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 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, ...

and

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, Seine-et-Marne, 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. Disney ...

History

The Mike Fink Keel Boats were based on two episodes of the '' Davy Crockett'' miniseries which aired on the ''

Disneyland 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 ...

'' TV show in 1955 -- "Davy Crockett's Keel Boat Race" (Nov 16) and "

Davy Crockett and the River Pirates ''Davy Crockett and the River Pirates'' is a 1956 American Western film produced by Walt Disney Productions. A prequel to '' Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier'', the feature film is an edited and recut compilation of the last two episode ...

" (December 14). The ride was named after Mike Fink, the "King of the River" who lost the keel boat race. The two 38-foot boats, the ''Gullywhumper'' and the ''Bertha Mae'', were the actual props that had been used in making the TV shows a few months earlier. The boats were free-floating and traveled 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 ...

Riders would sit on benches either inside the cabin or on the roof of the cabin. The

keelboats A keelboat is a riverine cargo-capable working boat, or a small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yacht. The boats in the first category have shallow structural keels, and are nearly flat-bottomed and often used leeboards if forced in open w ...

closed at the end of the summer on September 6, 1994 and remained closed for nearly a year and a half until coming back in early March 1996. 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 ...

's keel boats ran continuously until they closed in April 2001. The Magic Kingdom location's dock was reused as an extended queue line for

The Haunted Mansion The Haunted Mansion is a dark ride attraction located at Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, and Tokyo Disneyland. The haunted house attraction features a ride-through tour in Omnimover vehicles called "Doom Buggies", and a walk-through show is display ...

Closing

At about 5:30 p.m. on May 17, 1997, the Disneyland Gullywhumper boat began to rock side to side. It capsized, dumping a full boatload of passengers into the Rivers of America, leaving several with minor injuries. The boat was removed from the waters for inspection and neither the Gullywhumper nor the Bertha Mae returned for the next operating season. The Bertha Mae was put up on Disney's

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Auction Site and was sold for $15,000 to Richard Kraft, and was later featured in a scene from Kraft's documentary

Finding Kraftland ''Finding Kraftland'' is a 2006 independent documentary from Richard Kraft productions starring Stacey J. Aswad, Richard Kraft, and Nicholas Kraft. It premiered at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on January 27, 2006 and continued to ...

. It was billed as an unseaworthy craft. The Gullywhumper returned to Disneyland's Rivers of America as a prop and was moored on Tom Sawyer Island where passengers on the Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes, 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 ...

, and 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 ...

could see it while passing. Eventually, hull damage caused the boat to flood and sink, and it was finally removed from public view in April 2009. A former Mike Fink Keel Boat from the Magic Kingdom's version of the attraction today sits as a non-functional prop on the banks of Tom Sawyer Island. Regarding its status at Disneyland Paris, the attraction does not appear anymore on the Park Guides or Maps. After a short opening during the summer 2010, the attraction is currently closed and hidden from the view of visitors with 'Danger: Bear Cave' signs surrounding it. The reasons for its closure or lack of operation are not clear, but some may suggest the following: small capacity (only two boats) generating great waiting lines, required extensive training to operating Cast Members (first aid, navigation procedures, etc.) and the extremely poor and dirty condition of the Rivers of the Farwest Lake make the Riverboats a non-suitable attraction for Disneyland Paris.

References

External links

Walt Dated World - Mike Fink Keel Boats
{{Disney rides Former Walt Disney Parks and Resorts attractions Disneyland Park (Paris) Walt Disney Parks and Resorts gentle boat rides Frontierland Liberty Square (Magic Kingdom) Amusement rides introduced in 1955 Amusement rides introduced in 1971 Amusement rides introduced in 1992 Amusement rides that closed in 1997 Amusement rides that closed in 2001 Western (genre) amusement rides 1955 establishments in California 1997 disestablishments in California 1971 establishments in Florida 2001 disestablishments in Florida French companies established in 1992 American companies established in 1955 American companies established in 1971

History

Closing

See also

References

External links