Sailing Ship Columbia
| Sailing Ship Columbia | |
|---|---|
Attraction poster
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| Disneyland | |
| Area | Frontierland |
| Status | Operating |
| Opening date | June 14, 1958 |
| General statistics | |
| Attraction type | Sailing ship |
| Manufacturer | Todd Shipyards |
| Designer |
Walt Disney Imagineering Joe Fowler Ray Wallace |
| Theme | 18th Century sailing ship |
| Length | 110 ft (34 m) |
| Participants per group | 300 |
| Duration | 12 minutes |
 Must transfer from wheelchair |
|
 Assistive listening available |
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The ship sits in the Rivers of America
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders: | Todd Shipyards |
| Operators: | Disneyland Resort |
| General characteristics | |
| Length: | 110 ft overall. 83 ft 6 in on deck. |
| Beam: | 27.25 ft. |
| Height: | 76 ft. |
| Draft: | 45 in. |
| Installed power: |
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| Propulsion: | 2 30" diameter, 18" pitch standard ship's propellers (Screws) |
| Speed: | 1.3 knots |
| Capacity: | ~300 |
| Crew: | Two to four |
The Sailing Ship Columbia, located at the Disneyland park in Anaheim, California, is a full-scale replica of Columbia Rediviva, the first American ship to circumnavigate the globe. When it was constructed in 1958, it was the first three-masted barque to have been built in the United States in more than 100 years. The Columbia has entertained park visitors for over fifty years, including its twenty-one year role as Captain Hook's pirate ship, the Jolly Roger, in the park's popular nighttime show, Fantasmic!. Its passengers embark on a scenic, 12-minute journey around the Rivers of America.
When Walt Disney decided that the Rivers of America needed more river traffic and wanted another large ship to join the Mark Twain, he asked Joe Fowler, who was Disneyland's construction supervisor and a former naval admiral, to suggest an historic sailing ship for inspiration. After examining every maritime museum in the country, Fowler recommended the first American sailing ship to go around the world: the Columbia Rediviva. However, there is only one known picture in existence of the original vessel. WED researchers used it, along with research materials from the Library of Congress, to design the Columbia.
Architect Ray Wallace was commissioned in 1957 to work with Fowler in creating the construction plans. The ship's masts, rigging, spars and sails were constructed at Todd Shipyards, Los Angeles Division, San Pedro, California, where the Mark Twain 's hull was built a few years earlier. After Fowler told Disney that it was customary to put a silver dollar under each mast before it was set, Disney personally put one under each of the Columbia's three masts.
For the ship’s christening on June 4, 1958, Fowler was dressed as a sailing captain of the 18th century, while the Mousketeers appeared as his crew. Since then, the sailing ship Columbia has had many extensive refurbishments, but the only major change has been the addition of the crew quarters exhibit in 1964.
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Wikipedia