Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes Explained

Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes
Imagedimensions:250px
Location:Disneyland
Location2:Magic Kingdom
Location3:Tokyo Disneyland
Location4:Disneyland Park (Paris)
Location5:Shanghai Disneyland
Altname3:Beaver Brothers Explorer Canoes
Altname5:Explorer Canoes[1]
Section:Critter Country
Section2:Frontierland
Section3:Critter Country
Section4:Frontierland
Section5:Treasure Cove
Status:Operating
Status2:Removed
Status3:Operating
Status4:Removed
Status5:Operating
Soft Opened5:May 7, 2016
Opened:July 4, 1956
Opened2:October 1, 1971
Opened3:April 15, 1983
Opened4:April 12, 1992
Opened5:June 16, 2016
Closed2:1994
Closed4:1994
Type:Free-floating canoe
Vehicle Type:Canoe

Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes is a free-floating canoe experience at several Disney theme parks. The oldest of the rides is located at the Disneyland park in Anaheim, California. Boarding from the park's Critter Country section, up to twenty visitors paddle a canoe around the Rivers of America, accompanied by two guides. This is the only Disneyland attraction that is powered by park visitors.

The attraction originally opened as Indian War Canoes on July 4, 1956 as part of Frontierland’s Indian Village expansion. It also operates under the name of Beaver Brother's Explorer Canoes at Tokyo Disneyland and operated at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World and at Disneyland Park in Disneyland Paris. At Shanghai Disneyland, the ride is simply named Explorer Canoes.

Ride Description

At the original Disneyland version of the attraction, riders embark and disembark from a small boat dock next to the Hungry Bear restaurant in the Critter Country section of the park. Each 35adj=midNaNadj=mid fiberglass canoe holds twenty guests, two per row. Each canoe has two guides dressed as frontierspeople at the bow and stern. These guides are referred to as the helmsman, bowman, and sternman.

Riders/rowers are given a short lesson on how to paddle the canoe to power the boat properly after leaving the dock. Small children are required to wear life jackets. Life jackets are also available for adults who cannot swim in the event the boat ever capsizes. As the canoe travels around Tom Sawyer Island, located in the center of the man-made river, the guides point out the sights along the way, such as a settler's cabin and the Indian chief on horseback. The ride's length depends upon how fast the paddlers are and how much other traffic is on the river.

Lacking tracks or a predetermined path to follow, they typically travel much faster than the large boats, like the Mark Twain Riverboat and the Sailing Ship Columbia which ride along submerged tracks and return by the last bend of the upcoming Tiana's Bayou Adventure. The attraction operates year-round on weekends and includes weekdays during the park's peak seasons. The canoes generally close at dusk as to prepare the Rivers of America for any night water shows such as Fantasmic!.

History

It is one of only two attractions in Disneyland to be in three different lands without ever being moved. Originally called Indian War Canoes, the attraction opened on July 4, 1956, as part of Frontierland's Indian Village expansion, with real American Indian guides aboard every canoe. Guests used a "D ticket" to ride the attraction. The Indian War Canoes closed with Indian Village in 1971 but reopened on May 19 as Davy Crockett’s Explorer Canoes, inspired by the Davy Crockett miniseries, with the guides now wearing coonskin caps.

It became a part of Bear Country, home of Country Bear Jamboree, when that section of the park opened in 1972. The area was later renamed Critter Country in 1989, which now takes in Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh attractions. The canoes closed suddenly on October 3, 1998, igniting rumors that they were closed permanently. However, the attraction reopened the following June. Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes operates on busier days only, primarily in the summer and on weekends.

In addition to the Explorer Canoes, Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom's Liberty Square operated the Mike Fink Keel Boats until 1997. This attraction was based on the miniseries episode "Davy Crockett's Keelboat Race".

On January 11, 2016, the Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes, along with the other attractions and shows along the Rivers of America, temporarily closed for the construction of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.[2] The attraction reopened on July 29, 2017.[3] [4]

Other parks

Walt Disney World

Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes debuted in Frontierland on opening day at Walt Disney World. A C ticket was required for guests to board the 35feet long canoes from a dock located to the north of the Tom Sawyer Island raft launch and travel along the same path as other watercraft on the Rivers of America. The attraction closed in 1994.

Tokyo Disneyland

A canoe attraction opened in Tokyo Disneyland under the name of Davey Crockett Explorer Canoes along the Rivers of America in the theme park's Westernland. It was renamed Beaver Brothers Explorer Canoes in 1992 with the opening of Critter Country.

Disneyland Paris

An Indian Canoes canoe ride opened with Euro Disneyland on April 12, 1992. It also closed in 1994.

Shanghai Disneyland

This attraction is known as Bilge Rat Bill's Explorer Canoes. Departing from Dead Man's Landing, the canoes travel through Treasure Cove's lagoon and Adventure Isle's Q'olari River.

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. Web site: Explorer Canoes.
  2. Web site: Season of the Force Begins November 16 at Disneyland Park in Southern California. Disney Parks Blog.
  3. Web site: Glover. Erin. Disneyland Railroad and Rivers of America Attractions to Reopen Summer 2017 at Disneyland Park. Disney Parks Blog. July 28, 2016. July 28, 2016.
  4. Web site: Glover. Erin. Classics Come Back to Disneyland Park this Summer with the Return of 'Fantasmic!,' Rivers of America and Disneyland Railroad. Disney Parks Blog. June 15, 2017. June 15, 2017.

External links