The Tomorrowland boats opened in July 1955 in the lagoon that would eventually become the submarines.
Very few people rode them and a month later they were redesigned and rechristened the Phantom Boats with tail-fins any Cadillac of the time would be proud of.
Apparently the 14 boats had a poor mechanical design and they would often overheat and leave riders stranded in the middle of the lagoon. They briefly tried adding a pilot to the boat but that couldn't overcome their problems and in 1956 the attraction got the dubious distinction of the first permanent Disneyland attraction that was closed.
You can see the train the background:
And here you can see the autopia to the right:
Don't you love the "Keep off the Grass" sign?
Art and Diane Linkletter when they were using boat pilots:
Aerial view from the buckets:
In 1957 The Motor Boat Cruise opened in a nearby lagoon. It was "B" ticket ride and now the boats were on a track with no steering or acceleration. Cast members wore little sailor outfits and the ride remained basically unchanged until the Gummi Bears were added briefly in 1991 until the rides closure in 1993.
An oldie of the loading dock:
The viewliner goes right over your head:
This isn't the best shot but I love the way it looks so vintage and you can see that the boats were named after characters:
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