Thunder Mesa Riverboat Landing

With the growing prosperity of Thunder Mesa during the Gold Rush, the riverboat landing became a hot spot of activity for passengers and freight coming in and out of town. The landing is a fairly utilitarian space for sorting and loading cargo (complete with a great old fire hose hitch). Some of the ships that call at the landing, however, provide Thunder Mesa's citizens with the most opulent means of travel available.

First among these ships is the stern-wheeler, Mark Twain, based on the original design conceived for Disneyland back in the '50s and named for the author of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. During my recent visit, the Mark Twain was being refurbished, but could still be seen around a bend in the river.

The other ship plying the Rivers of the Far West is one unique to Disneyland Paris, the side-wheeler Molly Brown. The ship's namesake made her fortune in the west during the Gold Rush, later toured Europe and became famous as a survivor of the Titanic - the "unsinkable" Molly Brown.

Here, Molly Brown is the Western River Line's "Queen of the River." A tour of her decks reveals Molly Brown, like Mark Twain, is a functioning steamship. Guests on board are afforded an up-close look at the boiler and other machinery that actually drives the ship down the river.

There's also a pair of lifeboats and a display of real antiques from the era of river travel in the west.

Owing to the weather in Paris (which was beautiful during my visit in mid-May, but can often be cold or rainy), the ship is also equipped with several interior cabins. They're richly appointed with upholstered seating and pot-belly stoves for heating.

Now that you're aboard, make yourself comfortable. Tomorrow, we'll be departing for a scenic tour of the Rivers of the Far West.

River Craft of America

The town of Frontierland sits along the shore of the mighty Rivers of America. From the main dock, passengers and freight head in and out of town, most notably on the steamship Mark Twain. Built for Disneyland's opening in 1955, the Mark Twain was the first steamship of its kind constructed in more than 50 years. The hull was built by Todd Shipyards in San Pedro, California, with the decks and ornamentation handled at the Disney Studio in Burbank... all under the direction of Disneyland construction supervisor and former Navy Admiral Joe Fowler.

The Mark Twain was joined at Christmas 1955 by the Mike Fink Keelboats, inspired by the TV series turned film, Davy Crockett and the River Pirates. The original boats used for the attraction, Bertha Mae and Gullywhumper, were actual props from the production. They were later replaced by more durable, higher capacity versions which operated until the attraction was retired in 1997.

Summer of '56 saw the addition of the Indian War Canoes (now called Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes) as part of the Indian Village expansion of Frontierland. The Indian Village may be history - it once stood where Splash Mountain is today - but the canoes carry on during peak attendance days in the park.

Despite the Rivers of America already teeming with a steamship, several rafts (for transport over to Tom Sawyer Island), a fleet of canoes and a pair of keelboats, Walt Disney decided it needed more. For 1958, he commissioned Joe Fowler and Todd Shipyards to create another large ship for Disneyland, the Columbia.

Inspired by the first American ship to circumnavigate the globe, a three-masted windjammer like Columbia had not been built in the U.S. in over 100 years. In 1964, the attraction was enhanced with the addition of a below-decks area, where guests could explore a replica of crew quarters circa 1787.

These days, only one of the large ships operates at a time, with the other held in a dock at Fowler's Harbor (yes, named after Joe Fowler) near the entrance to Critter Country. There is an alternate dock in Frontierland, though, where one of the ships can tie up if necessary. The dock is dressed to look like the shipping office of the Frontierland River Packet Company.

On the side of the building is a sign advertising river excursions aboard the S.S. Mark Twain. Read closely, and you'll notice it mentions the Rivers of the Far West. That's the name of the river in Frontierland at Disneyland Paris, the park for which this graphic was originally designed.

Step up onto the dock, where a small cluster of tables can be found when it's not in use, and you'll come across another little bit of Hidden Disney: these crates mentioning none other than Mike Fink, the self-proclaimed "King of the River."