Storybook Land Canal Boats

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Storybook Land Canal Boats
Storybook Land Entrance.JPG
Storybook Land Canal Boats entrance at Disneyland
Disneyland
AreaFantasyland
Coordinates33°48′50″N 117°55′06″W / 33.81377°N 117.91825°W / 33.81377; -117.91825
StatusOperating
Opening dateJuly 17, 1955
Disneyland Park (Paris)
AreaFantasyland
Coordinates48°52′31″N 2°46′29″E / 48.8753°N 2.77467°E / 48.8753; 2.77467
StatusOperating
Opening dateApril 3, 1994
General statistics
TypeBoat ride
DesignerWED Enterprises
Duration6 minutes
ManufacturerIntamin (Disneyland Paris only)
ThemeFairy tales
Vehicle typeBateau
Vehicle capacity14 (Disneyland)
20 (Disneyland Paris)

Storybook Land Canal Boats is an attraction located at the Disneyland and Disneyland Park (Paris) theme parks. Passengers embark on a leisurely paced outdoor boat ride through a winding canal featuring settings from Disney animated films recreated in miniature. The Disneyland version was one of the original attractions when the park opened on July 17, 1955, although the miniature buildings and landscaping were not added until the following year.[1] The version in Disneyland Paris is named Le Pays des Contes de Fées (meaning "The Land of Fairy Tales" in French) and opened in the spring of 1994.

History[]

English church and watermill
Dutch landscape

The ride's concept dates back to Walt Disney's plans for a "magical little park" across the street from his Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. This modestly scaled, never-built amusement park was to include a gravity flow canal boat ride among its attractions.

When plans for the much grander Disneyland were being made, there was to be a "Lilliputianland", inspired by Madurodam, a miniature city in the Netherlands that Disney once visited. However, the technology did not yet exist to create the miniature animated figures that were to inhabit the "Lilliputian" village, so the canal ride opened under the name Canal Boats of the World. It was intended to be a journey past miniature recreations of the great landmarks of the world, but time and money prevented its completion. The ride was plagued by other problems. The outboard motors were prone to overheating, often forcing the boats to be pulled by hand, and because the attraction opened with little landscaping, it earned the nickname among park executives as "The Mud Bank Ride".

After two months of operation, the Canal Boats closed while Storybook Land was constructed and the muddy banks were landscaped with miniature plants, including a bonsai tree planted by Walt Disney himself. The idea of having Monstro the whale consume the canal boats came from a never-implemented concept for a "Monstro the Whale" ride, in which small boats were to be swallowed by Monstro and then plunged down a watery path into a pond below.

The attraction reopened on June 16, 1956, under the new name Storybook Land Canal Boats. The models, scaled 1 inch to 1 foot, included Gepetto's village from Pinocchio, the Pigs' houses from Three Little Pigs, the London park from Peter Pan, Alice's cottage from Alice in Wonderland, the Old Mill from the 1937 Silly Symphony cartoon, Toad Manor from The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' diamond mine, and Cinderella's Castle.[2]

Over the years several scenes have been added to and removed from the attraction.[3] Most notably, the Sultan's Palace from Aladdin appeared where the miniature Toad Hall from The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad had previously stood for a major refurbishment done in 1994. Toad Hall returned the following year in another location.

For the 50th anniversary of Disneyland in 2005, the Tinker Bell boat was painted gold and the lighthouse given a gold and maroon theme.

Beginning December 20, 2014, the attraction at Disneyland added the village of Arendelle from Disney's Frozen including Anna and Elsa's castle, Wandering Oaken's Trading Post, and Elsa's ice palace. These additions replaced the three Dutch miniature windmills representing The Old Mill (1937).[4]

Disneyland version[]

Monstro, eye partially closed
View of attraction from Casey Jr. Circus Train in 2007

Passengers enter the attraction through a chain queue that winds in front of the loading dock. A lighthouse at the queue's entrance was once a ticket booth from when Disneyland required tickets for riding individual attractions. Storybook Land canal boats originally required a "D" coupon.

The motor-driven boats are scaled-down replicas of Dutch, English, and French boats. All of the boats are named after female Disney characters except for Flower (retired), the male skunk from Bambi. Passengers are seated along the edges of the boat, facing inward, although children are sometimes permitted to ride on the front flat part of the boat. A costumed guide sits just above the passengers on the back of the boat, perched above the engine housing, and narrates the ride.

After departing from the dock, the boat passes through a short cave sculpted to look like Monstro, the whale that swallowed Pinocchio. Monstro is partially animated: his eye opens and closes, and periodically steam comes out of his blow hole.

The canals past the Monstro cave are landscaped with miniature trees and shrubs. Along the banks are small buildings representing the homes of characters from Disney animated films, although not all the locations were actually depicted in film. Many of these settings feature sound recordings of characters singing or working.

The miniature settings include:

The boat then returns the passengers to the loading dock from which they boarded.

The attraction closes during any fireworks shows and resumes normal operation once the show has ended.

Names of the Canal Boats:

  1. Alice
  2. Ariel
  3. Aurora
  4. Belle
  5. Cinderella
  6. Daisy
  7. Fauna
  8. Faline
  9. Flora
  10. Merryweather
  11. Snow White
  12. Tinkerbell
  13. Wendy

Storybook Land Canal Boats Queue Music

  1. The 2nd Star to the Right from Peter Pan
  2. Snow White Overture
  3. Babes in Toyland Overture
  4. Sleeping Beauty Overture
  5. Pretty Little Girl from Darby O'Gill and the Little People
  6. Vuelie from Frozen
  7. The Great Mouse Detective Main Theme
  8. Mary Poppins Overture
  9. The Jungle Book Overture
  10. Transformation from Beauty and the Beast

Paris version[]

Unlike the original in California, a guide does not accompany the riders. The boats here are guided by an underwater wire rather than being propelled by an on-board motor. Passengers enter their boats via a slowly revolving platform. The whole transport system was developed by Intamin (as a Tow boat ride). The Cave of Wonders from Aladdin midway through the voyage replaces the Disneyland version's Monstro cave. The boats also float past these settings, accompanied by music from the respective film and minimal dialogue:

Names of the Canal Boats:

  1. Alice
  2. Anna
  3. Ariel
  4. Aurora
  5. Belle
  6. Blue Fairy
  7. Cinderella
  8. Daisy
  9. Elsa
  10. Faline
  11. Jasmine
  12. Mérida
  13. Moana
  14. Mulan
  15. Rapunzel
  16. Raya
  17. Snow White
  18. Tiana
  19. Tinkerbell
  20. Wendy

Le Pays des Contes de Fées Queue Music

  1. Snow White Overture
  2. When You Wish Upon a Star from Pinocchio
  3. The Sorcerer's Apprentice from Fantasia & Fantasia 2000
  4. Casey Junior from Dumbo
  5. Love is a Song from Bambi
  6. Saludos Amigos
  7. The Three Caballeros
  8. Peter and the Wolf from Make Mine Music
  9. Fun and Fancy Free
  10. Little Toot from Melody Time
  11. The Merrily Song from The Adventures of Ichabod & Mister Toad
  12. Cinderella
  13. Alice in Wonderland
  14. The 2nd Star to the Right from Peter Pan
  15. Bella Notte from Lady and the Tramp
  16. Sleeping Beauty Overture
  17. 101 Dalmatians Overture
  18. The Sword in the Stone Overture
  19. The Jungle Book Overture
  20. Ev'rybody Wants to Be a Cat from The Aristocats
  21. Robin Hood Medley
  22. Winnie the Pooh from The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
  23. Tomorrow is Another Day from The Rescuers
  24. Best of Friends from The Fox and the Hound
  25. The Black Cauldron Medley
  26. The Great Mouse Detective Main Theme
  27. Part of Your World from The Little Mermaid
  28. End Credits from The Rescuers Down Under
  29. Transformation from Beauty and the Beast
  30. Arabian Nights from Aladdin
  31. Circle of Life from The Lion King
  32. The Virginia Company from Pocahontas
  33. Topsy Turvy from The Hunchback of Notre Dame
  34. Go the Distance from Hercules
  35. Suite from Mulan
  36. Two Worlds from Tarzan
  37. The Egg Travels from Dinosaur
  38. The Perfect World from The Emperor's New Groove
  39. Atlantis: The Lost Empire Main Theme
  40. Transformation from Brother Bear
  41. One Little Slip from Chicken Little
  42. Almost There from The Princess and the Frog
  43. I See the Light from Tangled
  44. Everything is Honey from Winnie the Pooh
  45. When Can I See You Again? from Wreck-It Ralph
  46. Let It Go from Frozen
  47. How Far I'll Go from Moana
  48. A Place Called Slaughter Race from Ralph Breaks the Internet
  49. Into the Unknown from Frozen 2
  50. Disney Fantasy

Technical[]

The canal contains 465,000 gallons of water, which flows via underground pipes to the moat around Sleeping Beauty Castle, the Jungle Cruise and to the Rivers of America, where it is pumped back to Storybook Land.

The attraction's 13 boats are powered by electric inboard motors. When not in use, they are stored in a boathouse hidden behind the waterfall containing Triton's Castle.

The houses in Storybook Land are fitted with six-inch doors and quarter-inch hinges that open and close, so the Disneyland electricians can change the lightbulbs.

Disneyland image gallery[]

  • Words spelled out in bushes cut into letters

  • Beginning of the ride

  • Traveling through Monstro's mouth

  • One of the first buildings encountered

  • Bridge to the pigs' homes

  • Home of the Big Bad Wolf

  • One of the Three Little Pigs' houses

  • London Park from Peter Pan

  • Cinderella's Castle

  • Giant's patchwork quilt from Lullaby Land

  • Sultan's palace from Aladdin

  • French village featuring a castle from Cinderella

  • Agrabah

  • Toad Hall

  • Two Dutch windmills from The Old Mill (removed in late 2014)

  • Pinocchio's Alpine village

  • Prince Eric's castle from The Little Mermaid

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Strodder, Chris (2017). The Disneyland Encyclopedia (3rd ed.). Santa Monica Press. pp. 460–461. ISBN 978-1595800909.
  2. ^ Gennawey, Sam (2014). The Disneyland Story: The Unofficial Guide to the Evolution of Walt Disney's Dream. Keen Communications. pp. 116–117. ISBN 978-1-62809-012-3.
  3. ^ "History of Storybook Land Canal Boats". Hunting Pixie Dust. 2018-07-09. Retrieved 2019-01-27.
  4. ^ "Frozen Fun Comes to Disneyland Resort – UPDATED". dapsmagic.com. December 20, 2014. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
  • Bright, Randy (1987). Disneyland:Inside Story. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. pp. 43, 81, 116–17, 119, 128. ISBN 0-8109-0811-5.

External links[]

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