Thursday, July 05, 2012

Keel Boat and Mark Twain, September 1963

I miss the sight of the little Keel Boats on the Rivers of America; I can't imagine that they were very expensive to run or maintain, and yet it was removed - supposedly because it had been deemed "unsafe" after one of the boats overturned. How about a bit more ballast, guys? Or insist that the pilots never rock the boat (apparently a popular activity)? The fact that the removal happened during Paul Pressler's tenure is fishy.


Oh well, we still have the Mark Twain, thank goodness. It will never go away.... OR WILL IT?!?


7 comments:

Mike Fink Forever said...

Save The Twain!

Bring Back The Keelboats!

Richard Kraft owns the Bertha Mae now.

Is that a pink feather hat in the first slide?

Columbia is just making the turn in the distance in the second slide.

Melissa said...

The Keel Boats are filed under "Things I Didn't Ride as a Kid, Assuming They'd Still Be There When I Felt Like It."

K. Martinez said...

I miss the days of the Keel Boats when the Rivers of America was really packed with activity. There’s something special about a live narration. I’m glad we still have the Jungle Cruise and Storybook Land Canal Boats.

Major Pepperidge said...

MFF, do we need to save the Twain?! I really think it's pretty safe. Then again, who would have thought that Cascade Peak would go away, or the Skyway? And yes, there is one of my favorite hats with the feather!

Melissa, like you I never rode the Keel Boats. I would totally do it now...

K. Martinez, the river has definitely changed over the years, but a ride on the Columbia or Twain shows that it is still a pretty neat place.

Nancy said...

Had the chance to ride them Keel Boats once at WDW but Rachel was acting bratty so we didnt wait....learned that lesson!! :(

Debbie V. said...

Riverboats here (any anywhere) are exciting and worth keeping always. Who knows what may lie "just around the river bend".

Pilsner Panther said...

Every time I see a nice closeup photo of the Mark Twain, I think, "This is the most beautiful thing in Disneyland!"

I hope than nobody in the current park management is stupid enough to even THINK of getting rid of that boat!