Dictionary Thesaurus Word Dynamo Quotes Reference Translator Spanish

Sailing Ship Columbia

Sailing Ship Columbia

Land	Frontierland
Opening Date	June 4, 1958

The Sailing Ship Columbia is a full-scale replica of the first American ship to circumnavigate the globe, located at the Disneyland park in Anaheim, California. Its passengers embark on a scenic, 12-minute journey around the Rivers of America. When it was constructed in 1958, it was the first three-masted windjammer to have been built in the United States in more than 100 years. The Columbia has entertained park visitors for nearly fifty years, including its continued role of Captain Hook's pirate ship in the park's popular Fantasmic show. In 1998 the ship was involved in a tragic accident when an improperly placed docking line tore a cleat loose from the dock, killing one man and injuring his wife.

Ride Description

Passengers wait for the ship, which departs every 25 minutes, from inside a sheltered area located in the Frontierland section of the park, called Frontier Landing. The waiting area, which the Columbia shares with the Mark Twain Riverboat, is made to resemble a real dock, with cargo deliveries sharing space on the dock. Historic United States flags are displayed at the attraction's entrance.

Passengers board the ship by climbing steps, also known as a brow, up onto the deck. Once on board, they can visit a nautical museum belowdeck, where there are crew, captain, and surgeon's quarters as well as the galley, all showing what life was like for the 1787 crew.

Once the ship casts off, it begins its voyage around the Rivers of America. The ship, which has three masts and rigging but does not unfurl its sails, is powered by a diesel engine. It runs along the same track, hidden by the green and yellow dye in the water, as the Mark Twain.

The captain provides a tongue-in-cheek running commentary as he calls orders to his crew, while recorded background music plays a selection of nautical songs such as "Blow the Man Down", and "Rolling Home". As the ship passes Fort Wilderness on Tom Sawyer Island, a Columbia cast member fires two 12-gauge blanks from one of the ship's ten cannons.

Costumed Disney characters such as Peter Pan, Captain Hook, Wendy, and Mr. Smee occasionally appear aboard the ship to entertain the passengers.

The Sailing Ship Columbia operates only on the park's busiest days, or when the Mark Twain is not operating. The attraction usually opens at 11am and closes at dusk. On evenings when Fantasmic! is being performed, the ship, which plays the role of Captain Hook’s pirate ship, will close earlier. When the ship is not operating, it is docked at Fowler's Harbor, near the Splash Mountain attraction.

History

When Walt Disney decided that the Rivers of America needed more river traffic and wanted another large ship to join the Mark Twain, he asked Joe Fowler, who was Disneyland's construction supervisor and a former naval admiral, to pick a historic sailing ship for inspiration. After examining every maritime museum in the country, Fowler recommended the first American sailing ship to go around the world: the Columbia Rediviva. However, there is only one known picture in existence of the original windjammer. WED researchers used it, along with research materials from the Library of Congress, to design the Columbia.

Architect Ray Wallace was commissioned in 1957 to work with Fowler in creating the construction plans. The ship was constructed at Todd Shipyards in San Pedro, California, where the Mark Twain 's hull was built a few years earlier. After Fowler told Disney that it was customary to put a silver dollar under each mast before it was set, Disney personally put a silver dollar under each of the Columbia's three masts.

For the ship’s christening on June 4, 1958, Fowler was dressed as a sailing captain of the 1700's, while the Mousketeers appeared as his crew. Since then, the Sailing Ship Columbia has had many extensive refurbishments, but the only major change has been the addition of the crew quarters exhibit in 1964.

Yesterland on the River

There are a few things from Yesterland that the boat passes along the river. The Burning Settler's Cabin which used to use propane to actually burn is passed along the way. The Cabin was recently Doused, and the Walt Disney World Cabin is no longer burning.

Along with the Cabin, the Gullywhumper, one of Disneyland's extinct Keel Boat Vehicles from the Keel Boat Attraction is now a piece of Scenery as the boats pass by. The Mine Train passed is actually the last Mine Train from the Old Nature's Wonderland Attraction. The critters popping out are Animatronics from the attraction as well. They stopped popping out recently. The Mine Train is on the original track of the attraction and used to border the Cascade Peak, also left over from the attraction but was bulldozed in 1998.

There is a hour long movie "Columbia" made by cast members in 1988. It was "filmed" in the early morning hours before the park would open and featured the keel boats for "mail delivery" and both the old Fowler's Harbor as the crew's shore cabins and the Golden Horseshoe Landing as the Admiral's residence. The script was based on a M.A.S.H. episode, but the "home-made" commercials are the real gems of the ocean voyage.

Accidents

On December 24, 1998, a cleat used to secure the ship to the dock tore loose, striking park visitors Luan Phi Dawson of Duvall, Washington and his wife in the head, as their two children and other horrified park visitors looked on. Dawson was declared brain dead two days later and died when his life support system was disconnected. A park employee was also injured. See Incidents at Disney parks for more information.