Motor Boat Cruise

Motor Boat Cruise was an attraction at Disneyland in Anaheim, California that was open from June 1957 until July 11, 1993.[1]

Motor Boat Cruise
Disneyland
AreaFantasyland
Coordinates33.813986°N 117.917604°W / 33.813986; -117.917604
StatusClosed
Opening dateJune 1957 (June 1957)
Closing dateJanuary 11, 1993 (January 11, 1993)
General statistics
Attraction typeMotor boat
DesignerWED Enterprises
ThemeDisney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears (1991-1993)
Riders per vehicle3 or 4

History

Motor Boat Cruise opened in 1957 on the border between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. The waterways of the Motor Boat Cruise shared space with other attractions such as the Viewliner train and bridges for Junior Autopia.

The design of the boats appears very similar to those illustrated in a "Boat Ride Apparatus" patent filed by Edgar A. Morgan and Karl W. Bacon, of Arrow Development.[2] Arrow Development was involved in the design of many attractions at Disneyland between 1953 and 1973.[3]

Major changes took place in 1959 to the three attractions in the area. The Viewliner and its railroad track were gone. Instead, the elevated beam of the new Disneyland Alweg Monorail curved overhead. The new Fantasyland Autopia and an expanded Tomorrowland Autopia replaced the Junior Autopia. The lagoon which had once been home to the Phantom Boats (which opened in 1955 and closed forever in 1956) was turned into the lagoon of the Submarine Voyage.[4] The Motor Boat cruise remained.

In 1991, as part of the Disney Afternoon Avenue event, the Motor Boat Cruise became the Motor Boat Cruise to Gummi Glen. Plywood characters from Disney’s animated Gummi Bears television series made Gummi Berry juice along the waterway.

On January 11, 1993, the Motor Boat Cruise closed permanently, in part due to the negative reactions to the Gummi Bears overlay, as well as its operating budget was needed for the nearby Mickey's Toontown. Its loading platform and landscaped grounds are now called Fantasia Gardens. For a time in the mid-1990s this was a smoking area in the park.

In 2001, an attraction considered by WDI to be the true successor to the Motor Boat Cruise, Aquatopia, opened at Tokyo DisneySea in Japan.

Current status

In 2007, the former Motor Boat Cruise waterways were drained during final construction of the neighboring attraction, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. During this time, around 2/3 of Motor Boat Cruise's former waterways were filled in with landscaping, creating more of a space buffer between the freshwater-based submarine lagoon, and the 'green system' water of Motor Boat Cruise's area (shared with the castle moat, Jungle Cruise, Rivers of America, and Storybook Land canals). During this time, the former tracks that lay hidden beneath the green water were covered up or destroyed. In April 2007, a new dam was built, and green water filled back into the area known as Fantasia Gardens (the former Motor Boat Cruise loading dock). It is expected that the last portion of surviving track around the dock, will also be destroyed (and filled in) whenever Disney decides on what to do with this considerable parcel of unused land. The Motor Boat Cruise's old dock was repurposed into a waterside dining area for the neighboring Edelweiss Snacks, and is used as one of many locations to hand out candy during Mickey's Halloween Party.

  • The Motor Boat Cruise was the subject of a running joke in the Freakazoid! episode "The Cloud", in which various characters lament the attraction's recent closure, as well as those of the Skyway and Adventure Thru Inner Space. When he learns the Motor Boat Cruise has been shut down, Freakazoid cries out "NOOO!!!! NOT THE BOATS!!!!!"

References
  1. Strodder, Chris (2017). The Disneyland Encyclopedia (3rd ed.). Santa Monica Press. pp. 341–342. ISBN 978-1595800909.
  2. US patent 3113528, Bacon, Karl W. & Morgan, Edgar A., "Boat Ride Apparatus", published December 10, 1963, assigned to Arrow Development
  3. O'Brien, Tim (November 30, 1998). "Pioneers share Living Legend Award". Amusement Business. 110 (48): 20.
  4. Geryak, Cole (March 30, 2017). "Disney Extinct Attractions: The Phantom Boat Cruise". The Laughing Place. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  • Motor Boat Cruise at Yesterland
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