Mike Fink Keel Boats

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Mike Fink Keel Boats
Disneyland
Land Frontierland
Attraction type Boat ride
Opening date December 25, 1955
Closing date May 17, 1997
Vehicle type Keel boats
Vehicle names Gullywhumper, Bertha Mae
Ticket C
Magic Kingdom
Land Liberty Square
Opening date October 1, 1971
Closing date 1997
Vehicle names Gullywhumper, Bertha Mae
Ticket B
River Rogue Keel Boats
Disneyland Park, Paris
Land Frontierland
Opening date April 12, 1992
Closing date 2002 until summer 2007
Vehicle names Raccoon, Coyote

Mike Fink Keel Boats were small boats that navigated the Rivers of America at Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. An identical attraction entitled the River Rogue Keel Boats still exists at the Disneyland Park at Disneyland Resort Paris.

Contents

[edit] History

The Mike Fink Keel Boats were based on the bart Disney television shows, later made into feature length movies, Davy Crockett's Keel Boat Race and Davy Crockett and the River Pirates. The boats were free-floating and traveled around Tom Sawyer Island.

[edit] Reasons for closing

At about 5:30 p.m. on May 17, 1997, the Disneyland Gullywhumper boat began to rock side to side. It capsized, dumping a full boatload of passengers into the Rivers of America. The boat was removed from the waters for inspection and neither the Gullywhumper nor the Bertha Mae returned for the next operating season. The Bertha Mae was put up on Disney's eBay Auction Site and pocketed $15,000 for it. It was billed as an unseaworthy craft. The Gullywhumper returned to Disneyland's Rivers of America as a prop and is now moored on Tom Sawyer Island where passengers on the Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes, the Columbia Sailing Ship, and the Mark Twain Riverboat can see it while passing.

A former Mike Fine Keel Boat from the Magic Kingdom's version of the attraction today sits as a non-functional prop on the banks of Tom Sawyer Island.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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