A Storybook Classic

Storybook Land Canal Boats is another classic Fantasyland attraction with its roots in the earliest days of Disneyland. Before settling on the idea of a theme park in Anaheim, Walt Disney was fascinated with miniatures and imagined a traveling exhibit of them, entitled "Disneylandia." Later, as the concept of the park grew, land was set aside for a proposed Lilliputian Land.

On opening day in 1955, Canal Boats of the World was featured in Fantasyland. The attraction's scenes of miniature international landmarks were never fully realized. It closed after just two months to be re-imagined as Storybook Land.

A remarkable amount of detail is packed into this corner of Fantasyland. Guests board small boats named for Disney characters (Snow White, Alice, Flower, etc.) to float past tiny scenes from Disney animated classics. Each scene is enhanced with audible flourishes and live, miniature trees and shrubs.

From Pinocchio's village to Toad Hall, many of the classic Disney tales are represented. There are the homes of the Three Little Pigs and the giant patchwork quilt seen in the Silly Symphony "Lullaby Land."

You'll even spot the occasional subtle storytelling touch, like the little pumpkin coach on the road to the prince's castle in the Cinderella scene.

In 1994, a major refurbishment restored some of the luster to Storybook Land and added scenes from some of the newer Disney classics. Now, visitors can explore the Sultan's palace and city of Agrabah from Aladdin and perhaps even find the Genie's lamp hidden inside the Cave of Wonders.

The last scenes encountered on the journey come from The Little Mermaid. There's Prince Eric's castle and ship sitting on the coastline and just behind the waterfall, King Triton's underwater palace (cleverly shrouding the entrance to a backstage boat storage area).

Storybook Land Canal Boats is one of those charming, only-in-Disneyland experiences (although a different version has since opened in Disneyland Paris) that I simply must do every time I visit. There's nothing like stepping aboard one of those little boats and passing through the jaws of Monstro the whale, right back in time to the days of Walt Disney.