View source for Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes

{{Infobox attraction
| name = Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes
| park = [[Disneyland Park]]
| land = Bayou Country (formerly Frontierland, Bear Country and Critter Country)
| type = Canoe ride
| opened = July 4, 1956 (as Indian War Canoes); renamed May 19, 1971
| designer = Walt Disney Imagineering
| status = Operating (seasonal)
}}

'''Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes''' is a guest-powered canoe attraction at [[Disneyland Park]] in Anaheim, California. Guests paddle free-floating canoes around the [[Rivers of America (Disneyland)]] in a circuit of Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island, guided by two cast members. It is unusual among major theme park attractions in having no motor, no track and no hidden propulsion: if the guests do not paddle, the canoe does not move.

== History ==

Canoes first appeared on the river on July 4, 1956, as the '''Indian War Canoes''', part of the Indian Village expansion of [[Frontierland (Disneyland)]]. Each canoe carried a Native American guide, and the attraction reflected the 1950s Hollywood version of frontier history that also shaped the park's popular ''Davy Crockett'' television episodes. The canoes operated mainly on busier days, in summer and at weekends — a pattern that has continued, in various forms, ever since.

The Indian Village closed in 1971 to make way for a new land, Bear Country. On May 19, 1971, the canoes reopened under their present Davy Crockett name, with guides in frontier dress and coonskin caps rather than the earlier theme. When Bear Country opened in March 1972, the canoes became one of its attractions, giving the small new land a second ride alongside the Country Bear Jamboree.

Without moving at all, the attraction has since belonged to several lands. Bear Country became Critter Country in 1989, and Critter Country was in turn rethemed as Bayou Country in 2024. That history makes the canoes one of very few attractions to have been assigned to four different lands while staying in exactly the same place.

The Disneyland canoes outlasted their counterparts elsewhere. A version opened at Magic Kingdom in Florida in 1971 but closed permanently in 1994. At Disneyland, an unexpected closure on October 3, 1998 prompted rumours of permanent closure, but the canoes returned the following summer and continue to operate seasonally.

== Experience ==

Guests board long canoes — about 35 feet in length and seating around twenty paddlers — from a dock near the river in Bayou Country, close to [[New Orleans Square]] and the [[Disneyland Railroad]] station there. Each guest is handed a paddle. A guide stands at the bow and another steers at the stern, setting the paddling rhythm, calling instructions and pointing out sights along the way.

The voyage circles Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island on the [[Rivers of America (Disneyland)]], passing the docks of [[Frontierland (Disneyland)]], the [[Mark Twain Riverboat]] and [[Sailing Ship Columbia]] when they are under way, wooded banks, and settler and wildlife scenes placed along the shore. Because the canoes are genuinely free-floating, no two trips are quite alike: a strong crew makes swift progress, while a hesitant one drifts, splashes and hears the guides' traditional encouragement that if guests do not row, the canoe does not go.

The ride lasts roughly five to seven minutes depending on the crew. Operation is weather- and demand-dependent, typically on weekends and in peak seasons, and the attraction closes in rain. Its physical, unmechanised character has made it a curiosity in a park of increasingly automated rides — and, for many guests, an unexpectedly energetic one.

== See also ==
* [[Rivers of America (Disneyland)]]
* [[Mark Twain Riverboat]]
* [[Sailing Ship Columbia]]
* [[Frontierland (Disneyland)]]

== References ==
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[[Category:Attractions]]
[[Category:Disneyland Park]]
[[Category:Water rides]]
[[Category:1956 establishments]]