In Disneyland, the Motor Boat Cruise opened in 1957 on the border of
Fantasyland and Tomorrowland.
The waterways of the Motor Boat Cruise shared space with other attractions.
As the Viewliner train went speeding by, young motorists crossed the
waterways on Junior Autopia bridges.
In 1959, almost everything changed in the corner of Disneyland where
the Motor Boat Cruise, Junior Autopia, and Viewliner had been.
The Viewliner and its little railroad track were gone. Instead, the elevated
beam of the new Disneyland Alweg Monorail curved gracefully overhead.
The new Fantasyland Autopia and an expanded Tomorrowland Autopia
replaced the Junior Autopia.
And the lagoon which had once been home to the Phantom Boats (which
opened in 1955 and closed forever in 1956) was turned into the crystal
clear lagoon of the Submarine Voyage.
But instead of joining the Viewliner and the Junior Autopia as mere memories,
the Motor Boat Cruise survived.
In 1991, as part of the Disney Afternoon Avenue
event, the Motor Boat Cruise became the Motor Boat Cruise to Gummi Glen.
Plywood characters from Disney’s animated Gummi Bears television series
made Gummi Berry juice along the waterway.
Although the Motor Boat Cruise survived the major 1959 project, it didn’t
survive the January 1993 opening of Mickey’s Toontown hundreds of yards
away.
The word is that to control overall park operating expenses, the
operating budget for the Motor Boat Cruise was reallocated to Mickey's
Toontown.
So in January 1993, the Motor Boat Cruise closed permanently.
Its loading platform and landscaped grounds are now called Fantasia Gardens.
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