He and I spoke today and I asked him about some of the hijinks in canoe-land, here's what he had to say!

 

Hooking--A dastardly trick to commit against another canoe, you bump the back of their boat with the front of your boat and as you go by spin their tail around some more. This causes the victims canoe to spin in circles.

 

Color of the day--It's changed now I think but back in the day this ride was exclusively male cast members. If you've ever been in the canoes you can can imagine what it might be like to try and ride this attraction in a skirt. It was a joy to hear the magic words yelled out: "color of the day red 4!" Where the color was the color of someone's panties and the number, the row number they were seated in.

 

The coollllooorrrssss---There was a particular cast member who was a good friend of mine and was a deadhead (as is your humble writer!) The night that Jerry Garcia died he and I went to Griffith Park in LA for an improptu candlelight vigil. My friend ate some .... paper and was having a high ole time. Apparently we was still feeling the glow the next day because he was spotted on the canoes standing at the front blowing bubbles and asking people to say goodbye to Jerry and make a wish for Jerry! Half the people were into it and the other half were bewildered!

 

Last day--On someone's last day, they were usually encouraged to jump into those magical waters of the Rivers of America. The canoe guys were used to doing everything x10 and so instead of just jumping in off the dock, the goal was to come up with a new and more dangerous way to jump in. People have jumped off the railings, climbed onto the island and jumped off rocks and my personal fave: The time someone climbed up castle falls then jumped OVER a canoe full of passengers and into the water. mmMMMmm!