The Disney riverboats are paddle steamer watercraft attraction ride vehicles operating on a track on a series of attractions located at Disney theme parks around the world.
The first was the Mark Twain Riverboat, located at the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California, on which passengers embark on a scenic, 12-minute journey around the Rivers of America.
Originally named Mark Twain Steamboat when the park opened in 1955, the stately, 5/8-scale stern-wheeler was the first functional steamboat to be built in the United States for 50 years.
Other Disney riverboat attractions now appear at Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris.
Mark Twain had her maiden voyage on July 13, 1955, four days before the park opened, for a private party celebrating Walt and Lillian Disney's 30th wedding anniversary.
Before the party, as Fowler was checking to make sure everything would be ready for the 300 invited guests, found Lillian sweeping the decks and assisted her.
Disneyland's opening day brought further problems for Mark Twain. Actress Irene Dunne, star of the movie Show Boat, had trouble breaking a bottle of water (from many major American rivers) across the vessel's bow for her christening on Dateline Disney.
During the riverboat's first official voyage, when the crowd moved to one side of the boat to view a passing scene of an Indian encampment or other sight, the boat listed, and water poured over the deck, as no one had determined Mark Twain's maximum safe passenger capacity.
This oversight caused Mark Twain to nearly capsize on a voyage a few days later when ride operators continued to wave more than 500 guests on board until the deck neared the water line.
As the ship traversed the sparsely vegetated river route, it came loose from its track and got stuck in the muddy banks. Immediately, the park established a maximum capacity of 300 passengers, remaining in effect today.
After a rough start, Mark Twain has had a successful 68-year-career as a theme park attraction.
During its first few years of operation, passengers could buy a non-alcoholic mint julep aboard or listen to card and checker players re-enact dialogue of that era.
Occasionally the Disneyland band would play music on the lower deck bow to entertain both the passengers and the theme park visitors on the river banks.
Mark Twain underwent a major refurbishment during the spring of 1995, during which the decks and boiler were replaced.