Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes Articles
14 Venues, Show Temporarily Close In Disney Parks
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Disneyland Resort parks have 14 venues and one show that are temporarily closed during May, mostly for major makeovers or special events. Many of the projects are ending this month as the two parks -- Disneyland and Disney California Adventure -- prepare for the summer season. Along Disneyland's Rivers of America, four attractions and the Fantasmic! Show are shut down for preparations of the ...
Disneyland Closes Attractions For Pirates Premiere
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Disneyland this week temporarily closed five attractions as the park prepares for next week's celebrity-studded premiere of the upcoming "Pirates of the Caribbean 4" movie. Crews are building a screen and seating along Rivers of America for the outdoor viewing May 7 of "Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides" for celebrities, invited guests and ticket holders. The screening follows "black" ...
Annual Canoe Races Play Out On Rivers Of America
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
The annual Cast Canoe Races at Disneyland began in 1963 when employees, who Disney calls cast members, challenged one another to a race. Nearly 50 years later, the event has evolved into a gathering with more than 600 Disney employees on 72 teams rowing around the Rivers of America in canoes from Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes. At dawn on Wednesday, before the park opened, 12 teams in three ...
12 Unique And Magical Memories To Be Made At Disneyland
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
When visiting Disney, many families head straight for the E-ticket rides, from Space Mountain to the Matterhorn to Dumbo. But in doing so they not only spend a whole lot of time in long lines, but they miss out on so many magical moments and memories that can be made at the "happiest place on earth.' Though these attractions are less popular, they are just as special and endure in family memories far ...
Disney Begins 4 Million Dollar Big Thunder Overhaul
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Disneyland's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will undergo its biggest project in more than three decades when the ride closes Monday for at least nine months. The Frontierland ride, which mimics a runaway mine train through an Old West canyon, will close so crews can begin a makeover that will last until fall. A reopening date has yet to be announced. The renovation will cost $4 million, according ...
California vs. Paris: Rivers of America
I learned something today. My comparison article for January 2013 was always going to be about the Rivers of America in Anaheim's Disneyland Park, and its counterpart in Disneyland Paris. However, until perhaps five minutes ago, I had assumed that the Paris equivalent was also called Rivers of America. Turns out, it's the Rivers of the Far West. Whilst it has been made clear which rivers ...
Disney Couple Seal The Deal With Pirates Gold
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
They worked, met, had their first date, and got engaged at Disneyland, with proposal coming in a dreamy location. Ride operator Andrew Salter met Alyssa Allinson on her first day on the job at Disneyland. Five months later, Salter asked her out for a first date at Disneyland. Four years after that, Salter bent down on one knee to propose marriage to Allinson at Disneyland. "I ...
When Goths Go To Disneyland
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
If you go to Disneyland on Sunday, May 5, and find yourself surrounded by kids of all shades of pale, looking as sinister as the Evil Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, don't be alarmed. It's just Bats Day in the Fun Park, the annual Magic Kingdom gathering of goths and their punk/metal/steampunk brethren, which has been confusing tourists since 1999. It sounds chuckle-worthy: goths - the ...
Captain Takes You Inside The Wheelhouse Of The Mark Twain Riverboat At Disneyland
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Ever wonder what it's like to steer the Mark Twain Riverboat through the Rivers of America at Disneyland? Or how the Radiator Springs Raceway cars get their power? "Every Role a Starring Role" is one of my favorite Disneyland blogs that takes you behind the scenes with various cast members who describe their jobs. Jen Holst, a Mark Twain Riverboat captain, describes herself as "the eyes and ears" ...
Disneyland Staff Trade Costumes For Canoes In Race
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Disneyland employees have traded costumes for paddles in the 50th annual cast canoe race. Eighty teams of Disneyland Resort cast members raced around Disneyland's Rivers of America on Wednesday before the Anaheim park opened. It's a tradition begun in 1963. Teams paddled 1,410 feet in the Native American-style canoes that normally carry tourists around the artificial river. Nobody beat the ...
More Closures Construction Chaos This Summer
On May 1, almost all of Critter Country 's attractions closed to make way for refurbishments. On July 8, the Hungry Bear restaurant and Davy Crockett 's Explorer Canoes are also slated to close. Assuming other parts of Critter Country haven 't reopened by then, that means the Pooh Corner and Briar Patch stores, the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride and the reimagined Tiana 's Bayou Adventure flume ...
History Of Critter Country From Indian War Canoes To Bayou BBQ
A corner of Disneyland that began as an Indian Village with Native American dances and teepees before transforming into Bear Country and then Critter Country will soon change again as Princess Tiana prepares to move into the ever-evolving themed land.
Critter Country will officially transition to Bayou Country when Tiana 's Bayou Adventure opens on Nov. 15.
The Many ...
Disneyland Turns 60 Ranking Its Attractions by Land
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Oh, boy! The Disneyland Resort Diamond Celebration begins today! Disneyland Park opened in Anaheim, Calif., on July 17, 1955, and ever since, it has entertained millions of guests from all over the world. That's no small feat! "It's amazing to contemplate all that Disneyland has come to mean to so many people around the world," Tom Staggs, COO of the Walt Disney Company, recently told the ...
What It Takes To Run Mark Twain Riverboat
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
A few years ago, The Orange County Register was allowed to spend some time with the crew on board the Mark Twain Riverboat. Many of the attractions at Disneyland are operated with the push of a button, but the Mark Twain Riverboat is not one of them. Just like the locomotives of the Disneyland Railroad, the Mark Twain needs steam to power its paddlewheel and a crew that uses signal bells to help ...
8 More Unanswered Questions About Star Wars Land
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Disney raised even more questions with the recent announcement of plans to temporarily close the Rivers of America, Tom Sawyer Island and the Disneyland Railroad to allow for construction of Star Wars Land. Here's what we know so far: The new 14-acre land will feature two attractions set in a remote frontier town on the outer rim of the "Star Wars" galaxy. While no opening date has been set, ...
58 Ways Star Wars Land Is Changing Disneyland
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
The Walt Disney Company recently announced that an entirely new land based on the Star Wars universe would be coming to Disneyland, likely in 2019. The 14-acre mini universe will feature two major new rides and other attractions including a restaurant based on the Mos Eisley cantina in the films. I'm not a big Star Wars aficionado, but I hear that the designers working on it are, and genuine fans can ...
Disneyland To Close Some Attractions To Build Star Wars Land
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
To make way for "Star Wars," Disneyland is about to launch its largest expansion ever, which means shutting down a significant chunk of the Anaheim theme park. In January, 10 attractions and eateries will close - some temporarily, some permanently - only a few months after the resort hiked the price of annual passes as much as 31%. This spring, Disneyland's biggest rival, Universal Studios Hollywood, ...
Disneyland To Close Multiple Attractions In January To Build Star Wars Land
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Disneyland is set to close multiple attractions and eateries next month to make room for the new "Star Wars"-themed land in the Orange County theme park. The 14-acre project would be Disney's largest single themed land expansion, CEO Bob Iger said when he announced the project in August at the D23 Expo. Groundbreaking is scheduled to take place in 2016 at Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios ...
Getting To Disneyland Star Wars Land Needs To Be Magical
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
As the final scheduled day for the Rivers of America attractions at Disneyland comes to an end, it marks the closing of Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island, the Mark Twain Riverboat, Sailing Ship Columbia and Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes and "Fantasmic!" for more than a year. Also included in the closures is the Disneyland Railroad. All of this is so that Disney can reroute the Rivers of America to ...
Disneyland Has Stopped Offering 13 Minutes Of Tranquility
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
People going to amusement parks in the post World War II boom times of the early 1950s were looking for fast, not slow; they wanted to be thrilled, not dropped into a peaceful and pastoral setting. But that's just what Walt Disney gave them in The Rivers of America. From the moment Walt Disney began to think about what would eventually become "Disneyland," he conceived of it as a park - a "themed park." ...
Attendance Up At Disneyland, Although Company Struggles Elsewhere
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Despite the closure of attractions to make room for a "Star Wars" land, and the introduction of dynamic admission pricing that boosts ticket prices for many, the Walt Disney Co. reported an increase in Disneyland attendance this year through March. In Disney's second fiscal quarter, which ended April 2, revenue rose 4 percent to $3.9 billion and operating profits increased 10 percent compared to a ...
Disneyland Attractions Closed To Build Star Wars Land Will Reopen In 2017
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Disney has offered no timeline for its new "Star Wars" land, but Thursday park fans learned attractions closed temporarily for its construction will reopen in 2017. Park officials, on their Disney Parks blog, announced the attractions on the Rivers of America that went offline earlier this year as crews prepared for the construction of the 14-acre "Star Wars" land, will reopen next summer - an exact ...
Main Street Electrical Parade Is Coming Back To Disneyland In 2017
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
The Main Street Electrical Parade, a night-time fan favorite that rolled along Disneyland's Main Street, U.S.A. for years, will return in 2017 with its synthesized version of "Baroque Hoedown." A Disney official said its stay will be temporary but declined to put a time frame on the parade that features one-million-plus twinkling lights. He also declined to say if guests will be able to see the ...
Rivers Of Fun
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
The Rivers of America is as old as Disneyland, with the Mark Twain Riverboat as its only attraction (with the dry docks for refurbishments), though Mike Fink Keel Boats would open in December that same year. The Rivers and all green waters in the park are interconnected underground, allowing the water to naturally filter and de-stagnate the way a lake would. They act as a single body of water and prevent ...
Hunny In The Briar Patch
"Critter Country" was originally called the "Indian Village." Until 1971, that section of Frontierland contained Native American shows and attractions. The following year, it became "Bear Country," the first major expansion since the "Haunted Mansion" and cost $8 million. "Bear Country" was themed like the forest of the Pacific North-West. The centerpiece attraction was "Country Bear Jamboree" and was also ...
Disneyland Railroad And Fantasmic Return Dates
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Much of the Disneyverse is craftily constructed around clocks and the nature of time, and a fan only need dip into a song, or story, to find references to the meaning, and passage, of hours and minutes. From the stroke of midnight in "Cinderella" to Cogsworth the clock of "Beauty and the Beast" to "Step in Time" from "Mary Poppins" to the beloved doll clock at It's a Small World at Disneyland, ...
Pirates Lair On Tom Sawyer Island Reopens
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Rafts were making the journey with visitors again from the mainland at Disneyland to Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island. The island was closed in early 2016 as the park worked on shortening the route for the Rivers of America in Frontierland to make room for the 14-acre "Star Wars" land project. In May of 2017, the river was refilled with water, and final preparation began to reopen the island. ...
After More Than A Year Away Disneyland Debuts Updated Fantasmic River Show
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Mickey Mouse made a triumphant return to the Rivers of America as "Fantasmic!" came back to Disneyland after a more than a one-year absence. The show, which originally debuted in 1992, went dark in early 2016 as the waterway it is staged on was closed to boat traffic for construction of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. The new 14-acre land, which will open in 2019, gobbled up a chunk of Frontierland, ...
Disneyland Brings Back Attractions That Were Closed For Star Wars Land Construction
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
A year and a half after they were closed to make way for construction of a new Star Wars land, four Disneyland attractions along the Rivers of America are set to reopen. The Mark Twain Riverboat, Sailing Ship Columbia, Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes and the Disneyland Railroad will relaunch July 29, featuring new waterfalls and elevated trestles. Construction of the new 14-acre project, dubbed ...
Disneyland Return Railroad And River Attractions
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
The building of a space port in a galaxy that happens to be located far, far away doesn't normally prevent an earthbound train from traveling the route it has run along for decades. The port is somewhere deep in the cosmos, light years from this planet, while the train tracks? They've been placed on terra firma, and the engine that toot-toots along them will never be impacted by what happens in space. ...
5 Things You Have Probably Never Done At Disneyland But Should
**RESTRICTED CONTENT** Gain Access Here
Perhaps you've been to Disneyland a dozen or more times and are sure you've done all there is to do, even impressing others with your fake insider knowledge ("The park derives a third of its income through churro sales"). Yet the park may still hold a few surprises for even the most faithful fans. Here are 5 things to do at Disneyland and California Adventure you've probably never done: 1. ...
