There is one ride at Disneyland that frequent visitors skip entirely, and many new guests do not even know it exists. This is probably the most frequently skipped ride in the park, either because of the ride’s style, the physical energy it requires, or because guests don’t even know it is there.
I have been visiting Disneyland since the ’90s as a child, and I just finally went on the ride that I always skipped. Despite our multiple visits each year, we just NOW experienced this ride. Now that I’ve done it, I don’t see why everyone skips this ride. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including Disney ending free Lightning Lane access to a top ride after it went viral, and the new Magic Kingdom hotel with views of fireworks.
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Everyone Always Skips This Disneyland Attraction
The ride that everyone always skips at Disneyland is the Davy Crockett’s Explorer Canoes. These canoes are named after the 19th-century icon Davy Crockett and take guests around the Rivers of America. A journey of these means a ride in a real, free-floating canoe.
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These canoes have no motor or track and are completely powered by guests. These 35-foot-long canoes are powered entirely by the paddles of those onboard, so you will need to be an active participant on this ride!
So why is everyone walking past this attraction at Disneyland? Well, the queue itself is pretty easy to miss since it’s right along the Rivers of America, and there is usually no line. This is a Disneyland ride that is not meant for relaxing, which is another reason many guests probably take one look at it and bolt the other way.
A Disney Ride That Requires Exercise? Hear Me Out.
Okay, I get it. This is not a relaxing Disneyland experience. This Disneyland ride requires you to commit and actually put some strength into it! This is a Disneyland ride that requires actual exercise. Remember, Davy Crockett’s Explorer Canoes in Frontierland are trackless canoes that actually require all guests to paddle to make the trip around the Rivers of America.
These 20-passenger canoes are real floating canoes! They are entirely powered by guests who must paddle around the Rivers of America. There is no track to pull you gently along your way. You need to put in the work. This is the real experience here because these canoes are modeled after the same boats that early Native American and European explorers used. And they are also 35-feet long.
If you experience these canoes on a hot day, be prepared to work up a sweat! But part of what makes this ride tough is that how hard you have to work depends on how much everyone else on the boat participates. If you have a canoe full of guests that aren’t participating, those who do are going to have a harder job. So don’t be slacking off if you do not decide to skip this ride!
The One Reason You Shouldn’t Skip the Canoes
The main reason you shouldn’t skip the Disneyland canoes? The cast members who work on the Disneyland canoes have a wonderful sense of humor and interact with guests in a similar way the Jungle Cruise skippers do. During our recent experience on the canoes, they made plenty of jokes about the ride that “no one in Disney ever wants to do” and poked fun at us for paddling too slowly. Their high energy and humor really were the highlight of the attraction. I appreciated being scolded for my slow paddling to encourage me to get the canoe moving!
Another fun aspect of this experience is that you get to see a different point of view of the Rivers of America as you cruise around Tom Sawyer’s Island. It was fun seeing the water up close, including all the Disney ducks! In between the paddling, you get a few moments to just float around to view all the different wildlife and Native American statues and animatronics you don’t often get to see up close.
But at the end of the day, the real show stopper on this ride is the cast members. For their humor alone, I think it’s worth doing the Disneyland canoes at least once. We were glad we did it!
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Now it’s your turn to drag your family on this ride that everyone at Disneyland always skips!
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