Storybook Land Canal Boats Articles

A patchwork quilt made of plants lined one hill and adorable villages and palaces taken from the classic Disney animation dotted the once barren banks In Disneyland's second summer Walt Disney finally got the charming boat ride he wanted all along limited on time and money early 1955 he had to settle for the feeble Canal Boats of the World attraction that sputtered noisily across one undeveloped acre at the back of Fantasyland. However, even as that attraction was operating plans were already underway for a huge remodel the began in the fall of 1955 and lasted into the following spring official dedication ceremonies were held on June 18th, 1956 with some of the TV's Mouseketeers on hand to help celebrate.

When the 7-minute attraction started up again it did so with little knolls in place of the muddy slopes that had formerly rimmed the canals many of the carefully manicured miniature trees and flowers were planted in their original containers to stunt their growth.Among the meticulously detailed displays on view, were windmills and houses from The Old Mill and Three Little Pigs cartoons gardens inspired by Peter Pan Geppetto Village and toy shop from Pinocchio the Cinderella Castle and coach and structures from The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad and Alice in Wonderland built mainly from wood and fiberglass. All the buildings were built on a 1/12 scale meaning 6-foot doorways became 6 inch doorways. So well-crafted were the miniatures that the metal hinges on the tiny doors actually worked.

A 1994 update added scenes for more recent Disney movies including Aladdin and the Little Mermaid all built with the same careful skill and gentle spirit to keep this a lovely attraction. Among the subtle details guests like to watch for are the blinking eye on Monstro the whale and the steam he periodically emits from his blowhole. Veteran guests recognize the lighthouse out front is the old ticket booth used in the days when guests had to pay their way for each individual attraction. As they did in the 50s guests today observe the scenes while sitting and low-slung bateau similar to those on northern European canals and rivers.

Costume cast members drive the quiet boats along a track submerged in 46,500 gallons of water. These Canal captain's deliver a live narration. The current names for the boats are Alice, Ariel, Aurora, Belle, Cinderella, Daisy, Faline, Fauna, Flora, Flower, Katrina,Merryweather, Snow White, Tinkerbell and Wendy.The Original names for the 8 boats were: Nellie Bly, Lady Katrina, Lady Of Shallot, Annie Oakley, Gretel, Bold Lockinvar,Lady Of The Lake and Lady Guinevere. Because its entrance is located along the parks' parade route, the attraction closes approximately sixty minutes before any parades

At one time, it was thought Big Rock Candy Mountain would be built here, and the boats would enter the mountain and come upon Dorothy having a party with her friends from Oz.Originally, the boats were powered by outboard motors, which often overheated and had to be towed back to the dock. Worse, the gasoline engines were so loud that the passengers could barely hear the spiel. After a few months, the motors gave way to batteries stashed under the seats. That first summer, the ride was staffed predominately by men, dressed in white shirts and wide brim hats. Required a "B" ticket in 1955 Required a "D" ticket in 1956 Required a "C" ticket in 1957 Required a "D" ticket in 1959 after that

Here is a video I shot myself in 1977 using an super 8 millimeter camera unfortunately this camera had no sound capability but it does give you an idea what the attraction looked like the ྂs

From WED Disneyland Dictionary 1968 Storybook Land Canal Boats Is a kingdom within a kingdom. Viewed from Dutch canal boats (or Casey Jr. Circus Train), it features miniature (Scale: one inch to one foot) settings from Disney animated motion pictures, accomplished in the most detailed and painstaking manner. Visitors see "Geppetto's Village," nestled below the Swiss Alps, where even a church bell chimes; "Cinderella's Dream Castle"; Mr. Toad's proud "mansion," and many other settings from the pages of your favorite story books.

From Steve Birnbaum brings you the best of Disneyland 1982: This cruise past miniature scenes from well-known children's stories is not one of Disneyland's major attractions, yet few who take the trip deny that the journey is one of the loveliest on the property.

Specs: Capacity 1950 per hour -- Capacity per boat 14 -- Cycle Time 8:03 -- Load Time: :36 -- Unload Time :23 -- Trip Time 7:00 -- Dispatch Interval :48 -- Trips per hour 75 -- Distance Traveled 998 feet -- Speed 1.6 MPH

Originally, the boats were powered by outboard motors, which often overheated and had to be towed back to the dock. Worse, the gasoline engines were so loud that the passengers could barely hear the spiel. After a few months, the motors gave way to batteries stashed under the seats. That first summer, the ride was staffed predominately by men, dressed in white shirts and wide brim hats. An all-male closing crew had the arduous duty of manually pulling the boats into the storage area and connecting the battery cables to charge the boats overnight. Eventually, electricians installed a two-way switch on the boats, providing a reverse gear to easily back the boats into the storage tunnel.

Storybook Canal contains 465,000 gallons of water.

The names of the original 13 boats were: Cinderella, Daisy, Aurora, Alice, Faline, Flora, Fauna, Flower, Katrina, Merryweather, Wendy, Snow White, Tinkerbell
2 boats were later added: Ariel, Belle

Sets are built one-twelfth scale

The light house in front of the attraction was originally used as the ticket booth

Required a "B" ticket in 1955

Required a "D" ticket in 1956

Required a "C" ticket in 1957

Required a "D" ticket in 1959

Required a "D" ticket in 1964-1965

From WED Disneyland Dictionary 1968
Is a kingdom within a kingdom. Viewed from Dutch canal boats (or Casey Jr. Circus Train), it features miniature (Scale: one inch to one foot) settings from Disney animated motion pictures, accomplished in the most detailed and painstaking manner. Visitors see "Geppetto's Village," nestled below the Swiss Alps, where even a church bell chimes; "Cinderella's Dream Castle"; Mr. Toad's proud "mansion," and many other settings from the pages of favorite story books.

From Steve Birnbaum brings you the best of Disneyland 1982:
This cruise past miniature scenes from well-known children's stories is not one of Disneyland's major attractions (like Pirates of the Caribbean or Big Thunder Mountain Railroad), yet few who take the trip deny that the journey is one of the loveliest on the property. It's so chock-full of cunning details and wonderful little scenes that even the tour guides' often infuriatingly mechanical recitations can't spoil it. Even after several trips, there are still new sights to see. For the church at the beginning of the trip, Walt insisted on having imported stained glass. "The day we start cutting the detail," he declared, "is the day we won't have a Disneyland." And so it goes, from the Old English Village in Alice in Wonderland (where the White Rabbit boasts his very own mail- box) to the London park where Peter Pan and Tinkerbell taught Wendy, Peter, and Michael Darling to fly. Miniatures of Toad Hall, with Ratty's house nearby, and the Seven Dwarfs' mine and Cinderella's Dream Castle are among the other sights en route. Ken Anderson, one of the art directors intimately involved with the project, tells of his anguish pink chateau there. The clock at the top of the castle reads midnight, and the turrets are covered in gold leaf. Anderson himself applied the first coat and, not being experienced in the technique, initially watched a good deal of the precious tissue paper like substance blow away. The houses in Geppetto's Village, near the end of the cruise, have doors that really open. Because funds were short when the attraction was being developed (just after Disneyland opened), expensive Japanese miniature bonsai trees were out of the question. But at Van Dam State Park, one scout turned up a handful of stunted, suitably small-scale redwoods growing in some scrabbly limestone soil on a cliffside. A bit more hunting unearthed a few more of these dwarf trees nearby on a piece of private property whose owners were willing to sell.

The archway that was added in the winter of 1994. They covered it with pink roses.they were fake at first then as real ones flowered they removed the fake ones and added lights) this was a huge spider trap you had to keep an eye out in the morning hours. An empty boat with the "Lead" or manager for the day would go out and scope out the canal. We often found dead fish, baby ducks and lots of spiders. One winter there was a pretty bad storm, a tree blew down on top of the Seven Dwarfs set, and we were "down" until they could cut it up and remove as much as possible. As soon as it was cleaned up the show went on and boats took off shortly after the workers left.

Required a "D" ticket in 1970's

“Hello everyone, and welcome to Storybook Land. Please remain seated and keep your hands and fingers inside the boat at all times.”

“We are riding aboard the boat Wendy and we are now on our way to a magical adventure into Storybook Land where everything inside has been miniaturized.”

‘Outt oh, it look like we are about to be swallowed by Monstro.(everyone turns around to look) Monstro is the very same whale that swallowed Pinocchio. But don’t worry, Pinocchio was such a smart boy, he built a fire inside Monstro and the smoke from that fire made Monstro sneeze, in fact he sneezed so hard he blew his own tail right off, giving us our own special way right into Storybook land.”

(Mind you all the tunnels are very low and so as you are saying all this, you must duck or be knocked off the boat) It did happen once but I caught myself from falling.

“Over to our left is the home of the Big Bad Wolf, and on the right are the homes of the Three Little Pigs. The first one built his home of straw, the second built his home of twigs and the third, up on the hill, built his home of Wolf proof bricks.”

“Around the bend and to our left is the home of Alice in Wonderland. Down by the water’s edge is where Alice likes to sit and daydream.”

“In the center of the canal is London Park; this is where Peter Pan, Wendy, Michael and John, with a little help from Tinker Bell, flew over on their way to Never Land, where you never never have to grow up!”

“Straight ahead is Agrabah, land of mystery and enchantment. Up on the hill is the palace where Princess Jasmine grew up and down below is the market place where Princess Jasmine and Aladdin first met.”

“We are now entering the Cave of Wonders; if you look closely you might find your own magic lamp. If you do make a wish it might come true.”

“Over to our right is the home of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Up on the hill is the jewel mine; if you listen closely you might just hear the Seven Dwarfs whistle while they work”

“Over to our left is the home where Cinderella grew up. Half way up the hill you will notice the pumpkin that was once her coach. . And high on top of the hill is the castle where Cinderella and her Prince lived happily ever after.”

“On our left is a beautiful patchwork quilt comprised entirely of desert blooms. The quilt is held together with big white stitches and at night I have heard tell a giant sleeps underneath it.”

They added Mr. Toad while I was on a medical leave and I never got it quite right.

To our left are the Three Windmills. The one in the center is where all the animals found refuge from the storm in the story “The Old Mill”.

“Straight ahead is the Alpine village where Pinocchio lives. Down by the waters shore is the toyshop of Gepetto where Pinocchio became a real boy.”

“On our right is the Castle of Prince Eric; on the sandy beach is where he and Ariel first met. Behind the waterfall on our left, is the home of King Triton; if you look closely you just might get to see it.”

“Well ladies and gentleman thank you for joining me, I hope you enjoyed your tour through Storybook Land. As we approach the dock PLEASE keep your hands and fingers inside the boat. When the boat comes to a complete stop everyone please stand in the middle of the boat and I will assist you out. Thank you for joining us and we hope you enjoy your stay here at the Magic Kingdom.”