With courage in hand, he bravely wades into this discussion...There've been a lot of changes along the Rivers of America in the last 60 years, and I think editing this 20 minute experience down to a 15 minute experience (I'm including the five minutes of standing around on the boat waiting for it to leave) is a good thing.
Through the 1970's the back half of the River had a White Man vs. The Indians theme, where the Settlers Cabin was ablaze after Indian attack and a white settler was laid out in front of the burning cabin with an arrow shot into his heart. It was grizzly, and violent, and Politically Incorrect. For decades.
And there were two Indian Villages seen along the route. Near the cabin was the Unfriendly Indians in their teepees, who attacked this guy. Further along was the Friendly Indians, who are still there today telling stories and making cornmeal and ignoring all the tourists on the Mark Twain. I don't think most folks today realize why that's called the Friendly Indian Village, because originally you first saw the Unfriendly Indians who shoot arrows into white guys hearts and set their cabins on fire.
The River changed in the past, and it will change in the future. And I'm okay with that, especially if it helps free up room for a kick-butt new land with multiple new E Tickets. Bring it on! Change is good!
But here's why I'm not okay with shortening the river.
First of all, change is good. Let me get that point out of the way. A big part of the allure of Disneyland has always been how it has grown over the years. Lots of new stuff to see every time I went, and old stuff plussed. And I don't have any fundamental objection to Star Wars land at Disneyland and hope it will be great. Walt's quote of "Disneyland will never be finished" is often used to justify tearing stuff out, which always amazes me because I suspect he was thinking mostly about adding stuff.
Of course that is (much) harder now that there is less space available. But imagineers have always found creative ways to use the limited land. But that shouldn't include removing part of Disneyland's essential experience.
But before talking more about land, let me talk about Lands. For most of us, Disneyland has always been there, and we take its design for granted, it is just "there" and that is the way it should be. What do I mean by this? For instance, think about its theme. Oh yeah, it doesn't really have a theme. Not like all the other Disney parks that followed, which all have a specific theme. Of course, for all the other Castle parks their theme is "Disneyland", which is a theme now only because Disneyland itself is in our collective consciousness. But Disneyland itself is really just an arbitrary collection of different themes that happened to appeal to Walt. Sure there's the mission statement on the dedication plaque, but a similar statement could have been written about any other small collection of arbitrary themes.
However, it's at this junction of specific themes that Walt's genius and Disneyland's soul coalesce, and provide the defining "Disneyland" experience. I could go on and on about the small number of "defining Disneyland experiences", but let's explicitly examine the river, which certainly falls into this category of defining experiences.
As many have pointed out, part of the experience is the vista from the Frontierland/New Orleans Square/Critter Country riverbanks. In my opinion this is by far the best bit of place making at Disneyland, and among the best in any Disney park. Made better by the addition of NOS (see, change can be good), not so much but still okay by the addition of CC. But the vista itself is just part of the story from the river banks. When the Mark Twain disappears around the bend, it excites the imagination as it steams into adventure in the wilderness.
Which finally leads into the other part of the essential Disneyland experience provided by the river, which is the adventure of actually riding the boat into the wilderness. This doesn't come from what you see on the ride which is practically irrelevant, it's the sense of leaving the known and comfortable behind and exploring the wilderness. There are places even in modern times on the real rivers of America that still feel wild and untamed and mysterious. For example, at the Tennessee River near Shiloh I got a powerful Déjà Vu moment and realized later that it was a reflection on exploring the untamed Rivers of America while riding the Mark Twain. Many places on the Missouri River and even the Mississippi still provide this, too. There was no burning settler's cabin or Indian village (friendly or unfriendly), nor are they needed, although on the ride they (or alternatives) provide an additional bit of temporal displacement to add to the feeling of remoteness. What is needed is the escape from the crowd, from what you could see from the banks, and a sense of getting removed away from them, mystery and exploration. Food for the imagination. To the extent that shortening the river loses some of this essential part of the story, this essential Disneyland experience provided by one of Walt's inspired themes, a bit of the soul of Disneyland is lost. And I don't see how it can be otherwise if at least 2/3 of the experience will be "standing around on the boat waiting for it to leave" along with steaming by the public spaces.
This idea of essential story, true theming, is what made Disneyland great in the first place, and many people still appreciate it and don't want to lose even a part of it because it is, after all, "essential".
