The Disneyland Resort Canoe Races are one of the oldest and most beloved cast traditions. Teams of Disney cast members and employees race around the Rivers of America in spirited and friendly competition. (Photo by Joshua Sudock, Disneyland Resort)

The Disneyland Resort Canoe Races are one of the oldest and most beloved cast traditions. Teams of Disney cast members and employees race around the Rivers of America in spirited and friendly competition. (Photo by Joshua Sudock, Disneyland Resort)

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The Disneyland Resort Canoe Races are one of the oldest and most beloved cast traditions. Teams of Disney cast members and employees race around the Rivers of America in spirited and friendly competition. (Photo by Joshua Sudock, Disneyland Resort)

The Disneyland Resort Canoe Races are one of the oldest and most beloved cast traditions. Teams of Disney cast members and employees race around the Rivers of America in spirited and friendly competition. (Photo by Joshua Sudock, Disneyland Resort)

The Disneyland Resort Canoe Races are one of the oldest and most beloved cast traditions. Teams of Disney cast members and employees race around the Rivers of America in spirited and friendly competition. (Photo by Joshua Sudock, Disneyland Resort)



The Disneyland Resort Canoe Races are one of the oldest and most beloved cast traditions. Teams of Disney cast members and employees race around the Rivers of America in spirited and friendly competition. (Photo by Joshua Sudock, Disneyland Resort)

The Disneyland Resort Canoe Races are one of the oldest and most beloved cast traditions. Teams of Disney cast members and employees race around the Rivers of America in spirited and friendly competition. (Photo by Joshua Sudock, Disneyland Resort)

What on earth would prompt hundreds of Disneyland employees to show up at the park before the sun comes up — without being paid —just to get in the water and paddle around?

The answer is the annual summertime canoe races, which might be the most fun event at the park that most visitors will never see. They take place early in the morning, before the park opens to the public aboard Davy Crockett’s Explorer Canoes on the Rivers of America. And they’ve been held for more than 50 years.

On Tuesday, Aug. 6, some of the top teams competed in head-to-head races on a course that runs roughly from the Haunted Mansion to the Hungry Bear restaurant, while the best teams will face time trials on Wednesday morning, rowing all the way around Tom Sawyer Island.

Teams range from beginners out to have fun to hyper-competitive types, who not only practice before work at Disneyland but even go to Newport Beach to practice even more. One team called Golden Oars consists of retired employees.

“We had a retiree cast member on the Golden Oars team who’s 89 years old, and she was out there paddling every week,” said Cast Activities Program Manager Kristi Glenday, who is in her first year as canoe commissioner.

Altogether, this year the races involved 86 teams of 10 to 14 members from throughout the Walt Disney Company, including from Burbank and even farther, Glenday said. The races had to take a two-year hiatus while the Rivers of America were modified for construction of Star Wars:Galaxy’s Edge, but returned last year, she said.

The races began in 1963, when the foreman of what was then called the Indian War Canoes, Ray Van De Warker, watched a canoe full of athletes charging like crazy around the Rivers of America. This led to a debate with Jungle Cruise foreman Bob Penfield as to how fast their attractions teams could get around the river. That ultimately became a contest between cast members from Frontierland and Adventureland that has now lasted more than 50 years, spread to include cast members throughout the Walt Disney Company, and even spawned later versions at Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disney, Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland.

As might be expected, typically the top two teams consist of former and current cast members who work the Davey Crockett canoe attraction, though Glenday said they try to make it harder for them by running the races in the opposite direction than they normally paddle.

The top time ever was 3 minutes and 38 seconds, Glenday said. After all the weeks of dawn practices and then the competition, winners get … a medal. But they say it’s worth it for the fun of it all.

“We had to take a two year hiatus while they worked on the Rivers of America for Galaxy’s Edge, and they were chomping at the bit to get back to it,” Glenday said.