Mark Twain Riverboat
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| Mark Twain Riverboat | |
 |
|
| Locations, openings and status | |
| Disneyland July 17, 1955 | |
| Open | |
| Tokyo Disneyland 1983 | |
| Open | |
| Disneyland Park (Paris) 1992 | |
| Open |
The Mark Twain Riverboat is an attraction, located at the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California, on which passengers embark on a scenic, 12-minute journey around the Rivers of America. Originally named the Mark Twain Steamboat when the park opened in 1955, the stately, 5/8-scale stern-wheeler was the first functional riverboat to be built in the United States for fifty years. Other Disney riverboat attractions now appear at Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris.
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[edit] Disneyland Version
Passengers wait for the riverboat, which departs every 20 minutes, from inside a sheltered area located in the Frontierland section of the park. The waiting area is made to resemble a real riverboat loading area, with cargo deliveries sharing space on the dock. Historic United States flags are displayed at the attraction’s entrance.
Upon boarding the riverboat, passengers are free to move about the vessel's three levels. The lower deck's bow has chairs, which are the only seating on board. The upper deck provides a vantage point for viewing landmarks throughout the voyage.
The pilot house, where the riverboat's pilot is stationed, is also located on the upper deck. The lower level of the pilot house features a sleeping area and a sink to maintain the illusion of this being the captain's living quarters. At the pilot's discretion, a small number of passengers may be given permission to ride in the pilot house for the voyage, after which they are presented with souvenier Pilot Certificates.
The pilot signals the departure and arrival of the Mark Twain using a horn and bell system, along with various signals to other river craft attractions. Because the riverboat travels along an I-beam guide rail throughout the ride, the pilot does not maneuver the ship. Instead, the pilot serves as lookout for other river traffic, such as the Indian War Canoes and Tom Sawyer rafts, and communicates his observations with the boiler engineer in the roundhouse complex on the lower deck. It is the boiler engineer who controls the riverboat's speed and direction (forward/reverse) along the underwater track through a steam-powered paddlewheel system.
The voyage on the Rivers of America around Tom Sawyer Island features pre-recorded narration by a riverboat guide voiced by Thurl Ravenscroft (of Tony the Tiger fame) and by an another actor portraying Mark Twain, who speaks of his days pilotting a riverboat. The narration playback, operated by the pilot via a control panel in the pilot house, points out the following sights:
- The Haunted Mansion
- Splash Mountain
- Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes landing
- Fort Wilderness on Tom Sawyer Island
- Burning settler's cabin
- Indian Chief, raising hand in welcome
- Indian Village
- Big Thunder Mountain
- Sacred Indian burial ground
- Animals in abandoned mine cars
- Big Thunder Falls
On most days, the Mark Twain begins operation as soon the park opens. On days when Fantasmic! is being performed, the riverboat, which plays a role in the show, will close a couple of hours before showtime. On other nights, the Mark Twain will run through the evening, using a high intensity rooftop spotlight to point out sights, with the final trip beginning about thirty minutes before park closing. A sign at the loading area will list the day's last trip
[edit] Yesterland on the River
There are a few things from Yesterland that the boat passes along the river. The Burning Settler's Cabin which used to use propane to actually burn is passed along the way. The Cabin was recently Doused but the Walt Disney World Cabin is still burning.
Along with the Cabin, the Gullywhumper, one of Disneyland's extinct Keel Boat Vehicles from the Keel Boat Attraction is now a piece of Scenery as the boats pass by. The Mine Train passed is actually the last Mine Train from the Old Nature's Wonderland Attraction. The critters popping out are Animatronics from the attraction as well. They stopped popping out recently. The Mine Train is on the original track of the attraction and used to border the Cascade Peak, also left over from the attraction but was bulldozed in 1998.
[edit] History
A Mississippi steamboat was included in the plans for the first Disney amusement park that was to be built across the street from his Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. Although this park was abandoned in favor of the much larger Disneyland, the plan for having a riverboat attraction was retained.
Because the Mark Twain was the first functional paddlewheeler built in the United States in fifty years, the WED designers conducted extensive research to build it like riverboats were built in the heyday of steam powered ships. The decks were assembled at the Disney Studios at Burbank, while the 105-foot hull was constructed at Todd Shipyards in San Pedro, California (where the Sailing Ship Columbia's hull was built years later). Fortunately, when the hull and decks were put together for the first time at Disneyland, they fit perfectly.
Joe Fowler, Disneyland’s construction supervisor and a former navy admiral, insisted on creating a drydock for the ship along what was to be the Rivers of America. Walt Disney, dismayed at how much land was taken up by the massive excavation, referred to the drydock first as "Joe’s Ditch", and then later, "Fowler’s Harbor", the name by which it goes by today. However, Disney remained a supporter of the riverboat itself, funding its construction out of his own pocket when corporate funds fell short.
On the first "fill-the-river" day, the water that was pumped in to the Rivers of America soaked through the riverbed. Fowler quickly found a supply of clay to replace the soil stabilizer used to line the river, and the second "fill-the-river"day was successful.
The Mark Twain had its maiden voyage on July 13, 1955, four days before the park officially opened, for a private party celebrating Walt and Lillian Disney’s 30th wedding anniversary. Before the party, as Fowler was checking to make sure everything would be ready for the 300 invited guests. he found a Lillian sweeping the decks of debris, and joined in to help her.
Disneyland’s opening day brought further problems for the ‘’Mark Twain’’. Actress Irene Dunne, star of the movie Showboat, had trouble breaking a bottle of water (from many major American rivers) across the vessel's bow for its christening on Dateline Disney. During the riverboat's first official voyage, when the crowd moved to one side of the boat to view a passing scene of an Indian encampment or other sight, the boat would list from the side and water poured over the deck, as no one had determined the Mark Twain's maximum safe passenger capacity.
This oversight cause the Mark Twain to almost capsize on a voyage a few days later when ride operators continued to wave more than 500 guests on board until the deck neared the water line. As the sparsely vegetated river route, the ship came loose from its track and got stuck in the muddy banks. Immediately, the park established a maximum capacity of 300 passengers, which still remains in effect today.
After a rough start, the Mark Twain had had a successful 50-year-career as a theme park attraction. During its first few years of operation, passengers could buy a non-alcoholic mint julip aboard or listen to card and checker players re-enact dialogue of that era. Occasionally the Disneyland band would play music on the lower deck bow to entertain both the passengers and the theme park visitors on the river banks.[1]
The Mark Twain underwent a major refurbishment during the Spring of 1995, during which all the decks and the boiler were replaced. When the Rivers of America was drained in 2002, the boat was noted to have considerable hull damage. It underwent a refurbishment in 2004 to repair the hull, which included replacing the keel.[2] For the park’s 50th Anniversary celebration in 2005, a new, more colorful paint job was applied to the durable riverboat.
[edit] Other Disney theme park riverboats
[edit] Walt Disney World
The Magic Kingdom theme park in Orlando, Florida at one time featured two riverboats: the Admiral Joe Fowler, a sidewheeler named for Disneyland’s construction supervisor), and the Richard F. Irvine, a sternwheeler named for a WED executive.
The Admiral Joe Fowler served from October 2, 1971, one day after park opening, until the Fall of 1980, when it was retired less than ten years of operation. It was rumored to have been accidentally destroyed after falling from a crane onto its drydock. [3]
The Richard F. Irvine came into service on May 20, 1973 but was renamed The Liberty Belle in 1996 after everything except for the hull, boiler, and engines was stripped off, and an all-new superstructure was constructed from from aluminum and vinyl.
[edit] Disneyland Park, Paris
The Thunder Mesa area in Disneyland Paris also features two riverboats. The Mark Twain is based on the Anaheim park’s original riverboat attraction, while the Molly Brown, named for a survivor of the Titanic, is the only sidewheeler currently found at a Disney theme park. Both ships circle Big Thunder Mountain and Wilderness Island. Sights along the Rivers of the Far West include waterfalls, wildlife, smuggler’s caves, Yosemite National Park geysers, prehistoric creature remains and Phantom Manor.
On May 16, 2005, the Molly Brown 's engine overheated as the boat rounded the corner at the back of the Rivers of the Far West. Athough there was no visible fire, smoke damaged the ship and its engines, rendering it immobile, with guests having to be ferried to shore by the River Rogue Keelboats. The engine system was badly damaged and the boat remained out of operation for many months, while the Mark Twain's ongoing refurbishment at the dry dock was finished.
In September 2005, the Molly Brown was moved to the dry dock, and in March 2006 the Mark Twain finally resumed operation from Thunder Mesa Riverboat Landing. However, it was not until September that the Molly Brown's long refurbishment finally began, due to be completed by late April 2007.[4]
[edit] Tokyo Disneyland
Tokyo Disneyland's Mark Twain riverboat is so large that it is required by law to be registered. Its home port is listed as Uryasu. From the time of its opening until Steptember 2006 its sponsor was Nippon Suisan Kaisha.
[edit] Technical
The Mark Twain riverboat burns diesel fuel to heat its boiler, which continuously heats water into steam, which is then routed back to two pistons that turn the paddlewheel. Spent exhaust is then routed back to the boiler.
The riverboat is guided through the Rivers of America via an I-beam track, which is hidden under the green and brown dyed river water.
The boat drafts only 18 inches of water, for the river is relatively shallow. At its deepest point it is no more then 8 feet near the switch at Fowle'rs Harbor, where it resides when not in operation.
[edit] Attraction facts
[edit] Mark Twain, Disneyland
- Grand opening: July 17, 1955
- Restoration: Spring 1995
- Type:: Sternwheeler
- Hull Length: 105 feet
- Displacement: 150 tons
- Draft: 18 inches
- Boat Capacity: 300
- Ride Duration: 12 minutes
- Required ticket: "D" (discontinued)
- Ride system: Boat Ride
[edit] Admiral Joe Fowler, Walt Disney World
- Opened: October 2, 1971
- Closed: 1980
- Type:: Sidewheeler
- Ride Duration: 20 minutes
- Ticket: "D" (discontinued)
- Ride system: Boat ride
[edit] Liberty Belle, Walt Disney World
- Opened: May 20, 1973 (as Richard F. Irvine)
- Restoration: 1996 (renamed Liberty Belle)
- Type:: Sternwheeler
- Hull Length: 113 feet
- Displacement: 150 tons
- Draft: 4 feet
- Boat Capacity: 450
- Ride Duration: 20 minutes
- Ticket: "D" (discontinued)
- Ride system: Boat ride
[edit] Mark Twain, Tokyo Disneyland
- Grand opening: 1983
- Type:: Sternwheeler
- Boat Capacity: 475
- Ride Duration: 12 minutes
- Ride system: Boat ride
[edit] Mark Twain, Disneyland Paris
- Grand opening: 1992
- Type:: Sternwheeler
- Ride Duration: 12 minutes
- Ride system: Boat ride
[edit] Molly Brown, Disneyland Paris
- Grand opening:
- Type:: Sidewheeler
- Ride Duration: 12 minutes
- Ride system: Boat ride
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Bright, Randy [1987]. Disneyland:Inside Story. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 43, 76-80, 104-5. 0-8109-0811-5.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Wadley, Carma. "Man who sank the Mark Twain", Deseret Morning News, October 21, 2005. Retrieved on 2006-10-16.
- ^ Mark Twain Riverboat. RideRefurbs.com (February 4, 2004). Retrieved on 2006-10-18.
- ^ Admiral Joe Fowler Riverboat. Walt Dated World. Retrieved on 2006-10-17.
- ^ Thunder Mesa Riverboat Landing. DLRP Magic. Retrieved on 2006-10-16.
[edit] External links
- Mark Twain Riverboat at Disneyland.Disney.Go.com
- Mark Twain Riverboat at TokyoDisneyResort
- Mark Twain Riverboat at MousePlanet.com
