2 Motor Boat Cruise views, one from the docks, and one from the midst of this thrilling attraction through the rocky rapids of Fantasyland. Apparently the boats had names from your fave characters, the 2 in the second shot being Alice and Snow White. For years this little river/stream has gone unused. Pic 1 is from January 1964 and pic 2 is from July 1961.
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6 comments:
Pic 2 makes me nervous as I remember all the harrowing trips I took down those rapids! I never thought I would make it through. In Pic 2- check out the cone floating in the water so you would not go off course.
Patrick- Weren't these on a track? Or was that something that occurred later? If not, yes, it certainly is a rocky journey!
I have no firsthand knowledge, but I surmise that the cones are there to indicate the water level... but if that's the case, it looks like the river's runnin' pretty low!
The boats worked just like the autopia. They were confined to a course by and underwater system that allowed the helms person to drive the boat in a limited way. The water could not be allowed to rise to high because then the boats would float over the confinment system. The main problem with the boats is that the engines were unreliable. They tended to over-rev because of the prop drive system, and over heat because of lack of cooling.
There was a track on the main line, but not in the boat storage areas. It was possible to get a boat pointing nose-first between the storage fingers. It was also possible to send a guest-loaded boat through the no track boat storage area.
Dave- yes they were on a track with limited steering ability (even less than on the Autopia) as Coxpilot states. For a ride that promised so much (rapids, steering, speed) the boats really disappointed. The floating cones were put in to dress up the ride and make it look exciting.
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