Sauvons le Molly Brown !

[pussnboots]

Apparently the Molly Brown has not been touched since it caught fire last year. And now it's starting to, well, rot a slight bit at its dock in a far corner of the Rivers of the Far West. Let's just say that if Al Lutz cared about the overseas parks he'd be throwing a fit right now. If you can't read French, the photos speak for themselves, really.

http://www.dlrp.fr/actularge.php?id=755

(in case you were wondering, DLP has two riverboats so all is not lost. The Mark Twain is in a fine condition at this point and makes up for its colleague's absence. Still...)

[Evil Minion]

Does EuroDisney have the money to fix it ?

[tloolgb]

Didn't think so.

[soundtracker]

I'm really not sure where EuroDisney SCA stand in terms of cash for the Molly Brown right now. For something as important as this, you'd think they'd be able to cough up something. After all, what if something were to happen to the Mark Twain? They can't go without any riverboats at all, can they? (On second thoughts, don't answer that...)

I think the problem really stems from the fact that the steam engine is a total write off. They'll have to rip out the guts of the ship and start again from scratch in order to make her workable. The refurbishment would efffectively reduce the ship to a hollow wooden frame, until new workings could be installed. And if the frame itself is already in such bad shape, maybe it really would be more economical to decomission her. It's a sad, sad state of affairs.

[J9000]

does paris actually have a dry dock?

man that pics depressing...

[pussnboots]

Well, I suppose they don't need need two riverboats in the way Kimora doesn't need a potty made of solid gold. After all, no other Disney park has two. But it's there and it'd be a fine shame to dispose of it just because it's displaying a bit of wear 'n' tear. Plus, as is also true in the case of Kimora's potty, it's a nice change of pace for your behind. I was going somewhere with this.

Meanwhile, what's with that name anyway? "Molly Brown"? Molly Brown the person, as we all know, became famous for not dying of hypothermia after being forced to disembark an increasingly moist Titanic. The Titanic sank in 1912. And it was only in the 1960s that she was given the nickname "Molly". Frontierland is supposed to take place a few decades prior to that, isn't it? Does it make sense they'd already turned the woman into a legend and stuck her name on a riverboat?

Oh I get it, it's probably one of those little Imagineering jokes. Hmmm.

[Kristof]

DLP DOES NEED TWO BOATS !

last time I was in DLP, there was a waiting line for the river boats going all the way to the entrance gate of Frontierland!!

And DLP is very well insured for everything, so they got money for the Molly Brown, but they probably already spend it on something else (the riverkeelboats?)

[CaliforniaAdventurer]

Wouldn't it be more interesting to build a Sailing Ship Columbia to accompany the Mark Twain, as we have in Disneyland California?

Then you've got two different craft to choose from. Why did they make two identical craft in Paris anyways?

[tloolgb]

Well for one the locale...there is only the western frontier in Paris...what would a big ocean vessel be doing there?

Kristof...lines? Oh my god.

And yes Paris has a dry dock.

[WDW1974]

Puh-lease ... no excuses for management allowing an attraction to rot.

Of course, if you saw the shape of the stairs on the Treehouse you'd wonder why no one has fallen thru the boards are literally falling apart.

And let's not discuss the graffitti-covered queue for Big Thunder ... boy, that exudes Disney magic to me.

[pussnboots]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaAdventurer

Why did they make two identical craft in Paris anyways?

They're not identical. I forgat the correct terminology, but the Mark Twain's got the big wheel-type thingie on the back and the Molly Brown has got it on the sides. Yes, I believe "big wheel-type thingie" is the correct term actually...
Anyway, it's just that these "Rivers of America" are thematically reduced to the "Rivers of the Far West" and to have a 300 year old ship circle a quaint western river would seem even more inane here than it does in Anaheim.

[DisneyMickey]

Depressing. Do they realize the more it sits and rots, the more money and time it will consume in order to repair it?

[Kristof]

that's doesn't bother DLP at all

Emporium was as rotten as the Molly Brown now is. They worked on it for almost four months?

[Morrigoon]

Given the apparent condition, maybe you should be calling for "Savons le Molly Brown" in addition to "Sauvons"

[jml338]

I am so pissed off, it is not even funny... I can not believed that it is up to a French Union to save the Molly Brown. I am sick to my stomach... It was so beautiful when they were both on the "river" especially during night time...

And, to answer to pussnboots, yes, the name is coming from the Titanic survivor. On board of the boat, you could hear her talking about Frontierland with cool music. Awesome to do after a good day spent at the park.

God, I am mad...