Old Swan Ride in the Magic Kingdom?

[Javier&Christie]

I know there was a Swan boat ride in the Magic Kingdom in the waters near main street... anyone have any details about it? Pictures? Why/when it was taken down? I asked my mom about it and she had no clue about it lol.. just wondering if anyone has some details and info about it Inquiring minds would love to know........

 

[Disneynut]

If I am not mistaken, the Swan Boats were closed because of safety concerns. They used to take a long time to unload and with the T-Storms that pop up in Floridia, it was deemed better to do away with them. I think the loading area was were the Rose Garden is now located.

 

[MrPromey]

OK, I'm a little confused on this one, as well. I was too young at the time to remember them but I'll tell you what I do know based on the information I have. As I understand it, from one report, the swan boats were a little like the Jungle Cruise boats in the way they carried passengers but they were in fact, totally real boats without the kind of track that the jungle cruise has. Instead of a motor, they shot jets of water to propel them and they were called swan boats because they had a large swan design in the front of them. They were always captained by women and the reason they were shut down was because of technical problems with the propulsion system which was sort of ahead of it's time. They couldn't use an actual motor outside of the boats because the water wasn't actually deep enough. I have a picture of one of these boats that I'll try to remember to post tonight....
Then, on the other hand, I also understand them to have been a 'love boat' type design that could only hold 2 or 4 people that were on a track or linked in some way. I have never seen a picture of these but I have something from Disney depicting them this way in an illustration. I'll post a picture of that, as well... All in all I find it totally confusing.

 

[modelbuilder]

try this great link if it works.

http://home.clf.rr.com/omniluxe/psb.htm

this website is great for the history of the park

 

[Al]

thanks, but that link doesnt work.

 

[modelbuilder]

I dont think that worked. try this one to the main page and then click on the swan boats

http://home.cfl.rr.com/omniluxe/mk.htm

 

[MrPromey]

Originally posted by modelbuilder
I dont think that worked. try this one to the main page and then click on the swan boats

http://home.cfl.rr.com/omniluxe/mk.htm

Yep, that's the boat I have the picture of. I'll go ahead and post a picture of the other when I get home anyway because it's worth nothing that Disney seems to remember them as being different from what they really were, too...

Thank's for the great link!

 

[MrPromey]

According to that link the boats were originally gas powered, too. Guess there wasn't a problem with the depth of the water after all

 

[sillyspook13]

Originally posted by MrPromey
As I understand it, from one report, the swan boats were a little like the Jungle Cruise boats in the way they carried passengers but they were in fact, totally real boats without the kind of track that the jungle cruise has.

Actually, the swan boats did run on tracks. In fact, many of the tracks are still there.