Pirate's Lair at Tom Sawyer Island
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Tom Sawyer Island is a physical island within the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California. It contains caves with references to Mark Twain characters from the novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and provides many climbing opportunities and scenic views. It also is home to Fort Wilderness, popular play area for children.
The area opened in 1956, one year after Walt Disney opened the theme park. Two names considered for the island were "Mickey Mouse Island" and "Treasure Island." Ultimately, the Tom Sawyer theme was selected.
Guests visit the island, surrounded by the Rivers of America, by traveling on a motorized raft which is piloted by a Disneyland cast member.
While the island has not seen tremendous change over the years, in 1992 the south area was renovated to accommodate the nighttime spectacular Fantasmic!. The $30 million dollar production has ran many hundred times and is one of the most successful shows in Disneyland history, judging by guest popularity.
While aboard the Sailing Ship Columbia or Mark Twain Riverboat, Disneyland guests travel clockwise around the island. Looking to their right they can see the many areas and adventure opportunities of the island. To the left they see Disneyland itself and from time to time will see a Disneyland Railroad train passing by. At the northern end of the island, inaccessible to guests, is the Burning Settler's Cabin. A cabin that used to actually burn by spewing fire from its roof. Despite guest complaints, the park no longer ignites the roof of the cabin with propane each time a watercraft passes by. The Walt Disney World Vesion still has its cabin burning.
The Walt Disney Company is currently considering a proposal to reconstruct the entire attraction with a Pirate theme (hoping to capitalize on the massive popularity of the Pirates of the Caribbean films), including replacing Fort Wilderness with an interactive pirate museum. The $28 million dollar project, if approved, would be completed or nearly completed in time for the release of the third Pirates film in 2007.[1] Officialy this proposal has been announced as a two-phase revamp into "Pirate's Lair at Tom Sawyer's Island" based upon stories in "Tom Sawyer" where Tom, Huck and Joe Harper pretend to be pirates on the Mississippi. This change would integrate pirate tie-ins with the original, but updated, Tom Sawyer feel. Originally the re-theming was thought to have been more drastic and specific to the movie. Most of the existing play areas on the island and it's Huck Finn backstory will be incorporated with the new pirate theme, though it's uncertain how this will play out at the moment. [2] Tom Sawyer Island is currently closed, in order for it's extensive redesign and rebranding to be completed for May 2007. "Smuggler's Cove", "Dead Man's Grotto", and "Pirate's Den" are reported to be names of interactive areas to be present. The attraction's opening will coincide with the opening of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.
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[edit] Tom Sawyer Islands in other Disney theme parks
Other Disney theme parks that include a Tom Saywer Island are the Magic Kingdom within Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, and Tokyo Disneyland in Japan. Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland have islands, but with alternate themes. In Disneyland Paris Big Thunder Mountain Railroad occupies the site while Hong Kong Disneyland has Tarzan's Treehouse in a similar location.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Lutz, Al (October 3 2006). Goodbye Sawyer, Hello Sparrow. MiceAge.com. Retrieved on October 5, 2006.
- ^ Lutz, Al (December 3 2006). Tom, Huck, and Jack. MiceAge.com. Retrieved on November 28, 2006.
