Sailing The "New" Rivers of America

The Rivers of America at Disneyland were recently filled after being drained for for several months. I had a chance to stop by the park today and check it out. The Columbia was closed when I got there and the Mark Twain was still in drydock, so I went over to Tom Sawyer Island.....oops, I mean the Island Formerly Known as Tom Sawyer. It seemed that the border of landscaping around the island has gotten much wider. Didn't the water used to come right up to the dirt with just a thin border of plants growing in the water?

The Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes weren't open yet. A few of them were parked over at the island near the cardboard cutout that's supposed to be Fort Wilderness.

This duck wants the real Fort Wilderness back. He told me so!

I was trying to check out any of the new audio-animatronics that might have been added along the river during the rehab, but I could only see a few things from the island. Then all of a sudden, I noticed that the Columbia had opened!

I got off of the island pretty quickly, but just missed the first boat......

.....but got on the next one!

Here it is, Mike Fink's Keel Boat....supposedly made from part of the Gullywhumper Keel Boat that sailed the river for years.

And here's Mike Fink's cabin.....formerly "The Burning Cabin."

There were voices coming from inside the cabin. I think there was a Hootenanny going on. Either that or a card game.....I don't remember since I was busy taking pictures. The sign out front reads, "Mike Fink, King of the River, Traps-Tradin'"

Here are a couple Indian scouts. I can't remember if these figures already existed before the river rehab.

Bambi and family! This photo and a few of the others from today were taken facing the late afternoon sun. My camera apparently didn't like that, so some of these are a bit out of focus....sorry! There were a lot more deer around on the shores and also plenty of moose and elk, but they really didn't appear to be any different than the ones that existed previously, so I am not posting those photos. They didn't turn out well anyway!

The Chief still sits on his horse and waves.

The boy and his dog also returned along the river, although the dog is now two-toned instead of all white and the boy is now facing the same direction as his dog. I have photos of this scene from 1997 and also from 2006. I will try and get those posted in the future. Oh, and there is still a "jumping" fish in this scene.

The Indian village is still there and so are the Village's People.

I had heard something about live ponies that were supposed to be in this area, but didn't see any. Maybe they are only going to be out certain times of the day.

I believe this is the same area where the bear was scratching his back against a tree. It has been replaced by an eagle's nest in a tree.

The baby eagles pop up and down (cute!) and all three squawk.

Two racoons watch a skunk on a log. These figures are all static.

There was a beaver in this same spot before the rehab, but I thought its movement seemed a little bit more realistic now. New figure???

The rockwork from the old Mine Train tunnel is now reddish in color.

But the old Mine Train vehicle is missing! If you look closely however, you'll see a couple new animals along the river.

Mountain lions! Could these be original residents of Nature's Wonderland?

The shot below was taken from Tom Sawyer.....uh, WHOEVER'S Island!

I say, bring back the old Mine Train vehicle! Better yet, bring back the ENTIRE Mine Train thru Nature's Wonderland attraction!

Last up is a bird of some sort and it's nest.

The second old Mine Train tunnel can be seen on the right (boarded up) in the photo below.

This figure is also static.....at least it wasn't moving today.

And we're back to the dock.

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I hope everyone enjoyed this cruise around the Rivers of America! I do plan on reposting Part 1 of my Club 33 series of posts and then I will continue on with the other parts of that series without further interruption!