Tom Sawyer fort

[Steve DeGaetano]

Originally Posted by BigThunder

Ah, many fond memories of the ol' fort on TSI. Fort Wilderness it was, the last outpost of civilization before Injun country.

As a kid, my friends and I would climb the upper ramparts of the fort and fire off the guns in the towers at just about any passing watercraft on the Rivers of America. The guns didn't really fire, of course, but they did make a nice, satisfying "bang" when you pulled the trigger.

Our favorite target was the Columbia Sailing Ship, which we pretended was a pirate ship coming upriver to attack the fort. The very best was when they would fire off Columbia's cannon as it sailed past...

What a great post. This symbolizes everything that was RIGHT with Disneyland, and everything that's wrong with it now.

Big Thunder talks about when he was a kid, and the fun he and his friends had using their IMAGINATIONS! The set and the props were all in place. They supplied the rest of the story.

Today, the park builds attractions like Tarzan Treehouse, where kids don't need to use their imaginations anymore; all they need to do is watch the story unfold in the manner dictated by the Imagineers. Not very fun.

Yes, the Fort should come back. And that should be the start of an effort to re-introduce the use of imagination by the park's patrons.

[alphabassetgrrl]

Hey, it's not just boys that want the fort back! It sounds like it was a lot of fun. I never got to see it. Guns, lookouts, a snack bar and a secret tunnel- what's not to like?

[Gemini Cricket]

Originally Posted by Dustysage

The gas line rusted and they didn't want to pay to fix it. Cheap cheap cheap (do I hear a bird chirping)

If I hadn't just sent them a letter about the Mary Blair mural, I would write them about this one...
Maybe in a week or so...

[Giant Panda]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to BigThunder again.

Great Post, BT! We share common memories.

As far as the burning cabin goes, my earliest memories of it include the body (remains, corpse, one who has achieved room temperature) of a settler on the ground in front of the cabin with an arrow in his back. The narration on the train or the boats circling the island did mention something about an indian attack ..... at one point, when Disney tried to become kinder and gentler, the arrow was removed from the settler's back and the burning explained as an exploding distillery (he was passed out drunk) in the ride narration. Later, the settler was removed, and the fire was explained as someone left the stove burning or some such thing. When the gas line gave out, the fire was never replaced.

The fort itself began its inexorable descent into changing room oblivion when a little girl fell from the "perch" where she was shooting a "rifle" in one of the towers ....

Not for the squeamish:

Spoiler

Her finger got caught and remained in the trigger guard (the finger was ripped from her hand)

The lawyers, of course, had the guns removed .......

erick13 hit the nail on the head ...... a little cash for maintenance and/or imagineering and the fort and burning cabin could have been preserved ........ but PP would have none of it .......

And if they do bring them back,please don't make it with revisionist PC history! Remember, " ... hard facts ...", people! Pioneers were attacked by Native Americans. That's why they needed FORTS!

[travelmom]

It seems like I remember a child getting their finger stuck in something just before it closed?

Anyway, those popping guns, and the whole "fort experience" was the real reason I needed to go on my visit. It was just so exciting to our generation. Alot of television showed this time in history back then, so it was real easy to enjoy the fantasy, and of course it was so authentic and real. Believe me, we girls enjoyed it every bit as much as the young "Davey Crocketts" running around! And the burning cabin will forever burn in my memory...

[AlohaStitch]

Originally Posted by Giant Panda

As far as the burning cabin goes, my earliest memories of it include the body (remains, corpse, one who has achieved room temperature) of a settler on the ground in front of the cabin with an arrow in his back. The narration on the train or the boats circling the island did mention something about an indian attack ..... at one point, when Disney tried to become kinder and gentler, the arrow was removed from the settler's back and the burning explained as an exploding distillery (he was passed out drunk) in the ride narration. Later, the settler was removed, and the fire was explained as someone left the stove burning or some such thing. When the gas line gave out, the fire was never replaced.

I have the same exact memories of the cabin. My only difference is that when I was little there was a TV show on called "F Troop" I absolutely loved it and used to pretend that the Fort was "Fort Courage" on the show. In fact on of the regular "Troopers" stationed at Fort Wilderness looked a bit like the character of Corporal Agarn on the show. When I would go there, to my little kid mind, he WAS Agarn...and He played along with it. So everytime I would have to run and hug "Corporal Agarn" and now, as an adult, I will always remember that CM for making a little girls dream come true in his own way. The Escape Tunnels were unbelievable fun and the whole place was a wonderful memory. I hope they suck it up...spend the $$ and rebuild/refuberish and bring it back.

thanks for the memories.

[Giant Panda]

Originally Posted by AlohaStitch

I have the same exact memories of the cabin. My only difference is that when I was little there was a TV show on called "F Troop" I absolutely loved it and used to pretend that the Fort was "Fort Courage" on the show. In fact on of the regular "Troopers" stationed at Fort Wilderness looked a bit like the character of Corporal Agarn on the show. When I would go there, to my little kid mind, he WAS Agarn...and He played along with it. So everytime I would have to run and hug "Corporal Agarn" and now, as an adult, I will always remember that CM for making a little girls dream come true in his own way. The Escape Tunnels were unbelievable fun and the whole place was a wonderful memory. I hope they suck it up...spend the $$ and rebuild/refuberish and bring it back.

thanks for the memories.

I too was a fan of "F Troop" ..... and probably made the same "mistake" as you about Fort Wilderness ....... of course the Heckowees were a peaceful tribe .....

[Jspider]

I too remeber the fort but I think most of my memories are from the WDW version of it

they sound very similar though


well like I said on the castle walkthrough thread, complain complain complain

and if Disney doesn't listen to APers then claim that you made a trip to WDW before and compare the islands and complain or just complain about the fort in general

[Datameister]

If they're not going to bring back the fort and cabin, those areas should be used for something else. There's a decent amount of space up in the north end of the island, and not much activity. Besides the aforementioned use of the fort as a CM changing station, there really isn't anything going on there. So that's another chunk of land in DL's northwest quarter that could be put to use, if the budget allowed and a clever idea was hatched. I estimate there being roughly 100,000 square feet of basically unused space up there, if you include the north end of the island. As I've mentioned in other discussions, that's enough room for at least one large dark ride, or at least two small ones. The entire Indiana Jones show building could fit back there with room to spare. And all this is assuming the railroad tracks are staying where they are. (Hey, the tracks have expanded as Disneyland has expanded. It could happen again.)

[Momzilla59]

It would be hard to bring this wonderful attraction back to life in this day and PC age. First you have the problems of bringing it up to code for the disabled. Those stairways were pretty darned narrow for me when I was a younger and slimmer person, elevators pretty much would kill the illusion of wilderness.
Secondly you have the PC problem of just Who is attacking the fort? Native Americans have undergone a profound image upgrade in the last 40 years or so. It would be very hard for Disney to not step on toes (or risk litigation) if they were to portray the attackers as bloodthirsty native savages. It is difficult to accurately portray that era without mention of the Indian wars - I see that as a major stumbling block for the theming.
I loved the fort. It really is too bad that it decayed so soon. I say rebuild it out of realistic wood recycled plastics and bring back part of our nation's history.
Maybe you could be protecting the fort from rabid squirrels?

[Datameister]

The PC is issue is a good point. That would be a serious stumbling block.

Here's a novel idea...Now, hear me out, and really think about this, even though it sounds a little silly at first. Would it be possible to tunnel underneath the Rivers of America? It's just a shallow concrete canal; I'm sure it could be done safely, as long as there was a pretty lenient budget. If so, that creates two possibilities.

1. A new attraction is added to northern Frontierland, where the Festival of Fools arena and Big Thunder Ranch are now. The attraction starts in that area, then follows a tunnel beneath RoA and uses the north end of the island for more space.

2. A new attraction is added to Tom Sawyer's Island, where the cabin and fort are now. The attraction starts in that area, then follows a tunnel beneath RoA and uses the Festival of Fools/Big Thunder Ranch area for more space.

Either one could be really cool. As I said before, that's about 100,000 square feet, and that's not counting the subterranean tunnel.

[AlohaStitch]

Originally Posted by Giant Panda

I too was a fan of "F Troop" ..... and probably made the same "mistake" as you about Fort Wilderness ....... of course the Heckowees were a peaceful tribe .....

Right On! Another "F Troop" Fan. I'm waiting for a DVD to come out with the series. There was a movie I saw recently (sorry can't remember the name), but they had a little "salute" to our series. They "accidently" shot the Lookout Tower with a Cannon and it fell down. (Part of the opening credits of the F Troop show). You could tell the fans in the audiene who "got it" cause were were all screaming "F Troop!" at the top of our lungs.

[turbo funky]

I think it's funny that America is nicknamed the land of the free, when the fort and donald's boat can't exist, etc. etc. The fort and burning cabin still exist in Tokyo in tact.

[figment1986]

finding an enemy is not hard.. Columbia is a pirate ship... lol

But i too wish they would fix this fort and allow public inside.. code might not be a prblem... just change the guns... and things..

have a lower gun for smaller kids to use.. and have the holes wider so kids can get their fingers out... then have ramps to get to second story?? or offer guns on ground level as well... and sell food again.. then have the escape tunnel...while your doing that at nihgt repalce the pipe line to the cabin and turn the flame on again... say looks like -------- Somone forgot to put out their candle.. (LOL) or left the stove on.. or pirates attacked the home to loot... and are going after the fort...

[Morrigoon]

How about a defined storyline involving the French and Indian wars? That way it's literally an enemy army they're worried about, and the Columbia can double in as a privateer vessel. Actually, having a defined storyline for the fort has GREAT potential....