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Mark Twain Riverboat
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Mark Twain Riverboat is an attraction, located at the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California, on which passengers embark on a scenic, 12-minute journey around the Rivers of America. Originally named the Mark Twain Steamboat when the park opened in 1955, the stately, 5/8-scale stern-wheeler was the first functional riverboat to be built in the United States for fifty years. Other Disney riverboat attractions now appear at Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris.
History
A Mississippi steamboat was included in the plans for the first Disney amusement park that was to be built across the street from his Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. Although this park was abandoned in favor of the much larger Disneyland, the plan for having a riverboat attraction was retained.
Because the Mark Twain was the first functional paddlewheeler built in the United States in fifty years, the WED designers conducted extensive research to build it like riverboats were built in the heyday of steam powered ships. The decks were assembled at the Disney Studios at Burbank, while the 105-foot hull was constructed at Todd Shipyards in San Pedro, California (where the Sailing Ship Columbia's hull was built years later). Fortunately, when the hull and decks were put together for the first time at Disneyland, they fit perfectly.
Joe Fowler, Disneyland's construction supervisor and a former navy admiral, insisted on creating a drydock for the ship along what was to be the Rivers of America. Walt Disney, dismayed at how much land was taken up by the massive excavation, referred to the drydock first as "Joe's Ditch", and then later, "Fowler's Harbor", the name by which it goes by today. However, Disney remained a supporter of the riverboat itself, funding its construction out of his own pocket when corporate funds fell short.
On the first "fill-the-river" day, the water that was pumped in to the Rivers of America soaked through the riverbed. Fowler quickly found a supply of clay to replace the soil stabilizer used to line the river, and the second "fill-the-river" day was successful.
The Mark Twain had its maiden voyage on July 13, 1955, four days before the park officially opened, for a private party celebrating Walt and Lillian Disney's 30th wedding anniversary. Before the party, as Fowler was checking to make sure everything would be ready for the 300 invited guests, he found Lillian sweeping the decks of debris and joined in to help her.
Disneyland's opening day brought further problems for the ‘’Mark Twain’’. Actress Irene Dunne, star of the movie Showboat, had trouble breaking a bottle of water (from many major American rivers) across the vessel's bow for its christening on Dateline Disney. During the riverboat's first official voyage, when the crowd moved to one side of the boat to view a passing scene of an Indian encampment or other sight, the boat would list from the side and water poured over the deck, as no one had determined the Mark Twain's maximum safe passenger capacity.
This oversight caused the Mark Twain to almost capsize on a voyage a few days later when ride operators continued to wave more than 500 guests on board until the deck neared the water line. As the ship traversed the sparsely vegetated river route, it came loose from its track and got stuck in the muddy banks. Immediately, the park established a maximum capacity of 300 passengers, which still remains in effect today.
After a rough start, the Mark Twain had had a successful 50-year-career as a theme park attraction. During its first few years of operation, passengers could buy a non-alcoholic mint julep aboard or listen to card and checker players re-enact dialogue of that era. Occasionally the Disneyland band would play music on the lower deck bow to entertain both the passengers and the theme park visitors on the river banks.[1]
The Mark Twain underwent a major refurbishment during the Spring of 1995, during which all the decks and the boiler were replaced. When the Rivers of America was drained in 2002, the boat was noted to have considerable hull damage. It underwent a refurbishment in 2004 to repair the hull, which included replacing the keel.[2] For the park's 50th Anniversary celebration in 2005, a new, more colorful paint job was applied to the durable riverboat.
Other Disney theme park riverboats - Walt Disney World
The Magic Kingdom theme park in Lake Buena Vista, Florida at one time featured two riverboats: the Admiral Joe Fowler, a sidewheeler named for Disneyland's construction supervisor), and the Richard F. Irvine, a sternwheeler named for a WED executive.
The Admiral Joe Fowler served from October 2, 1971, one day after park opening, until the Fall of 1980, when it was retired less than ten years of operation. It was rumored to have been accidentally destroyed after falling from a crane onto its drydock.
The Richard F. Irvine came into service on May 20, 1973 but was renamed The Liberty Belle in 1996 after everything except for the hull, boiler, and engines was stripped off, and an all-new superstructure was constructed from from aluminum and vinyl.
Technical
The Mark Twain riverboat burns diesel fuel to heat its boiler, which continuously heats water into steam, which is then routed to two pistons that turn the paddlewheel. Spent exhaust is then routed back to the boiler.
The riverboat is guided through the Rivers of America via an I-beam track, which is hidden under the green and brown dyed river water.
The boat drafts only 18 inches of water, for the river is relatively shallow. At its deepest point it is no more than 8 feet near the switch at Fowler's Harbor, where it resides when not in operation.
The boat uses clean, fresh water from a tank on board to prevent contaminants from the water in the Rivers of America from fouling the boiler.
Attraction Facts
Admiral Joe Fowler, Walt Disney World
- Opened: October 2, 1971
- Closed: 1980
- Type:: Sternwheeler
- Ride Duration: 20 minutes
- Ticket: "D" (discontinued)
- Ride system: Boat ride
Liberty Belle, Walt Disney World
- Opened: May 20, 1973 (as Richard F. Irvine)
- Restoration: 1996 (renamed Liberty Belle)
- Type:: Sternwheeler
- Hull Length: 113 feet
- Displacement: 150 tons
- Draft: 4 feet
- Boat Capacity: 450
- Ride Duration: 20 minutes
- Ticket: "D" (discontinued)
- Ride system: Boat ride
The article text above is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Mark Twain Riverboat".
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