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00:10Behind the gates of Frontierland is the inspirational America of the past century.
00:15Here is the treasure of our native folklore.
00:18The songs, tales and legends of the big men who built the land.
00:22Guests could see Tom Sawyer's Island on opening day in 1955, but they couldn't access it until the summer of 1956.
00:36That's when the D-ticket wraps to Tom Sawyer's Island began operating their regular service between a dock on Frontierland's riverbank and another one on the island's southern tip about 100 feet away,
00:47with some 40 or so passengers at a time making the one-minute trip at about 4 miles per hour.
00:53The raft crossing is still only made during daylight hours.
00:57These rafts do not run on underwater tracks.
01:00They are instead steered by cast members.
01:02The names of the rafts are Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, Engine Joe, and Becky Thatcher.
01:07In 2006, rafts Becky Thatcher, Huck Finn, and Engine Joe were renamed to Blackbeard, Anne Bonny, and Captain Kidd.
01:15It's a short trip across the river to fun with balancing rocks, secret caves, and a barrel bridge.
01:20Tom and Huck never had it so good.
01:23Specs. Capacity 1,485 per hour. Capacity per raft 55. Cycle time 4 minutes 22 seconds. Load time 26 seconds. Unload time 34 seconds. Trip time 1 minute 11 seconds.
01:31Dispatch interval 2 minutes 13 seconds. Trips per hour 27. Distance travel 240 feet. Speed 1.7 miles per hour.
01:39Here are a few shots of the controls for the rafts.
01:45Here are a few shots of a cast member getting the rafts ready for the day.
