, he allegedly changed his mind, so the Tomorrowland that opened in 1955 was really a hodgepodge of corporate walk-through attractions by American Motors, Dutch Boy Paint, and Kaiser Aluminum. 
And there was the Tomorrowland Boats in roughly the same place as present day’s Finding Nemo Submarine Lagoon. This opening day attraction only served 450 guests on the first day. It simply failed to delight guests. Possibly because it was just driving small 3-4 person boats around what is essentially a natural lagoon that had been expanded – basically an aquatic version of Autopia. Fun Fact: Disneyland was once a natural riverbed and that’s how the Storybook Land Canal boats, Jungle Cruise, and Rivers of America all share the same murky disgusting water.  

After a month – yes a month- of operation, the Tomorrowland Boats were put under refurbishment to try and solve the fiberglass boat’s mechanical problems and their lack of popularity. You have to understand that at this point, the Tomorrowland Boats were 1 out of 3 decent attractions in Opening Day Tomorrowland. The others being a walkthrough of movie props from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and a theatre-presentation called Rocket to the Moon. The Imagineers had to fix this ride. 

When the ride reopened, it was renamed “Tomorrowland Phantom Boats.” These boats featured bold colors and futuristic exaggerated wings. However, although they looked the part and had brand-new redeveloped motors, the enclosed motors still quickly overheated as young boaters tried for speed, with the boats then having to be towed back to the dock to be repaired. To fix this, Disney added an employee to pilot each boat to ensure the boats didn’t overheat.

This was the idea that sunk the boats – not literarily (that would be another attraction later in the podcast) but figuratively. Disney was now spending money to staff all 14 boats that could only hold 2-3 people at a time. 

The Phantom Boats turned their final lap around the little lagoon in August 1956, a little more than a year after the park first opened. This B Ticket attraction was the first permanent attraction to be removed from Disneyland. And I don’t think anyone missed them too much. 

Part #2: Motor Boat Cruise (Fantasyland) 

Skipping over to Fantasyland, or really the border of Fantasyland and Tomorrowland, you can still see the remnants of this attraction over by it’s a small world. In fact, a number of the canals and the original loading area have remained pretty untouched since this ride shuttered in 1993. Nowadays, most people sit there to have a chimichanga or duck away from the crowds (or just feed the ducks) and have no idea they are standing in the loading zone to one of Disneyland’s attractions that has been lost to history. 

The Motor Boat Cruise was another B Ticket attraction – possibly built to fill that tiny hole left by The Phantom Boat attraction. It opened in 1957 and fulfilled every little kit’s dream of driving a motorboat (you’ve had that dream right?) – however this time, it was on a track and the wheel didn’t really do anything. Similar to Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. The not-super exciting boat ride took the guests on a short journey through several canals underneath the Viewliner Train and Junior Autopia – both of which we’ll likely discuss on a future podcast.
 
However, in 1959, the entire landscape of this section of the park changes. The Viewliner Train was gone and the Disneyland Alweg Monorail was built overhead The Motor Boat’s tracks. Junior Autopia was also out – with the track incorporated into the new Fantasyland and Tomorrowland Autopias. 

This could have spelled the end for The Motor Boat Cruise as well. However, I cannot stress enough how long this ride managed to stick around. Despite never being particularly popular or exciting, the original Motor Boat Cruise stuck around until 1991 when it was retheamed into Motor Boat Cruise to Gummi Glen.

This was done as part of the Disney Afternoon Avenue Event – a precursor to Mickey’s Toontown that took place in the current it’s a small world walkway. Guests could meet the Gummni bears along with other characters like Scrooge McDuck. To tie-in, the nearby Motor Boat Cruise had a very hasty retheming that consisted of plywood Gumni bear characters being placed throughout the ride. 

However, The Motor Boat Cruise survived this as well! In fact, it wasn’t shut down until 2 years later when it’s operating budget was given to the much more deserving Mickey’s Toon Town (which went over budget by a lot). It closed permanently in January of 1993 and was missed by again – very few. 

Teaser: Although the boats we’ve discussed above met their untimely end due to budgetary concerns, lets discuss the only Disneyland boat attraction that actually ended up at the bottom of the riverbed.   

Part #3: The Mike Fink Keel Boats (Frontierland, + Other Parks) 

As a Christmas present to Davy Crocket fans, The Mike Fink Keel Boats premiered in Disneyland’s Rivers of America during the park’s first Christmas. At first, these two boats were the actual boats used in the filming of the Davy Crockett programs – converted to have seats and two windows on each side. The boats’ namesake was “King of the River” Mike Fink, Davy Crockett’s rival in his television boat race to New Orleans. Davy Crocket may have won the race in the ABC series, but Mike Fink got his name immortalized in this attraction. 

There were two boats – Mike Fink’s The Gullywhumper with a more rustic scheme and Crockett’s Bertha Mae with painted shutters – operated on a seasonal basis (much like the Columbia today on busy weekends and during peak times). The original set pieces and were replaced fairly quickly by high-capacity boats with two-level seating that afforded panoramic views of Frontierland and the waterfront. The boats took a complete trip around the Rivers of America before returning to the Frontierland dock – still visible today as the “smoking area” by the loading zone for the rafts. Unlike other Disneyland boat rides, including the Columbia and the Mark Twain, these ships were not on a track – which obviously leads to their relative popularity. It also helped that they were a C Ticket ride, compared to all the other boats on the river that commanded a D Ticket. 

For over 40 years, the Keel Boats were well known and well-loved ride in Frontierland. In 1994, at the end of the summer, the Mike Fink Keel Boats closed for the season. However, in a surprise twist, all throughout 1995, they never reopened. Many thought that they were gone for good. However, suddenly they were back cruising the river in March of 1996 as if nothing was amiss. 

Then came the infamous accident. At around 5:30 p.m. on May 17, 1997, the Gullywhumper began rocking from side to side while on a routine trip around the island. The Gullywhumper tipped over, dunking a boatload of guests into the Rivers of America. Several guests were treated for minor injuries at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange. Following the accident, the Gullywhumper was removed from the water for inspection.

Neither the Gullywhumper nor Bertha Mae operated for the rest of the 1997 season—or ever again.

However, the Gullywhumper did return to The Rivers of America in Spring of 2003 as a prop on the rear of Tom Sawyer Island. As years passed in the water, the condition of the boat deteriorated and eventually sunk to rest at the bottom of the lake. In 2010, the boat was taken out and replaced with a new Gullywhumper that never served as a ride vehicle. Not sure if it is still there with the recent river reconfiguration. 

Now, I know you must be wondering what happened to the Bertha Mae?! The boat was sold on eBay in either 1998 or 2001 and was sold to Hollywood Producer, Richard Kraft, for 15 Thousand Dollars. However, as of June 2014, the Bertha Mae is still in deep storage at Dunkel Bros. off the “5 Freeway” in La Mirada, California. 

Disney World: 
Notably, Walt Disney World also had its own pair of Keel Boats on Opening Day in 1971. Just like Disneyland’s they were named the Gullywhumper and the Bertha Mae and were free-floating motorized boats with no track. This actually came in hand when only three monorails were in service during the park’s preview days to shuttle guests from the Transportation and Ticket Centers – so one of the Keel Boats was used. The boats operated sporadically on the Rivers of America until April 2001- although many believe the Disneyland capsize was to blame for their eventual demise. The dock is still viable near the Liberty Square smoking area and the former Haunted Mansion Fast Pass distribution area.

Disneyland Paris: 
Dying to ride a Keel Boat? Disneyland Paris has two still in operation – the Raccoon and the Coyote. The Paris version opened in 1992, had a seven-year absence between 200 and 2007, and is now still cruising the rivers today. So if you want to experience a Disney keelboat ride, you’ll have to go to Disneyland Paris. Luckily I am going to Paris in a month and will be sure to report back on how the experience is. 

Part #4: Canal Boats of the World 
http://duchessofdisneyland.com/park-history/canal-boats-world/

It’s worth noting an “honorable mention”: Fantasyland’s Canal Boats of the World. This attraction is defunct in name only as its original track is currently that of Storybook Land Canal Boats. Originally designed by Walt Disney as a ride through miniature animatronic cities, the ride was troubled with mechanical and technical issues from the start and was not even close to finishing when it opened on Opening Day. The 5 min ride was basically a boat ride through muddy banks (sorry “Fantasyland Hills”) with no little to no landscaping and no tiny animatronic cities or models. 

After two months, the attraction underwent extensive refurbishment and construction for almost a year and reopened as the Storybook Land Canal Boats in June 1956.