Rivers of America (Disney)

The Rivers of America and its various watercraft in Disneyland, 2007

The Rivers of America is the artificial river found in the Frontierland areas of Disneyland-style Disney theme parks around the world. The first river was built in Disneyland when the park opened in 1955.[1] It surrounds Tom Sawyer Island, which guests reach by raft from Frontierland. Additionally, there are other water-based vehicles on the river. The various sights along the Rivers include a Native American tribe, a burning cabin (though the cabin at Disneyland has been removed), and audio-animatronic wildlife.

As other magic-kingdom-esque parks were built, they often incorporated this man-made river attraction. Such parks include:

  • At Walt Disney World, the Rivers of America is similar to its California counterpart
  • At Disneyland Paris, the Rivers of the Far West is home to Big Thunder Mountain
  • At Hong Kong Disneyland, there is no Frontierland, so the Imagineers merged the Rivers of America with the Adventureland Jungle Cruise attraction. Jungle river rafts travel around the Rivers of Adventure, encountering similar situations as in the Jungle Cruise attraction. In the middle of the Rivers sits Tarzan's Treehouse, which can be reached by River Rafts.

Different steamboat and ship replicas sail on the rivers:

  1. ^ Strodder, Chris (2017). The Disneyland Encyclopedia (3rd ed.). Santa Monica Press. pp. 415–416. ISBN 978-1595800909.