Canoe History and Coed Qualifying Results
Just the other day, I was approached by someone at a party who said, "So, I was reading your blog the other day, and out of nowhere you start talking about Canoes. What's up with that?"
Well, I'll tell ya.
Every summer for over 40 years now, Disney employees have raced the Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes around Tom Sawyer's Island in Frontierland. I first took part in the tradition along with qforlong, in the summer of '90, rowing on a team made up of performers from the Main Street Electrical Parade known as High Voltage. gatcat could regale you with stories of his team, Animal Instinct, from the Character Department. I spent some time as an alternate on a men's team from the Parade Department, Blockheads, made up primarily of performers from Block Party Bash. And for the past three seasons I've been proud to row with my old buddy gg_crew on GG Crew n (where n = the number of seasons the team has been in existence.) GG Crew was originally all Parade performers, but the team has been around for so long - this year is GG Crew 17 - that we're all over the park now. For example, one of our front steerers is half of the current Disneyland Ambassador team.
But how did the tradition get started? I'll quote a chunk of the Disney employee website here:
History of the Disneyland Resort Canoe Races
Date: 04/19/2007
Many moons ago, Guests glided around the Rivers of America aboard the Indian War Canoes. The canoes, constructed of birch, were attended by American Indians who guided Guests on a round-trip voyage from the Indian Village. Many of those guides didn't know it then, but they helped create what is now a Disneyland® Resort tradition - the Canoe Races.
The Canoe Races began modestly, with just a handful of teams competing. Just how the races began is open for discussion, however, a 1984 edition of the Disneyland® Line quotes several Cast Members who were there from the beginning.
"I'll tell you how it all got started," says Adventure/Frontierland Foods Supervisor Ray Van de Warker. "I was the Lead in Frontierland, which included the Indian Village, back in 1963. We were on the dock when this group of Hawaiians came in. They were part of an outrigger team or something like that. Well, they got in that boat and when they started to paddle, the boat nearly came out of the water and I swear you could see air under their canoe. They were really moving! They made the turn and disappeared and the next thing you know, they're coming around the other side. There was no way [the Canoe guides] were bringing that canoe into the dock at that speed. They got them to stop in the middle of the River and we were able to get them back in. The Canoe guides told me later that they had passed the Mark Twain - which is illegal - but they didn't know how to stop them. Anyway, we got to thinking, 'I bet we could go that fast, too.'"
Ron Doyle was an active member of the Disneyland® Recreation Club, which later evolved into Cast Activities, and is credited for organizing the first race. Ron remembers, "I always thought that July was the toughest month. It was summer, it was hot, the lines were long, and we'd have this July slump. I figured it'd be great to have something to boost morale in the middle of summer and along came the Canoe Races. A lot of the guys on the west side had played some football at one time or another and this whole thing came about because we were just a bunch of jocks looking for something to do. We got three teams together - Frontierland, Adventureland, and the Indian Village. We had our race, and Adventureland won."
In the span of just a few years, with the addition of women's teams, coed or "mixed" teams, and increased interest, the Indian War Canoe Races went from "a bunch of jocks looking for something to do" to a fierce competition among over 100 teams. In 1965, the Tour Guides claimed the first women's championship while it took another five years before the first mixed team championship, won by the Matterhorn crew.
In the past 40 years, some dramatic changes have altered the Indian War Canoe Races. The Indian Village, wooden Indian War Canoes, and old-fashioned stopwatches have been replaced by Bear Country, Kevlar Davey Crockett Explorer Canoes, and electronic stopwatches.
More important than the things that have changed, however, are the things that haven't changed 4:00 a.m. is still early to drag yourself out of bed, everyone still gets soaked - no matter how hard you try to stay dry, and competition is still tough. But, most of all, the spirit and camaraderie of the competitors is what has kept the Races not just another summer pastime, but a unique Disneyland® Resort tradition.
I can certainly vouch for the morale boost. I think part of that comes from the camaraderie, and part of it comes from the fact that, while we are certainly competitive on GG Crew, we try to keep the emphasis on fun.
Hey, any team that lists "must be able to eat own weight in pancakes" as a prerequisite for membership can't be all bad, right?
Hopefully, GG Crew 17 will advance to the quarter finals in 3rd place. The results from tomorrow aren't in yet... but the top 16 teams from the two weeks of qualifying rounds advance to quarter finals, and there are only 3 teams in our division rowing tomorrow.
DC United, who came out of the gate with a blistering (for a coed team) 4:18:27, slipped a bit this week. Their time of 4:29:23 gives me hope for the future, because I know that GG Crew 17 can beat that.
GG Crew 17 went from 4:52:62 in week 1, to 4:37:91 yesterday, a respectable increase. DC Whatever stays in 2nd place, despite their showing of 4:46:06 this morning, keeping their week 1 time of 4:37:29.
The qualifying round is the only one which allows teams a chance to better their times. Quarter Finals, Semi Finals, Sprints, and Finals are all single race days.
A note about team names, as mentioned in comments for a previous entry."GG is short for Guys & Gals. None too imaginative for a coed team, but easy to hear over the general din of the canoe docks.
There's some debate as to what DC actually stands for. The top two contenders are "Davy Crockett" and "Disney Canoe". As joemorf has probably intimated, the DC teams are generally comprised of folks who work the canoes on a daily basis."
I'll share some of the more inventive and amusing team names from this year next time... and show you some historical pictures as well.
~j
Well, I'll tell ya.
Every summer for over 40 years now, Disney employees have raced the Davy Crockett Explorer Canoes around Tom Sawyer's Island in Frontierland. I first took part in the tradition along with qforlong, in the summer of '90, rowing on a team made up of performers from the Main Street Electrical Parade known as High Voltage. gatcat could regale you with stories of his team, Animal Instinct, from the Character Department. I spent some time as an alternate on a men's team from the Parade Department, Blockheads, made up primarily of performers from Block Party Bash. And for the past three seasons I've been proud to row with my old buddy gg_crew on GG Crew n (where n = the number of seasons the team has been in existence.) GG Crew was originally all Parade performers, but the team has been around for so long - this year is GG Crew 17 - that we're all over the park now. For example, one of our front steerers is half of the current Disneyland Ambassador team.
But how did the tradition get started? I'll quote a chunk of the Disney employee website here:
History of the Disneyland Resort Canoe Races
Date: 04/19/2007
Many moons ago, Guests glided around the Rivers of America aboard the Indian War Canoes. The canoes, constructed of birch, were attended by American Indians who guided Guests on a round-trip voyage from the Indian Village. Many of those guides didn't know it then, but they helped create what is now a Disneyland® Resort tradition - the Canoe Races.
The Canoe Races began modestly, with just a handful of teams competing. Just how the races began is open for discussion, however, a 1984 edition of the Disneyland® Line quotes several Cast Members who were there from the beginning.
"I'll tell you how it all got started," says Adventure/Frontierland Foods Supervisor Ray Van de Warker. "I was the Lead in Frontierland, which included the Indian Village, back in 1963. We were on the dock when this group of Hawaiians came in. They were part of an outrigger team or something like that. Well, they got in that boat and when they started to paddle, the boat nearly came out of the water and I swear you could see air under their canoe. They were really moving! They made the turn and disappeared and the next thing you know, they're coming around the other side. There was no way [the Canoe guides] were bringing that canoe into the dock at that speed. They got them to stop in the middle of the River and we were able to get them back in. The Canoe guides told me later that they had passed the Mark Twain - which is illegal - but they didn't know how to stop them. Anyway, we got to thinking, 'I bet we could go that fast, too.'"
Ron Doyle was an active member of the Disneyland® Recreation Club, which later evolved into Cast Activities, and is credited for organizing the first race. Ron remembers, "I always thought that July was the toughest month. It was summer, it was hot, the lines were long, and we'd have this July slump. I figured it'd be great to have something to boost morale in the middle of summer and along came the Canoe Races. A lot of the guys on the west side had played some football at one time or another and this whole thing came about because we were just a bunch of jocks looking for something to do. We got three teams together - Frontierland, Adventureland, and the Indian Village. We had our race, and Adventureland won."
In the span of just a few years, with the addition of women's teams, coed or "mixed" teams, and increased interest, the Indian War Canoe Races went from "a bunch of jocks looking for something to do" to a fierce competition among over 100 teams. In 1965, the Tour Guides claimed the first women's championship while it took another five years before the first mixed team championship, won by the Matterhorn crew.
In the past 40 years, some dramatic changes have altered the Indian War Canoe Races. The Indian Village, wooden Indian War Canoes, and old-fashioned stopwatches have been replaced by Bear Country, Kevlar Davey Crockett Explorer Canoes, and electronic stopwatches.
More important than the things that have changed, however, are the things that haven't changed 4:00 a.m. is still early to drag yourself out of bed, everyone still gets soaked - no matter how hard you try to stay dry, and competition is still tough. But, most of all, the spirit and camaraderie of the competitors is what has kept the Races not just another summer pastime, but a unique Disneyland® Resort tradition.
I can certainly vouch for the morale boost. I think part of that comes from the camaraderie, and part of it comes from the fact that, while we are certainly competitive on GG Crew, we try to keep the emphasis on fun.
Hey, any team that lists "must be able to eat own weight in pancakes" as a prerequisite for membership can't be all bad, right?
Hopefully, GG Crew 17 will advance to the quarter finals in 3rd place. The results from tomorrow aren't in yet... but the top 16 teams from the two weeks of qualifying rounds advance to quarter finals, and there are only 3 teams in our division rowing tomorrow.
DC United, who came out of the gate with a blistering (for a coed team) 4:18:27, slipped a bit this week. Their time of 4:29:23 gives me hope for the future, because I know that GG Crew 17 can beat that.
GG Crew 17 went from 4:52:62 in week 1, to 4:37:91 yesterday, a respectable increase. DC Whatever stays in 2nd place, despite their showing of 4:46:06 this morning, keeping their week 1 time of 4:37:29.
The qualifying round is the only one which allows teams a chance to better their times. Quarter Finals, Semi Finals, Sprints, and Finals are all single race days.
A note about team names, as mentioned in comments for a previous entry."GG is short for Guys & Gals. None too imaginative for a coed team, but easy to hear over the general din of the canoe docks.
There's some debate as to what DC actually stands for. The top two contenders are "Davy Crockett" and "Disney Canoe". As joemorf has probably intimated, the DC teams are generally comprised of folks who work the canoes on a daily basis."
I'll share some of the more inventive and amusing team names from this year next time... and show you some historical pictures as well.
~j