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!

Mother Jumbo in Fantasyland

In honor of Mother's Day, we have this "loosely" related post today. The shop seen below is located in Tokyo Disneyland's Fantasyland and it gets it's name from the song that Mother Jumbo sings in the classic animated film, "Dumbo."

Not to be confused with the Bibidi Bobbidi Boutique.....this shop sells the latest in smart baby wear.

The window display features Mother Jumbo........

.....and her son, Dumbo!

Happy Mother's Day to all mother's out there!

Cinco De Mayo At Disneyland - 1975

Today we have a souvenir from one of my childhood visits to Disneyland. This is an entertainment guide given out at the front gate on May 3rd and 4th of 1975. The cover features Panchito, one of the "Three Caballeros." Unfortunately, I don't have any photos from this particular visit to Disneyland. I had just been two months earlier and didn't take my camera along on this trip. I do have photos from the previous trip and I will try to put together a "Vintage Trip Report" post!

I did make it to the park twice during the time that "America On Parade" was running. I know a lot of Disneyland fans have mixed feelings about this parade with it's huge doll-like characters, but I loved this parade. They just don't do parades on this level anymore.....not here anyway, but fortunately Tokyo Disneyland still does. Speaking of Tokyo Disneyland, parts of America On Parade's soundtrack can be heard today while waiting on the loading dock for Tokyo Disneyland's Mark Twain Steamboat!

Jungle Island - Woodimals or Woodniks?

With the exception of April Fool's Day, Easter Day and Tax Day, April has turned out to be "Knott's Month" here at Meet The World. Today we have some souvenirs from Jungle Island which was located across Beach Boulevard at the Knott's Lagoon area.

I think the wooden creatures over on the Island were usually referred to as Woodimals, but this ticket that I saved from childhood lists them as Woodniks. I wonder when the name change occurred? I like that tag line, "Where Adults Enjoy Exploring and Children Love to Play." Sounds like a Walt Disney philosophy, "Where children and adults can have fun together."

Here are two postcards featuring the Island. The first one shows the covered bridge at the entrance. On the far left is a Woodnik/Woodimal that looks like it could have been related to the original Ghost Town "Catawampus" (not the one that resides there today.)

In the postcard below, that little girl is riding a Woodnick rocking horse that would spit water out of it's mouth when you rocked forward.

This next pic is from an amateur slide. Those kids are riding on a Woodnik Merry-Go-Round.

I miss Jungle Island and the entire Knott's Lagoon Area! (I'll try and make this my last Knott's post for a while!)

Knott's, 30 Years Ago - Part 2

This is the second half of the Los Angeles Times ad supplement for Knott's 60th anniversary from 1980. The first half can be seen (here) in my previous post.

Interesting info on Bud Hurlbut........

When I rode the Log Ride last week, it seemed like some of those vignettes featuring the animals had been removed or covered up. Interesting that it was Hurlbut's uncle that shot the bears that were "arranged so realistically" in the ride.....or at least the ones that used to be in there.

I wonder if the Buena Park Mall still has the rocks for kids to climb on.....uh, probably not. They were still there in the seventies.

Virginia Knott's gift shop originally started out as a card table in the Chicken Dinner Restaurant with a few items on it for sale.

The article below states that, "Burros, one of the earliest forms of transportation carry happy children around a foliage-lined track." It's refering to when the Burros were over at the Lagoon, and that foliage-lined track was actually the dry, dug-out waterways that sat next to Jungle Island for years. As mentioned in the book, "Knott's Preserved," it was all part of Bud Hurlbut's unrealized North Woods Fur Trapper boat ride. Those dry waterways can be seen in the aerial shot on page 109 of the book and artwork for the proposed attraction can be seen on pages 110 and 111. According to the description in the book, the attraction was going to be "a tropical cruise with tiki overtones" (a Knott's Jungle Cruise?), but "the theme was changed to fur trapping which seemed more fitting to Knott's Berry Farm." I wish this attraction had been completed! As a kid, I always thought the area looked like it was supposed to be filled with water.

Anyone tired of Knott's yet?