Motor Boat Cruise was an attraction at

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 ...

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 ...

, in which patrons steer motor boats, which were guided through a hidden track similar to the

Autopia Autopia is a race car track Disneyland attraction, in which patrons steer specially designed cars through an enclosed track. Versions of Autopia exist at Anaheim, California and Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallée, France. There was also an ...

ride. It operated from June 1957 until January 11, 1993.

History

Motor Boat Cruise opened in 1957 on the border between

Fantasyland Fantasyland is one of the "themed lands" at all of the Magic Kingdom-style parks run by The Walt Disney Company around the world. It is themed after Disney's animated fairy tale films. Each Fantasyland has a castle, as well as several gentle ri ...

and

Tomorrowland Tomorrowland is one of the many themed lands featured at all of the Magic Kingdom styled Disney theme parks around the world owned or licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Each version of the land is different and features numerous attractions t ...

. The waterways of the Motor Boat Cruise shared space with other attractions such as the Viewliner train and bridges for Junior

. 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 Arrow Development was an amusement park ride and roller coaster design and manufacturing company, incorporated in California on November 16, 1945, and based in Mountain View. It was founded by Angus "Andy" Anderson, Karl Bacon, William Hardiman ...

. Arrow Development was involved in the design of many attractions at Disneyland between 1953 and 1973. Major changes took place in 1959 to the three attractions in the area. The Viewliner and its railroad track were gone, and replaced by the elevated beam of the Disneyland Alweg Monorail. The new Fantasyland Autopia and an expanded Tomorrowland Autopia replaced the Junior Autopia. The lagoon which had once been home to the Phantom Boats was turned into the lagoon of the Submarine Voyage. The Motor Boat cruise remained. In 1991, as part of the

Disney Afternoon The Disney Afternoon (later known internally as the Disney-Kellogg Alliance when unbranded), sometimes abbreviated as TDA, was a created-for-syndication two-hour programming block of animated television series. It was produced by Walt Disney Tel ...

Avenue event, the Motor Boat Cruise became the Motor Boat Cruise to Gummi Glen. Plywood characters from ''

Adventures of the Gummi Bears ''Adventures of the Gummi Bears'' is an American animated television series, created by Disney CEO Michael Eisner, produced by Walt Disney Television Animation, and distributed by Buena Vista Television. The series, loosely inspired by the gummy ...

'' 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 being needed for

Mickey's Toontown Mickey's Toontown is a themed land at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland, two theme parks operated by Walt Disney Parks & Resorts and The Oriental Land Company respectively. At Tokyo Disneyland, this land is named Toontown. A similar land existed ...

. Its loading platform and landscaped grounds are now called Fantasia Gardens. In 2001, an attraction considered by WDI to be the true successor to the Motor Boat Cruise, Aquatopia, opened at

Tokyo DisneySea is a theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort located in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, just next to Tokyo. It opened on 4 September 2001, at a cost of 335 billion yen. The Oriental Land Company owns the park, and licenses intellectual proper ...

in Japan.

Current status

In 2007, the former Motor Boat Cruise waterways were drained during construction of the neighboring attraction,

Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage is an attraction in the Tomorrowland area of Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California. It opened on June 11, 2007. Based on the characters and settings of the 2003 Disney·Pixar film, ''Finding Nemo'', it is a re-them ...

. 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. 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 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 the 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 Mickey's Halloween Party (formerly known as "Mickey's Halloween Treat" from 2005 until 2007 and Mickey's Trick-or-Treat Party in 2008 and 2009) was an annual Halloween-themed separate admission at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. An ...

Popular culture

* The Motor Boat Cruise was the subject of a running joke in the ''

Freakazoid! ''Freakazoid!'' is an American superhero comedy animated television series created by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini and developed by Tom Ruegger for the Kids' WB programming block of The WB. The series chronicles the adventures of the title characte ...

'' episode "The Cloud", in which various characters lament its closure, as well as those of the

Skyway A skyway, skybridge, skywalk, or sky walkway is an elevated type of pedway connecting two or more buildings in an urban area, or connecting elevated points within mountainous recreational zones. Urban skyways very often take the form of enclos ...

and

Adventure Thru Inner Space Adventure Thru Inner Space was an attraction in Disneyland's Tomorrowland, presented by Monsanto Company. It was the first attraction to utilize Disney's Omnimover system. The ride simulated shrinking guests to the size smaller than an atom (th ...

. When Freakazoid learns that the Motor Boat Cruise has been shut down, he cries out "NOOO!!!! NOT THE BOATS!!!!!"

References

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External links

Motor Boat Cruise at Yesterland Former Walt Disney Parks and Resorts attractions Walt Disney Parks and Resorts gentle boat rides Disneyland Fantasyland Amusement rides introduced in 1957 Amusement rides that closed in 1993 1957 establishments in California 1993 disestablishments in California