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Should Disney have saved The Admiral Joe Fowler?

Figment632

Figment632

New Member
Original Poster
20cacf20.png


Named after the retired navy admiral who was in charge of construction for Disneyland and Walt Disney World, this riverboat didn't travel the Rivers of America on opening day in 1971. It premiered a day later on October 2. It used to require a D ticket.
In 1980, The Admiral Joe Fowler was taken to dry dock for routine rehab. While the boat was being lifted by crane, it slipped and the hull was completely destroyed. The boat was then retired due to "mechanical problems". The broken boat was taken to the backstage "bone yard" for awhile before being buried somewhere on the property.
[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif] The other riverboat, the Richard F. Irvine (called the Liberty Belle since 1996) didn't debut until May 20, 1973. It was named after a Disney designer and WED executive. It is the only riverboat that currently travels the Rivers of America. The Liberty Belle supposedly has a life ring from the Admiral Joe Fowler on board for good luck.[/FONT]

This seems crazy to me that they took this huge ship and buried it!!!!! I understand that there was a lot of hull damage but just to bury it. I understand that it wouldn't have floated again but why not move it on land somewhere even TSI and open a TS restaurant???

Also does anyone know where it was burried?
 
Figment632

Figment632

New Member
Original Poster
It just seems silly to be, even if the hull was destroyed it could have been used on dryland today. Maybe a PATF TS!
 
Master Yoda

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
Figment632 said:
It just seems silly to be, even if the hull was destroyed it could have been used on dryland today. Maybe a PATF TS!
Click to expand...
Not necessarily. The hull would essentially be the foundation if it was to be brought on dry land and if it was "completely destroyed" as described in your OP then it is quite likely that it could not be used for such a purpose. It is just a fact of life that everything everything will one day cease to exist. It was just a boat. It broke beyond repair and needed to be disposed of.
 
Figment632

Figment632

New Member
Original Poster
Master Yoda said:
Not necessarily. The hull would essentially be the foundation if it was to be brought on dry land and if it was "completely destroyed" as described in your OP then it is quite likely that it could not be used for such a purpose. It is just a fact of life that everything everything will one day cease to exist. It was just a boat. It broke beyond repair and needed to be disposed of.
Click to expand...

Could they have attached it to a new concrete poored foundation?

And to quote Commander Riker I plan on living forever :lookaroun
 
Phonedave

Phonedave

Well-Known Member
Figment632 said:
Could they have attached it to a new concrete poored foundation?

And to quote Commander Riker I plan on living forever :lookaroun
Click to expand...


It's a boat/ship, not a house/building.

It's walls and floors have different construction methods and code requirements.

Sure you can take a ship and make it into a restaruant, but it requires more work than just dropping it on on a slab.

-dave
 
V

VintageDisFan

New Member
Not buried...

As a former Magic Kingdom Riverboater, I can speak to the fact that the Fowler was not buried. Most of the mechanical parts, which were still sound and able to be used, were sent to Tokyo Disneyland to be used on their riverboat, the Mark Twain, when it was built. Those parts sat in storage from the time of the drydock incident until they were needed.

The unusable hull and structural pieces were pieced out. Structural elements like support beams and the like were sold off to scrapyards to be recycled. The hull, I believe, was sunk as part of a man-made reef somewhere off property.

So...just to clarify...the Fowler is not buried on property...or off.

There was a life ring from the Fowler sitting in the Hull of the Liberty Belle...but most Cast Members don't know it's there. To be honest, I don't know if it was removed during the most recent major rehab of the boat (where they replaced sections of the hull and upgraded some of the electric systems onboard). I would think it's still there, though...for superstition's sake.

The Magic Kingdom Ferryboats, which run from the Transportation and Ticket Center to the Magic Kingdom, were re-named at one point in their history. One of the current Ferryboats is the Admiral Joe Fowler.

Hope this helps...
Jason
 
Figment632

Figment632

New Member
Original Poster
VintageDisFan said:
As a former Magic Kingdom Riverboater, I can speak to the fact that the Fowler was not buried. Most of the mechanical parts, which were still sound and able to be used, were sent to Tokyo Disneyland to be used on their riverboat, the Mark Twain, when it was built. Those parts sat in storage from the time of the drydock incident until they were needed.

The unusable hull and structural pieces were pieced out. Structural elements like support beams and the like were sold off to scrapyards to be recycled. The hull, I believe, was sunk as part of a man-made reef somewhere off property.

So...just to clarify...the Fowler is not buried on property...or off.

There was a life ring from the Fowler sitting in the Hull of the Liberty Belle...but most Cast Members don't know it's there. To be honest, I don't know if it was removed during the most recent major rehab of the boat (where they replaced sections of the hull and upgraded some of the electric systems onboard). I would think it's still there, though...for superstition's sake.

The Magic Kingdom Ferryboats, which run from the Transportation and Ticket Center to the Magic Kingdom, were re-named at one point in their history. One of the current Ferryboats is the Admiral Joe Fowler.

Hope this helps...
Jason
Click to expand...

Thankyou someone should tell Waltdated World this if it is true.
 
vonpluto

vonpluto

Well-Known Member
Captain Hank said:
I wonder if any bits and pieces of the Fowler ended up becoming part of the Empress Lilly--like the paddle-wheel.
Click to expand...

No, the Lilly was operating in 1977, three years before the Fowler's demise. But it does bring up the question of what happened to the Lilly's paddlewheel and smokestacks?

:shrug:
 
Figment632

Figment632

New Member
Original Poster
VintageDisFan said:
As a former Magic Kingdom Riverboater, I can speak to the fact that the Fowler was not buried. Most of the mechanical parts, which were still sound and able to be used, were sent to Tokyo Disneyland to be used on their riverboat, the Mark Twain, when it was built. Those parts sat in storage from the time of the drydock incident until they were needed.

The unusable hull and structural pieces were pieced out. Structural elements like support beams and the like were sold off to scrapyards to be recycled. The hull, I believe, was sunk as part of a man-made reef somewhere off property.

So...just to clarify...the Fowler is not buried on property...or off.

There was a life ring from the Fowler sitting in the Hull of the Liberty Belle...but most Cast Members don't know it's there. To be honest, I don't know if it was removed during the most recent major rehab of the boat (where they replaced sections of the hull and upgraded some of the electric systems onboard). I would think it's still there, though...for superstition's sake.

The Magic Kingdom Ferryboats, which run from the Transportation and Ticket Center to the Magic Kingdom, were re-named at one point in their history. One of the current Ferryboats is the Admiral Joe Fowler.

Hope this helps...
Jason
Click to expand...

vonpluto said:
No, the Lilly was operating in 1977, three years before the Fowler's demise. But it does bring up the question of what happened to the Lilly's paddlewheel and smokestacks?

:shrug:
Click to expand...

vovpluto read the quote above yours (this is also on page 1).
 
MarkTwain

MarkTwain

Well-Known Member
I've never understood why Disney never rebuilt it though? :veryconfu The Joe Fowler was supposed to be the grander, more elaborate sister to the Liberty Belle, like the Mark Twain at Disneyland. It always makes me sad that we don't have a double-smokestack ship like Disneyland has. :cry:
 
vonpluto

vonpluto

Well-Known Member
Figment632 said:
vovpluto read the quote above yours (this is also on page 1).
Click to expand...

I think were talking about two different things here. Admiral Joe Fowler, round and round the Rivers of America, and the Empress Lilly, big boat looking restaurant in the Village.

Or, are you saying that parts of the Lilly were shipped to Mickey knows where?

:)
 
Figment632

Figment632

New Member
Original Poster
vonpluto said:
I think were talking about two different things here. Admiral Joe Fowler, round and round the Rivers of America, and the Empress Lilly, big boat looking restaurant in the Village.

Or, are you saying that parts of the Lilly were shipped to Mickey knows where?

:)
Click to expand...

This thread is about the boats on Rivers of America. The original AJF was in dry dock and the crane dropped it and destroyed the hull. The two theroys are that a they couldn't salvage it so they burried it somewhere in WDW or that it was used for parts for the TDL boat.
 

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