Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes is a free-floating

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the term ...

experience at several

Disney theme parks Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, Inc., formerly Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. and informally known as Disney Parks, is one of The Walt Disney Company's five major business segments and a subsidiary. It was founded on Apri ...

. The oldest of the rides is located at the

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney in ...

park in

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...

. Boarding from the park's

Critter Country Critter Country is one of the "themed lands" at Disneyland Park and Tokyo Disneyland run by The Walt Disney Company and The Oriental Land Company. It was originally designed as Bear Country at Disneyland Park in 1972, with the Country Bear Jambo ...

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 Frontierland is one of the "themed lands" at the many Disneyland-style parks run by Disney around the world. Themed to the American Frontier of the 19th century, Frontierlands are home to cowboys and pioneers, saloons, red rock buttes and gol ...

’s Indian Village expansion. It also operates under the name of ''Beaver Brother's Explorer Canoes'' at

Tokyo Disneyland (local nickname ''TDL'') is a theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, near Tokyo. Its main gate is directly adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Disney park to be ...

and operated at the

Magic Kingdom Magic Kingdom Park, previously known as Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom (1971–1994) and The Magic Kingdom (1994–2017), is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, Florida. Owned and operated by The W ...

Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort, also called Walt Disney World or Disney World, is an entertainment resort complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States, near the cities of Orlando and Kissimmee. Opened on October 1, 1971, th ...

and at

Disneyland Park Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envision ...

Disneyland Paris Disneyland Paris is an entertainment resort in Chessy, France, east of Paris. It encompasses two theme parks, resort hotels, Disney Nature Resorts, a shopping, dining and entertainment complex, and a golf course. Disneyland Park is the origin ...

. At

Shanghai Disneyland Shanghai Disneyland (; Pinyin: ''Shànghǎi díshìní lèyuán'') is a theme park located in Chuansha New Town, Pudong, Shanghai, China, that is part of the Shanghai Disney Resort. The park is operated by Disney Parks, Experiences and Products ...

, 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 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 Tom Sawyer Island is an artificial island surrounded by the Rivers of America at Disneyland, Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland. It contains structures and caves with references to Mark Twain characters from the novel ''The Adventures of Tom Sa ...

, 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 The Disney riverboats are paddle steamer watercraft attraction ride vehicles operating on a track on a series of attractions located at Disney theme parks around the world. The first was the ''Mark Twain'' Riverboat, located at the Disneyland t ...

'' and the

Sailing Ship Columbia The Sailing Ship ''Columbia'', located at the Disneyland park in Anaheim, California, is a full-scale replica of ''Columbia Rediviva'', the first American ship to circumnavigate the globe. The ''Columbia'' has operated in the park for more than f ...

which ride along submerged tracks and return by the last bend of

Splash Mountain Splash Mountain is a log flume at Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland, and Magic Kingdom, based on the animated sequences of the 1946 Disney film ''Song of the South''. Although there are variations in the story and features between the three locatio ...

. 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! ''Fantasmic!'' is a nighttime show at Disneyland Park, Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios. The show formerly operated at Tokyo DisneySea. It features fireworks, characters, live actors, water effects, pyrotechnics, lasers, music, Audio-An ...

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 cap A coonskin cap is a hat fashioned from the skin and fur of a raccoon. The original coonskin cap consisted of the entire skin of the raccoon including its head and tail. Beginning as traditional Native American headgear, coonskin caps became associ ...

s. It became a part of Bear Country, home of

Country Bear Jamboree The Country Bear Jamboree is an attraction in the Magic Kingdom theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort and at Tokyo Disneyland in the Tokyo Disney Resort. The attraction also existed at Disneyland Park. All versions of the attraction are simi ...

, when that section of the park opened in 1972. The area was later renamed Critter Country in 1989, which now takes in Splash Mountain and

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ''The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh'' is a 1977 American animated musical anthology comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by Buena Vista Distribution. It is the 22nd Disney animated feature film and was first rel ...

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 Mike Fink Keel Boats (or River Rogue Keel Boats) were small boats that navigated the Rivers of America at Disneyland, the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Park in Disneyland Paris. History The Mike Fink Keel Boats were b ...

'' 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. The attraction reopened on July 29, 2017.

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 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.

References

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Footnotes

External links

Disneyland - Davy Crockett Explorer CanoesTokyo Disneyland - Beaver Brothers Explorer Canoes

Shanghai Disneyland - Explorer Canoes

''Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes'' at MousePlanet.com

''Davy Crockett Explorer Canoe guide'' at YouTube.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crockett, Davy Explorer Canoes Walt Disney Parks and Resorts attractions Disneyland Tokyo Disneyland Walt Disney Parks and Resorts gentle boat rides Frontierland Critter Country Shanghai Disneyland Amusement rides introduced in 1956 Amusement rides introduced in 1971 Amusement rides introduced in 1983 Amusement rides introduced in 1992 Amusement rides introduced in 2016 Western (genre) amusement rides Disneyland Park (Paris) Magic Kingdom Davy Crockett