Walkabout The World - A Disney Podcast - Magic Kingdom Liberty Belle Riverboat Entire Experience

Episode Date: July 13, 2022

Hello Travelers! In this mid-week episode, join Orlando Correspondent Pete (The Neverland Local) for a complete ride experience aboard the Liberty Belle riverboat in the Liberty Square area of the Magic Kingdom.    As always, use good listening devices as we always record in 4 channel surround sound. We hope you enjoy the episode and thanks so much for following along!    Look us up at @WalkaboutWDW on Instagram and drop us a note to say hi! Find our producer Josh also on Instagram at @TheSteele. Say hi to our west coast correspondent Ric at @opticaljedi. Lastly give a shout to our Orlando correspondents Pete at @neverlandlocal and Chaney at @ChaneyHunt.   You can now also drop us at line at [e-mail]. Say hi, give us some suggestions on things you'd love to hear, or even record your own 'Hello Traveler' show open when you are out and about, and we'll work it into a future show!

Well, welcome back travelers to Walk About the World, your weekly auditory adventure through our Walt Disney World Resort and the occasional walkabout through Disneyland. My name is Pete and I will be taking you on a walkabout or a floatabout on the Liberty Bell Riverboat through the rivers of America so stay tuned for a relaxing gorgeous ride through the rivers of America and with that away we go. All hands stand by. Engine room, reverse one quarter. Battle line, assault battle line.

Aye, aye, sir. Battle line away. Engine room, ahead one quarter. Battle line. Aye, aye, sir. Battle line away. Engine room. Ahead one quarter. Sound last bell. Leaseman, sound off. Give me a... Mark one, mark way, mark three, mark four, deep four, ocean deep. Mark four. Engine room, head 3 quarters Stand by Steady as she goes

Captain Welcome aboard the Liberty Bell I'm your captain, Horace Bixby And my pilot with me here on the Texas Tech Is a young cop that goes by the name of Sam Clements. He's marking his 100th voyage down the river today with nary a calamity on his watch so far. Sam knows this river like his own backyard. Sam, tell our guest everything you know about this river.

Well, now, I always figure it is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt. But I will tell you this, I love this river more than anything else. I've loved this river even from the time I was a toddler back in Missouri. Before we get too much further out of port, I think I should mention that you best not be sitting on those handrails. They're the only thing between you and the river, and the river don't always take kindly to uninvited guests. We've also had reports of river pirates operating in the vicinity, so I wonder... Now for those of you on the port side, that river town was passing in its frontier land. A few years back, it was no more than a boon town carved out of the wilderness by a handful of settlers looking to start a new life.

Today, Gentility and Tecora are running rampant. Oh, it still has to be. There's traffic, school boating, prospecting, and many more too. But mostly it's flush times and well on its way to becoming a fine big city. Frontierland reminds me some of my own hometown, Hanover. It takes me back to when I was a barefoot boy growing up alongside the riverbanks. You know, it seems to me that when I was younger, I could remember everything, whether it happened or not. But as I grow older, I seem to remember only the things that never happened at all. See that peak just beyond the outskirts of Frontierland? That's Chickapin Hill, or at least it used to be.

Dam burst a few years back, and folks been calling it Splash Mountain ever since. Some have even taken to riding hollowed-out logs over the big falls. Seems far-fetched, I know, but it's the truth. All my life, it seems I never could tell a lie that anybody would doubt, nor a truth that anybody would believe. But believe me when I tell you,

truth is the most valuable thing we have. So I make sure I only use it with economy. so Hope we're enjoying the cruise so far. Just passing Big Thunder Mountain here on our left hand side. That island over across the way on the starboard side was my stomping grounds when I was young. Exceedingly young. Marvelously young. Young by hundreds of years. Younger than I will ever be again. It's called Tom Sawyer's Island and is named for a

friend from my boyhood. Even today, the only way you can get there is by wreck. Old man Harper's grain mill is there, back in the woods just off Tom's Landing. And that's Muff Potter's pond and his windmill. We almost hanged, Muff, once. And there's Huck's landing. I always did like Huck. He could swear just wonderful. He and Tom and I spent most of our wild and reckless years exploring that island. Lots of caves.

Lots of adventures. And you know where to look. And you all knew where to look. That's Superstition Bridge. It connects the Big Island to the Little One. If you follow the wilderness trail there, it'll lead you right up to the gates of Fort Langley. It's the last trading out boat before we head into Indian Country.

Look off to the port side there. Every now and then, the water under that crest of rock comes to a natural boil and spurts out all over the place like a tea kettle left on the fire too long. The Indians around here used to tell me these geysers were actually unfriendly spirits, upset by uninvited trespassers traipsing all over their sacred hunting grounds. Be that as it may, that's Big Thunder Mountain poking up in the sky over there. The Indians name it that because of the sound the falls used to make when the big rains came. Then the miners and prospectors and get-rich-quick speculators showed up, and the name sucked because of the sound of drafting powder going off every few minutes. There's not so much left in these boys. Just ghost stories about a runaway mine train rolling down with simple-hearted, terror-filled folks like you. Tom Sawyer Island on our right hand side approaching the fishermen up here on the left

and if it were working the railroad railroad to our left hand side as well. Røde Røde R1 Well, I'll be. Look who's drifted out of the bayou. Off to port, Captain. It's Beacon Joe. Old Beacon's been marking this river for longer than I can remember. Every time the river cuts a new channel, Old Beacon puts out a marker to let us know whether it's safe to travel or not. However, Sam here has been bragging that if push came to shove, he could navigate the Liberty Bell on a heavy do. Isn't that so, Sam? Well, I was born humble, Captain, but Village to port. Now that's something you don't see much out this way.

That's an Algonquin Indian Village. Looks to be from the Powhatan tribe. Usually they stay further east. I've seen Seminole and Miami this far west, and of course Shoshone, Blackfeet, and Crow, but I've never seen Algonquins out here. Lots of game out this way. I've seen moose and deer and plenty of other critters along the shoreline.

Could be why the Powhatans are out this far. Just following the food trail. That other village off to port has been here a while. Most of the Indians along the river don't quite know what to make of our steamboat. They call it Enelor, which means fire canoe, because of the smoke and sparks pouring out of our comm stack. The first time we passed this way, they thought it was the return of one of their heavenly messengers. They said our river boy was a comet of the sun.

Just beyond the village, up that hill, is their sacred burial ground. Those who fall in battle are placed atop the traditional bed of death. After nightfall, they'll return to mourn the great warriors who brought honor to the tribe. Attention deck watch. Choles to port and starboard. Engine room, steady on. We're entering shallow water, but there's no cause for worry. Sam knows every shoal and shallow, every snag and sandbar in this part of the river, and he'll navigate us through to safe water. You wouldn't steer us wrong, would you, Sam?

I believe we ought never to do wrong, Captain, especially when others are looking. Leadsmen, sing out. Mugwark, waterless tree, half twain, half twain, half mugwain, half twain, half Mark Twain. Waterless! Red flag, red flag, touch it! Those of you that have been this way before know that the water can get fairly shallow along this stretch of the river. The leadsmen call out the depth. Eachgue is a fathom or six feet.

Mark Twain is two fathoms, and for us Cutthroat Corner. Attention deck crew, stay alert. If there's river pirates out here, this is where they'll most likely be. If I can hear them from here, but from all the commotion and sounds like their entrance lie elsewhere. We're approaching the backside. started out as trading posts. Then as settlers started heading west, the army came in and took them over. My feeling is, these days, there's a lot less frontier and a lot more civilization than is truly necessary. Leedsman, give me a depth reading. Sing out. By the bar.

Half way in. But one. But we. No bottom. But we know but don't see water But we see passage Do you see that brick mansion back over yonder there in the woods? I've heard folks hereabouts say it's haunted. They say it was built on sacred Indian burial grounds, so now it's filled with spirits. If you ask me, I'd say the ones telling those tales are the ones filled with spirits. If you want proof, just ask them. They got it. About a hundred proof, I reckon. And whatever you do, don't strike

any matches if they aim to breathe in your direction. You won't just be seeing ghosts, you'll be joining them. We're approaching Liberty Square, which is home port for us. We'll be putting in the docks shortly, so those of you on the upper two decks might be of a mind to collect all your parcels and head to the lower deck. If you've got young'uns, you'll want to take them in hand before they get out of hand. On behalf of the captain, myself, and the crew, thanks for flying the waterways with us, and I hope I see you next time around the river bend. Thanks Sam and thank you everyone for traveling the rivers of America with us today. Engine room, approach levee at one-quarter steam. Man the bowline. Cursor, check freight and cargo. All hands prepare to dock. All passengers stand by to go ashore. Welcome back to Liberty Square. At this time, please gather your personal belongings and take small children by the hand as you make your way to the lower deck to exit. That will

be our very bottom deck, all the way down, down, down to the deck closest to the water for our one and only exit. Do watch your step as you exit and enjoy the rest of your day here at Magic Kingdom. Well, that about does it. Thanks again for joining us this week for the floatabout, sailabout, relaxabout on the Liberty Bell of Rivers America. Look us up on Instagram at walkaboutwdw. That is our one and only social media outlet

where we interact with you guys. So please give us a follow and drop us a note. We'd love to hear from you. Find our host Jeremy on Instagram at Jeremy underscore Hunt underscore FL. Find producer and co-host Josh at The Steel with an E. And find our West Coast correspondent Rick at Optical Jedi. Also, if you're looking for me, my name's Pete,

and I can be found under Neverland Local, and also our newest member of the team, Chaney at Chaney Hunt. You can find out about Wogabow on any of your favorite podcatchers, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Please consider giving us a review or just drop us a note. Let us know how the episode was, how the episodes are going and what you'd like to hear from us.

And lastly, as we always say, there's a great big beautiful tomorrow out there and we will see you on one of those on another episode of Walk About the World. Take care.