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
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