Five Fun Facts: Columbia Sailing Ship
1 The Columbia opened on June 14, 1958. For the ship’s christening, Joe Fowler (Imagineer in charge of design) was dressed as an 18th century sailing captain with the Mouseketeers as his crew.
2 The original Columbia, Columbia Rediviva, was the first American ship to circumnavigate the globe in 1787. During its three year voyage, it discovered the Columbia River. (A Rivers of America cruise took about 15 minutes.)
3 Disney designers relied upon the only picture in existence along with research materials from the Library of Congress to recreate the replica as accurate as possible.
4 When Fowler told Disney it was customary to put a silver dollar under each mast before it was set, Disney personally put one under each of the three masts.
5 In Monsters, Inc., when Mike Wazowski visits a little boy’s room to make him laugh, there is a Sailing Ship Columbia poster above the bookcase near the closet door.
