The iconic Mark Twain riverboat is suffering from heartbreaking neglect at Disneyland Paris. It is literally crumbling before our eyes. Alain Littaye of the Disney and more blog has the story… ~~Rick
Mark Twain Crumbles, Rivers Not Far Behind at Disneyland Paris
by Alain Littaye
Disney and more blog
I’m sorry to bring you bad news from the Frontierland Rivers of the Far West attraction, but I thought it was important to bring this heartbreaking situation to light.
Recently the Molly Brown riverboat went back into refurbishment and the other riverboat – the Mark Twain – was removed from the hangar where it had been stored. This is how we discovered the appalling state of the Mark Twain. It appears that this iconic riverboat, patterned after the Disneyland Anaheim original, is in such bad condition that if park managers don’t immediately begin a complete stem-to-stern renovation soon, it may be too late to save it. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, so what follows is photo evidence of this magnificent riverboat in terrible condition.
The Mark Twain isn’t the only evidence of the horrible neglect suffered by the Rivers of the Far West. Another major problem awaits visitors when the Molly Brown – when it is sailing – arrives at the geysers. The geysers haven’t worked in many years, which in itself is extremely regrettable. But now the state of this once beautiful area is appalling. Not only has the original paint of the geysers all but disappeared, but now the concrete beneath the paint is eroding away. It’s unfathomable how park managers could leave a major element of an attraction in such a awful state. It’s safe to say that something this terrible would never happen in an American park and would be unthinkable at Tokyo Disneyland.
If you don’t remember how the geysers looked on opening day, here’s a photographic reminder. Of course, this is how they would look now if DLP hadn’t postponed the necessary refurbishment for years.
Finally, just a few yards from the geysers, the stone arch that greets guests prior to arriving at Big Thunder Mountain Island is also in terrible condition. This feature hasn’t had any refurbishment in a very long time. Would it have been so hard to do a little touch up during the Indy refurb? You’ll see that the arch is unbelievably dirty.
Here’s how the arch looked at opening day:
Promises have been made to renovate the geysers to operating condition, with the same for the Mark Twain, but nothing ever happens. The truth is that if park managers don’t make this a priority soon, there is a real risk they’ll eventually announce that both were too far gone to be renovated and just had to be destroyed. And believe me, they are completely capable of doing such a thing. This reminds the old plane that I saw backstage almost 12 years ago. I think it was a DC3, the legendary plane from the 1930’s, which was built for Indiana Jones temple theming when they built it. The plane was not used in the final version of the attraction. Park managers just left it in an outdoor area backstage for years and years. One day I notices that the plane was missing and I asked what happened. The answer was: “well, it stayed outside for ten years and then it was in such bad condition that it was destroyed!”. I couldn’t believe it…
The other urgent reason that DLP needs do something is because, if the geysers disappear, there won’t be a lot to see when DLP guests sail on the Rivers of the Far West. Even when the geysers were working, there were far fewer visual elements than at DL, WDW or TDL Frontierland where you have Indian camps, many AA animals, the famous burning house, etc… By the way, you may not know this, but the WDI Imagineers who created Frontierland had actually designed a real – and spectacular – “show” for the geysers, and I mean a real show, much better than what we saw when the geysers were working. And Wilderness Island – the island that is on the left when the boats are heading to the geysers – was supposed to be the site of an Indian camp as well as river animals (such as beavers, etc.) all audio-animatronic, of course. To save money on the initial budget at park opening, this was postponed to a later date, but nothing prevents them from doing an update of Wilderness Island now, which would provide the many additional visual elements that are currently lacking when compared to its counterpart in the U.S and Japan Disney parks.
To demonstrate just how far the “Rivers of the Far West” have fallen, I remind you that when the park opened in 1992, the Indians Canoes, the River Rogue Keelboats and BOTH riverboats – Mark Twain and the Molly Brown – were sailing on the Rivers of the Far West bringing life and “kinetic” elements to Frontierland. A few years later, the Indian Canoes were removed, then the River Rogue Keelboats met the same fate, and then the Molly Brown went under renovation and the Mark Twain was withdrawn from circulation. Right now there is NO boat at all sailing on the Rivers of the Far West…
There are really two options for the park now: the first would be to continue to leave things as they are and to let the Mark Twain and the geysers to rot. The second would be to finally put the necessary budget to bring back to the Rivers of the Far West their original splendor.
Tom Wolber, as you’ve seen in my previous update, is now the new DLP CEO. We can’t blame him for the current situation – he just arrived last week – but I’m hoping that we can use this forum to bring this atrocious situation to his attention before it is too late. Anyone on the DLP team that sees this article should forward it to him – perhaps we will have good news from Tom soon.
I also have good news for all of you who want to order my Disneyland Paris “From Sketch to Reality” and would like to have it signed specially for you. Normally I can’t do this as I’m too far from Paris, but during September I will be able to personally sign each copy that is ordered, either in French or English!
Alain is the editor of one of the most amazing Disney books ever published. This book is a must for every serious Disney book collector.
Order your copy now from the MiceChat store – HERE.
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