A Friday Visit with Jim Korkis: Miss Adventure Falls
By Dave Shute
Welcome back to Fridays with Jim Korkis! Jim, the dean of Disney historians and author of Jim’s Gems in The easy Guide, writes about Walt Disney World history every Friday on yourfirstvisit.net.
MISS ADVENTURE FALLS
By Jim Korkis
Miss Adventure Falls opened at the Disney World water park Typhoon Lagoon on March 12, 2017. Built on two acres near the pineapple fields of Crush’ n’ Gusher, the water rafting attraction was originally announced as “Miss Fortune Falls”. It was added to the water park to strengthen its competitiveness against Universal Orlando’s new Volcano Bay water attraction.
(c) Disney
Its story is that fictitious Captain Mary Oceaneer, a treasure-hunting heroine who collects and protects deep sea antiquities, got stranded with her pet parrot at Typhoon Lagoon years ago by a rogue storm.
On “treasure” rafts, Disney guests journey up past Mary’s wrecked ship, the M.S. Salty IV, with a massive hole in the side hull revealing her talking pet parrot, an audio-animatronics figure who sings and talks at a telescope trying to keep track of the unique artifacts that have been scattered when the ship crashed.
From there, it becomes a white-water adventure with twists, turns and dips that also feature some of the treasures along the way that Mary and her parrot have gathered in their travels around the seven seas. With a ride time of two minutes, it is the lengthiest slide experience at any Disney water park.
Mary is part of a new ongoing storyline at the Disney theme parks centered around the members of S.E.A. (Society of Explorers and Adventurers) inspired by the affection for the former Adventurers Club that operated at Downtown Disney. She appears in a portrait of the S.E.A. members in the queue of Tokyo DisneySea’s Mystic Manor.
Other prominent members of that fabled group include Harrison Hightower III, Lord Henry Mystic, Barnabas T. Bullion, Dr. Albert Falls and founding member Jason Chandler.
Captain Mary Oceaneer is also the main character of the Oceaneer Labs on the Disney Cruise ships. Portraits of her and her parrot named Salty show them to be treasure hunters, oceanographers and deep-sea divers. In fact, her diving suit is on display.
Her back story is that she and her parrot found treasure on and below Castaway Cay and established the first Pirate Party onboard the ship. For the new water park attraction, the parrot has been named Duncan.
The same storm that transformed Typhoon Lagoon also beached her ship and left her stranded. The impact scattered her nautical treasures around the tropical paradise.
The entrance of the attraction is composed of items from the shipwreck, including a bird cage, a diving helmet, a vintage Adventurer’s magazine with a cover painting of a smiling Mary. That undated magazine is Under the Sea Quarterly: The Magazine by and for Divers. Special Edition. “Treasures from the Deep. Meet Mary Oceaneer Collector & Protector of Deep Sea Antiquities.”
The queue is filled with items including unopened crates of S.E.A. artifacts, crackers for the Captain’s parrot, as well as parrot-shaped footprints.
Also nearby is Mary’s diving bell with the S.E.A. motto, “Exploratio Continua”, and underneath Atlantean lettering first created for the Disney animated feature film Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001).
“Burma Shave” style individual signs share the story: “Follow the adventures of Captain Mary Oceaneer aboard a family raft ride featuring rushing rapids, an enclosed slide flume and treasures around every twist and turn. Captain Mary and her parrot…Dove for treasure hoping to share it… As they were hauling their treasures to port… a typhoon hit and cut their trip short. Bon Voyage.”
A map is posted indicating where there are gold coins, pearls and gems, “shiney” objects, sandals and crackers along the shores of Blustery Bay and Leaning Palms.
On the bookshelves of the Skipper Canteen restaurant in Adventureland is a copy of the book Parrots as Pets by Mary Oceaneer.
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Thanks, Jim! And come back next Friday for more from Jim Korkis!
In the meantime, check out his books, including his latest, Secret Stories of Disneyland, his Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Things You Never You Never Knew
, which reprints much material first written for this site, and his contributions to The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit, all published by Theme Park Press.
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