News / Molly Brown Riverboat

This New Year weekend saw the lands and attractions of Disneyland Paris shrouded in an eerily beautiful white glaze of frost and freezing fog as 2016 gave way to 2017: the Disney magic as you’ve perhaps never seen it before. Read More…

A series of new official photos released by Disneyland Paris offer a first look at the refurbished Big Thunder Mountain, with rare up-close angles on the painstakingly refreshed scenery and props guests will only normally hurtle past at high speed. Read More…

Ever since we stepped off the near-complete, beautifully restored Molly Brown exactly a year ago and the Mark Twain pulled up in her place to continue regular service, this grand old riverboat has sadly looked more than a little worse for wear by comparison. Need for restoration isn’t quite so drastic, though, that his chimney stacks fell off, of course — the Mark Twain is merely preparing himself to bed down inside Frontierland’s new, covered drydock which we reported last week.

The roof of that hangar-like wharf, while imposing enough next to Old Joe’s fishing pier, is certainly not high enough to accommodate the Mark Twain with his famous twin funnels intact. From here, he reversed around the Rivers of the Far West and back into the refurbishment dock. Molly Brown will resume service from this Saturday 24th March, the first to enjoy the freshly-relaid landing pier and fully repainted Thunder Mesa Riverboat Landing itself.

Mark Twain’s refurbishment is due to be just as thorough — and lengthy — as Molly Brown’s epic year-long rebuild. Damage and decay to the boat, though nowhere near as bad as his sister ship endured, is clear in the photo above. Though the ship, a reproduction of the original Mark Twain Riverboat at Disneyland in California, has seen numerous refurbishments over its lifespan, this will be the first full-scale restoration in its 20 year life so far.

PHOTOS @InsideDLParis (Twitter)

That rededication ceremony and inaugural voyage two weeks ago on Friday 25th March was a premature outing for Frontierland’s practically all-new vessel, as she immediately sailed straight back into the dock at the back of the Rivers for “final touch-ups”. But now — cue Big Country theme music — the Molly Brown has officially returned! The Western River Line’s new full-time service from Thunder Mesa Riverboat Landing began this past weekend with the first guests welcomed back on-board the ship to enjoy her new colours, new spiels and new, more specifically Western, story.

If you missed our coverage of her wonderful, in-theme rededication ceremony, you can find photos and videos here. And then, step aboard for a huge photo tour of the boat with another video and plenty of comments picked up from our Imagineer presentation.

When do you plan to take your first cruise on the new Molly Brown?

So, Friday was an exciting day both for us and for Disneyland Paris. Our group of around 15 fan website owners and reporters met at 9am sharp inside Walt’s – An American Restaurant for the first presentation about all the refurbishment projects ongoing and upcoming in 2011. But first, let’s skip ahead to 11am and the main event of the day; seeing the fruits of one of those huge restoration projections: the re-dedication of the Molly Brown riverboat.

The night before, Molly Brown had been brought around to Thunder Mesa Riverboat Landing for final checks, looking stunning on the waters with her new colours and every bulb perfectly illuminated (above). Technical crews rushed around the deck, wiping her down and making final preparations.

Note: Since we’ve a lot of photos and videos to share from these events, you’ll need to click “Continue Reading” below (only on the front page) for the full reports! Read More…

Friday, 25th March 2011 — what a wonderful day! Not just because the sun was shining brightly over Marne-la-Vallée, nor because temperatures hit a delightful 20 degrees Celsius. No, this was the day a unique gathering of Disneyland Paris blog authors, fan website creators and forum moderators were invited to an exclusive presentation about all the current and upcoming developments in 2011 at the European magic kingdom. As the guy behind both this website and DLRP Magic.com, I was lucky enough to be invited along — the only attendee from the United Kingdom!

Peggie Fariss, the new head of Walt Disney Imagineering Paris led a fascinating meeting with contributions from several more key figures in the upkeep of the parks and resort, unveiling perhaps the most expansive programme of refurbishments and renewals ever seen at Disneyland Paris. With two presentations revealing umpteen pages of news and surprises, a tour of the projects and of course the re-dedication of the Molly Brown riverboat in a fantastic ceremony at Thunder Mesa Riverboat Landing, there was a lot to take in and a whole lot to be excited about. So this week, DLRP Today.com will tell you what’s new and what’s next… direct from Disneyland Paris!

It’s official: the Molly Brown riverboat will return to the Rivers of the Far West as planned this Friday, with a special re-dedication ceremony even planned to mark the occasion. Having been practically rebuilt during an extensive year-long restoration, the unique side-wheel riverboat will be re-dedicated by Disneyland Paris ambassadors Régis Alart and Osvaldo del Mistero at 11am this Friday, 25th March. The public event will take place at Thunder Mesa Riverboat Landing in Frontierland, so be sure to drop by if you’re visiting the resort and witness a little piece of Disneyland Paris history.

As noted in the comments following our article last week, the riverboat has actually lost her “Queen of River” title during the restoration, with the side wheels now displaying the slightly more generic nomenclature: “Western River Line”. It remains to be seen what other smaller changes may have taken place. DLRP Today will be reporting back from the rebuilt vessel’s maiden cruise and might even tweet a few live updates on Friday — so follow us on Twitter, if you’re not already!

Well, just look at this grand old dame! The Molly Brown riverboat is finally nearing the end of her complete bow-to-stern refurbishment, much needed after several years of problems and neglect. A refurbishment that has lasted almost an entire year and has seen the side-wheel riverboat, unique to Disneyland Paris, practically rebuilt from scratch. Indeed, back in July the boat had been stripped back to nothing more than a shell in the dry dock. This weekend, the dock is filled with water and Molly Brown has never looked better.

She’s even been given a refreshed paint design, with the old turquoise rim around the lower deck turned maroon and two more matching maroon accents added around the other two decks. The old dark green single funnel now appears more black in appearance, with a gold band around its top. If all goes to plan, the rebuilt boat will steam out into the Rivers of the Far West for her maiden voyage next week.

VIA Photos Magiques