Many people don’t know that the Sailing Ship Columbia was not Walt’s first choice for a second historic ship on the Rivers of America. In 1956, while talking to a reporter, Walt explained his initial plans to expand his antique armada at Disneyland.

Tradition means a lot to us at Disney Parks and today we’re sharing a glimpse at one of our Cast favorites – canoe races. Canoe Races of the World, also known as C.R.O.W., is a beloved annual Cast Member event that dates back to 1963 at Disneyland, 1973 at Walt Disney World Resort and is now at Disney Parks worldwide.

The river began refilling earlier this week with recycled water just like was done with the water for the lagoon at Disney’s California Adventure.

Some of the new scenes included a new resident in the settler’s cabin on the island, Mike Fink from Walt Disney’s television mini-series, “Davy Crockett.”

A small herd of deer were spotted near a new stream tumbling down the rocks from the tracks for the Disneyland Railroad.

With the help of what looks like a fire company’s hose, Disney began re-filling the Rivers of America on Monday. “Look, they’re refilling it,” said one mother to her daughter as they peeked through the temporary fence Disneyland set up in front of New Orleans Square around the famous waterway surrounding Tom Sawyer Island.

Disneyland last drained its Rivers of America seven years ago, so workers found a lot of accumulated stuff when it emptied the green-dyed waterway in January.

But the most unusual item by far was a computer tower, said Dan Chambers, a project manager at Disneyland. Workers are unsure how the plastic box for plugs and discs got in the water path around Tom Sawyer Island.