Storybook Land Canal Boats is an attraction located at Disneyland and Disneyland Park (Paris). Passengers embark on a leisurely paced outdoor boat ride through a winding canal featuring settings from Disney animated films recreated in miniature. The Disneyland version was one of the original attractions when the park opened on July 17, 1955, although the miniature buildings and landscaping were not added until the following year. The Disneyland Park Paris version is named Le Pays des Contes de Fées (meaning "The Land of Fairy Tales" in French) and opened in the spring of 1994.
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History
The ride's concept dates back to Walt Disney's plans for a small park across the street from his Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. This modestly scaled, never-built amusement park was to include a gravity flow canal boat ride among its attractions.
When plans for Disneyland were being made, there was to be a "Lilliputianland", inspired by Madurodam, a miniature city in the Netherlands once visited by Disney. However, the technology did not yet exist to create the miniature animated figures that were to inhabit the "Lilliputian" village, so the canal ride opened under the name Canal Boats of the World. It was intended to be a journey past miniature recreations of the great landmarks of the world, but time and money prevented its completion. The ride was plagued by other problems; the outboard motors were prone to overheating, often forcing the boats to be pulled by hand, and because the attraction opened with little landscaping, it earned the nickname among park executives as "The Mud Bank Ride". After two months of operation, the Canal Boats closed while Storybook Land was constructed and the muddy banks were landscaped with miniature plants, including a bonsai tree planted by Walt Disney. The idea of having Monstro the whale consume the canal boats came from a never-implemented concept for a "Monstro the Whale" ride, in which small boats were to be swallowed by Monstro and then plunged down a watery path into a pond below.
The attraction reopened on June 16, 1956, under the new name Storybook Land Canal Boats. The models, scaled 1 inch to 1 foot, included Gepetto's village from Pinocchio, the Pigs' houses from Three Little Pigs, the Kensington Gardens from Peter Pan, Alice's cottage from Alice in Wonderland, the Old Mill from the 1937 Silly Symphony cartoon of the same name, Toad Hall from The Wind in the Willows from The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, the diamond mine from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs', and Cinderella's Castle.
Over the years several scenes have been added to and removed from the attraction. The Sultan's Palace from Aladdin appeared where the miniature Toad Hall from The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad had previously stood for a major refurbishment done in 1994. Toad Hall returned the following year in another location.
For the 50th anniversary of Disneyland in 2005, the Tinker Bell boat was painted gold and the lighthouse given a gold and maroon theme. Due to high demand, a second boat, Wendy, was painted gold and also renamed the Tinker Bell for the duration of the anniversary. Once the anniversary had concluded, both boats were repainted to their former appearance.
Beginning in December 2014, the attraction at Disneyland added the village of Arendelle from Disney Animation's 2013 film Frozen including Anna and Elsa's castle, Wandering Oaken's Trading Post, and Elsa's ice palace. These additions replaced the three Dutch windmills representing The Old Mill (1937).
In October 2025, it was announced that Rapunzel's Tower from Disney Animation's 2010 film Tangled would be added to the attraction at Disneyland when it reopened from refurbishment in Winter 2025.
Disneyland version
Passengers enter the attraction through a chain queue that winds in front of the loading dock. A lighthouse at the queue's entrance was once a ticket booth from when Disneyland required tickets for riding individual attractions. Storybook Land Canal Boats originally required a "D" coupon.
The motor-driven boats are scaled-down replicas of Dutch, English, and French boats. All of the boats are named after female Disney characters except for Flower (retired), the male skunk from Bambi. Passengers are seated along the edges of the boat, facing inward, although children are sometimes permitted to ride on the front flat part of the boat. A costumed guide sits just above the passengers on the back of the boat, perched above the engine housing, and narrates the ride.
After departing from the dock, the boat passes through a short cave sculpted to look like Monstro, the whale that swallowed Pinocchio. Monstro is partially animated: his eye opens and closes, and periodically steam comes out of his blow hole.
The canals past the Monstro cave are landscaped with miniature trees and shrubs. Along the banks are small buildings representing the homes of characters from Disney animated films, although not all the locations were actually depicted in film. While no characters physically appear in the attraction, many of these settings feature sound recordings of characters singing.
The miniature settings include:
The Three Little Pigs' houses and The Big Bad Wolf's home from Three Little Pigs
An English village, with a church and the entrance to the White Rabbit's hole, from Alice in Wonderland
Kensington Gardens from Peter Pan
The Sultan's palace and the Cave of Wonders from Aladdin
The dwarfs' diamond mine and cottage from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Disneyland Park Paris version
Unlike the original in California, a guide does not accompany the riders. The boats here are guided by an underwater wire rather than being propelled by an on-board motor. Passengers enter their boats via a slowly revolving platform. The whole transport system was developed by Intamin (as a Tow boat ride).
The Cave of Wonders from Aladdin midway through the voyage replaces the Disneyland version's Monstro cave. The boats also float past these settings, accompanied by music from the respective film and minimal dialogue:
The dwarfs' diamond mine and cottage from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Hundred Acre Wood and Winnie the Pooh's House from Winnie the Pooh (Replacing the Witch's gingerbread house from Babes in the Woods.)
Rapunzel's high tower with a braid coming out of it, from Tangled
The Old Mill from the animated short of the same name
Prince Eric's seaside castle from The Little Mermaid
The Greek temple and Mount Olympus from "The Pastoral Symphony" from Fantasia
The North Mountain, Elsa's Ice Palace and Wandering Oaken's Trading Post and Sauna from Frozen (Replacing Peter and the Wolf from Make Mine Music.)
The "Night on Bald Mountain" scene from Fantasia
The Cave of Wonders from Aladdin
The Sword in the Stone from the film of the same name
Belle's village and the Beast's castle from Beauty and the Beast