The Jungle Cruise is an attraction located in Adventureland at many Disney Parks, including Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, and Tokyo Disneyland. At Hong Kong Disneyland, the attraction is named Jungle River Cruise. Disneyland Paris and Shanghai Disneyland are the only Magic Kingdom-style Disney parks that do not have the Jungle Cruise in their attraction rosters.
The attraction simulates a riverboat cruise down several major rivers of Asia, Africa and South America. Park guests board replica tramp steamers from a 1930s British explorers' lodge and are taken on a voyage past many different Audio-Animatronic jungle animals. The tour is led by a live Disney cast member delivering a humorous narration. This narration is based on a written and practiced script, but generally is largely delivered ad-lib.
Inspiration and design
Sources of inspiration for the attraction include a 1955 True-Life Adventure, "The African Lion," about a pride of lions, and the film The African Queen. Imagineer Harper Goff referenced the African Queen frequently in his ideas; even his designs of the ride vehicles were inspired by the steamer used in the film. The project was placed on the schedule to open with the July 17, 1955 debut of Disneyland.
When plans began to develop, Bill Evans, the Imagineer responsible for landscaping Disneyland and most of Walt Disney World, faced the daunting task of creating a convincing jungle on a limited budget. Aside from importing many actual tropical plants, he made wide use of "character plants" which, while not necessarily exotic, could give the appearance of exoticism in context. In a particularly well-known trick, he uprooted local orange trees and "replanted" them upside-down, growing vines on the exposed roots. Disney controls the clarity of the water (known as "turbidity") in order to obscure from guests' view the boat's guidance system and undesirable items like perches and mechanized platforms of the bathing elephants and hippos. Initially, the clean water was dyed brown but after a few years the colorant was changed to a green hue and in recent years a bluish-green has been used. The water of the Jungle Cruise is approximately 5 feet deep and is part of the park's 'dark' water system which circulates southward from the northern end of Frontierland's Rivers of America, through Fantasyland and creates the moat of Sleeping Beauty Castle. The water's journey continues flowing past Frontierland's entrance and into Adventureland where it meanders alongside the Tiki Room before entering the Jungle Cruise beside the ride's exit. The water returns to the south end of the Rivers of America via a 37" diameter underground pipe near Tarzan's Treehouse. Originally, the Jungle Cruise waterway was 1,920 feet in length before being slightly shortened and re-routed in 1994.
Although Goff and Evans can be credited with the creation and initial design of the ride, Marc Davis, recognized for his work on venerable attractions such as the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean, added his own style to the ride in later versions and Disneyland updates. The "Indian Elephant Bathing Pool" and "Rhinoceros Chasing Explorers up a Pole" were among his contributions.
Effect on Walt Disney
In a popular story recounted by Jeff Lange, a writer for weblogging site Jim Hill Media, an experience at the Jungle Cruise helped bolster Walt Disney's obsession with the concept of 'plussing', or continuous improvement. The story claims that Walt overheard a mother visiting Disneyland telling her child that since they had been on the ride the last time they visited the park, they did not need to ride it again. In horror, he put his Imagineers to work designing upgrades to the ride. Many similar variations of this story exist.
Disneyland
The attraction was in the opening day roster of the park, and has remained open and largely unchanged in theme and story since then. The original plan was to use real animals, but the animals would have been sleeping during the day. Aside from alterations and maintenance changes, four completely new show scenes have been added to date. In 1994 the river channel was rerouted to make way for the queue buildings and entrance courtyard of the Indiana Jones Adventure.
While the current version and most previous instances have made use of a comedic spiel, filled with intentionally bad puns, the original intent of the ride was to provide a realistic, believable voyage through the world's jungles. Until 1962, the original spiel had no jokes and sounded much like the narration of a nature documentary.
Attraction summary
The queue and station are themed as the headquarters and boathouse of the Jungle Navigation Company, a river trading company located in a British colony (as evidenced by the Union Jack flying above the boathouse) circa 1938. The queuing area is cluttered with appropriate props, such as pinned insects, an old radio on top of a bookshelf, and a chessboard with miniature animals and decorated shotgun shells replacing the pieces. The extended queue winds upstairs, underneath an Audio-Animatronic hornbill, and then downstairs again. Big band music from the 1940s plays overhead, punctuated by jungle-related news bulletins, helping to reinforce the setting and threading together the show scenes and boat.
Once aboard the boats, guests are introduced to their skipper and they head into the jungle, allegedly never to return. The first rivers simulated are the Irrawaddy and Mekong rivers, representing tropical Southeast Asia. The boats sail through a dense rainforest inhabited by large butterflies and a pair of toucans, before passing by the Temple of the Forbidden Eye and a shrine to the Hindu monkey deity Hanuman. Passengers then glide precariously under the first of a pair of stone arches severely damaged by an earthquake centuries ago. These are part of the ruins of an ancient Cambodian city where a crumbling temple is one of the few things which have managed to avoid tumbling into the river. Here passengers see a Bengal tiger, giant spiders, king cobras and mugger crocodiles. Passing a statue of the elephant-headed Hindu deity Ganesha, the boats pass under the second arch and enter the Sacred Indian Elephant Bathing Pool. Here a large herd of Indian elephants frolic and squirt water at the passing vessels.
The theme moves to the rivers of Africa, and riders see a family of baboons, and a safari camp that has been overrun by gorillas. The boats narrowly avoid the dramatic waterfall, Schweitzer Falls (which riders are told is named after Dr. Albert Falls), and turn down Africa's Nile river where they pass between two African elephants, and large termite mounds. A tableau of the African Veldt follows, showing zebras, wildebeest, giraffes, and gazelles watching a pride of lions feasting on a zebra beneath a rocky outcropping. Beyond the lion's den, an angry rhinoceros has chased a safari party up a tree. Antelope and hyenas watch from nearby. The skipper then pilots the boat into the Congo river disturbing a pod of hippos that signal their intent to attack the boat. Armed with a gun filled with blanks, the skipper fires into the air to frighten them away.
Drums and chanting are heard as the boats come to headhunter territory. The vehicles pass a native village before sailing into an ambush by natives wielding spears, the sound effects for which are usually provided by the skipper.
The boats now pass behind Schweitzer Falls (referred to as "the Backside of Water") to enter the Amazon River. Skeletal animal remains and warning signs featuring pictures of dagger-toothed fish forewarn the next show scene, where the boats encounter a swarm of leaping piranha. The guests then pass a couple of water buffalo and a boa constrictor before they meet shrunken head dealer Trader Sam ("He'll trade you two of his heads for just one of yours") before returning to the dock.
Major changes
- 1957 - Addition of rainforest, pair of menacing gorillas, native war party and dancing natives. Trader Sam begins offering his "... two for one deal."
- 1961 - Original two-story boathouse removed; open waterway between Jungle Cruise and Rivers of America filled in to create space for the Swiss Family Treehouse walk-through attraction (now Tarzan's Treehouse.)
- 1962 - A $7 million enhancement of Adventureland includes the addition of the Indian elephant pool and temple of Ganesha/lost city/Cambodian ruins scenes along the Jungle Cruise.
- 1963 - African elephants re-positioned on the Nile river section; removal of two original lions and pair of 'charging' rhinos.
- 1964 - African Veldt and Trapped Safari scenes.
- 1976 - Addition and enhancement of several scenes: crocodiles snapping at hornbill, Bengal tiger and cobras added to Cambodian ruins, safari camp overrun by gorillas, gorilla battling crocodile, baboons on termite mounds, lions feasting on zebra moved into new rock outcropping/den, python threatening water buffalo calf replacing gorillas threatening from the river banks.
- 1993 - Boats repainted and "weathered" in anticipation of Indiana Jones Adventure
- 1994 - Addition of new two-story boathouse queue; attraction re-themed to take place in June 1938 to coincide with the construction of Indiana Jones Adventure.
- 1997 - Replacement of the original ride boats with slightly longer models with increased capacity.
- 2005 - Various replacements and reconstructions including complete replacement of Schweitzer Falls; addition of piranhas; updates to safari jeep camp scene including 'exploding' gasoline drums
- 2010 - After 55 years of growth and care, Disneyland's man-made jungle is declared "real" and complete with its own ecosystem.
- 2013 - During the Holiday season, the Jungle Cruise turned into the "Jingle Cruise," a new Christmas overlay. This did not see many changes to the jungle itself (other than the skippers using a holiday-themed script), but the boathouse was decorated and the boats were renamed temporarily and covered in Christmas lights.
- 2014 - The holiday "Jingle Cruise" overlay is redone and is a dramatic departure from the previous year. This time, there is very little decoration on the boats and in the boathouse itself, but instead the various show scenes out in the jungle are covered in Christmas and Hanukkah decorations. The skippers are given another new script, one that reflects the various holiday-themed show scenes the boat sails through. The Jingle Cruise is also given a new story: A shipment of holiday supplies intended for the skippers crash-landed in the jungle instead, and the skippers are taking their passengers out to go find the decorations. The boats are also given new holiday names, different from the ones used the year before.
- 2015 - The "Jingle Cruise" overlay from 2014 was reused for the 2015 holiday season, using the 2014 script, boat names, and show scenes. There was one new scene added, involving giant snowmen and snowflakes on the termite mounds by the African Veldt.
- 2016 - A four-month refurbishment lasting from January until May included a new dock designed to stabilize the boats while loading and unloading, as well as some mechanical animal repairs, replacement of the on-ride audio systems, and tree replacement.
Description of specific changes: The baboons at the safari jeep camp previously sat on the African termite mounds. A total of six lions have been removed since opening day: one that growled when the African Veldt was added, two lionesses from the Veldt that were fighting over a bloody strand of zebra meat, a lion and a lioness that each had a zebra leg in their mouth, and a dead lion hanging on a spit over a fire in the native village. Also removed from the Veldt were jackals barking at the pride.
Boats
There are 12 vehicles, with a maximum of 8 in operation at any given time. The boats in 1955 were painted as clean, idealized replicas, but have since been given a more realistic theming reflecting the grunge and wear of actual watercraft due to the addition of Indiana Jones Adventure and its ruggedness. Names in use:
- Amazon Belle (Renamed "Jingle Belle" during Christmas)
- Congo Queen (Renamed "Congo Caroler" then "Candy Cane Queen" during Christmas)
- Ganges Gal (Renamed "Ganges Garland" then "Gingerbread Gal" during Christmas)
- Hondo Hattie (Renamed "Hondo Hollie" then "Hanukkah Hattie" during Christmas)
- Irrawaddy Woman (Renamed "Irrawaddy Snowwoman" during Christmas)
- Kissimmee Kate (Renamed "Yule Kissimmee" then "Kissimmee Under the Mistetoe" during Christmas)
- Nile Princess (Wheelchair equipped) (Renamed "Nile Nutcracker" then "Noel Princess" during Christmas)
- Orinoco Adventuress (Renamed "Orinoco Ornament" then Navidad Adventuress" during Christmas)
- Suwannee Lady (Renamed "Sugar Plum Lady" during Christmas)
- Ucayali Una (Wheelchair equipped) (Renamed "Ucayali Eggnog" then "Evergreen Una" during Christmas)
- Yangtze Lotus (Renamed "Yuletide Lotus" during Christmas)
- Zambezi Miss (Renamed "Peppermint Miss" during Christmas)
Names decommissioned in 1997:
- Magdalena Maiden
- Mekong Maiden
Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland
Attraction summary
The skipper introduces himself or herself, and begins to take the boat full of guests down the tropical rivers of the world. The ride starts out in the Amazon River, where the passengers encounter butterflies with one-foot wingspans, or as the skipper might say, twelve inches. The boat then passes Inspiration Falls, which transitions into the Congo River in Africa.
The skipper explains that there is a pygmy welcoming party waiting for them, but when the boat arrives at the beach, the canoes are empty, and the place deserted. The skipper wonders what scared off the pygmies, and they soon discover that it was a giant python. The boat then passes a camp that has been raided by gorillas, which transitions the cruise into the Nile River.
After encountering two elephants, the boat passes along the African Veldt, where numerous African animals watch a pride of lions eat their kill. The boat then passes a lost safari group that has been chased up a pole by an angry rhinoceros and are now trapped. The group then passes by another waterfall, Schweitzer Falls (which riders are told is named after Dr. Albert Falls)and heads past the remains of a plane crash. The boat then encounters a pool of hippos, about to charge the boat until the skipper scares them off. Ominous drums are heard as the group enters headhunter territory. Natives are seen dancing near the boat and guests soon find themselves in an ambush. They escape and proceed into the Mekong River.
They enter a temple which has been destroyed by an earthquake. Inside, baboons, cobras, and a tiger can be found. After they exit, they come across an elephant bathing pool where numerous elephants are relaxing in the water. The boat narrowly avoids being sprayed by water from one of the elephants. The cruise concludes after passing Chief Nami, the head salesman of the jungle, who offers two shrunken heads for one of the passengers'.
Magic Kingdom
The Walt Disney World Jungle Cruise is set as a depression era British outpost on the Amazon River, operated by the fictional company, The Jungle Navigation Co., whose advertisement poster is painted on the wall near the exit of the attraction. Albert Awol's broadcast is different from that of Disneyland's, being ride specific. Also unlike Disneyland, the queue never extended to a second level. The skippers at the Magic Kingdom no longer carry revolvers loaded with blanks. These real guns have been replaced with realistic props.
Near the Hippo Pool, a piece of a downed airplane can be seen along the shoreline. This is the back half of the Lockheed Model 12 Electra Junior found at The Great Movie Ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios in the Casablanca scene.
Each variety of plant throughout the attraction was carefully selected by landscape architect Bill Evans to ensure that the foliage would be able to endure Florida's unique climate: hot summers and relatively cool winters. The most difficult aspect of this was making sure these plants had the appropriate look and feel of traditional tropical plants in the equatorial jungle.
A Holiday overlay, Jingle Cruise, runs during the Holiday season at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World and the Disneyland Resort. This started in the Holiday season of 2013
Queue
The queue of the Jungle Cruise is heavily themed with period artifacts, tools, gear, photos and more. It is intended to resemble an outpost where an exploration of the jungle rivers may be booked. It is divided into four main sections which may be opened or closed in sequence to accommodate crowd fluctuation. The queue was designed to wind about extensively so that guests may see all of the different artifacts in the queue. The most notable section of the queue is the office of Albert Awol.
Boats
There are 15 vehicles, with a maximum of 10 in operation at any given time.
Current boats
- Amazon Annie (Renamed "Eggnog Annie" during Christmas)
- Bomokandi Bertha (Wheelchair lift equipped) (Renamed "Brrrrr Bertha" during Christmas)
- Congo Connie (Renamed "Candy Cane Connie" during Christmas)
- Ganges Gertie (Renamed "Garland Gertie" during Christmas)
- Irrawaddy Irma (Renamed "Icicle Irma" during Christmas)
- Mongala Millie (Renamed "Mistletoe Millie" during Christmas)
- Nile Nellie (Renamed "Noel Nellie" during Christmas)
- Orinoco Ida (Renamed "Orino-cocoa Ida" during Christmas)
- Rutshuru Ruby (Renamed "Reindeer Ruby" during Christmas)
- Sankuru Sadie (Renamed "Sleigh Ride Sadie" during Christmas)
- Senegal Sal (Renamed "Poinsettia Sal" during Christmas)
- Ucyali Lolly (Renamed "Yule Log Lolly" during Christmas)
- Volta Val (Renamed "Vixen Val" during Christmas)
- Wamba Wanda (Wheelchair lift equipped) (Renamed "Wassail Wanda" during Christmas)
- Zambezi Zelda (Renamed "Fruitcake Zelda" during Christmas)
Retired boats
- Kwango Kate (Retired in 2000)
Tokyo Disneyland
The Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland attractions are very similar to each other, with the exception of a few minor differences. While the boats in the Magic Kingdom's attraction travel counter-clockwise, the boats at Tokyo Disneyland travel in a clockwise direction.
In Tokyo Disneyland, the station and surrounding area are themed to a more upscale African city, as opposed to an isolated jungle outpost. This version shares a station building with the park's steam train ride, Western River Railroad. The spiels in Tokyo Disneyland are delivered in Japanese.
Boats
There are 13 vehicles, with a maximum of 12 in operation at any given time.
All boat names, except Orinoco Ida, are alliterations.
- Amazon Annie
- Congo Connie
- Ganges Gertie
- Irrawaddy Irma
- Kwango Kate
- Nile Nelly
- Orinoco Ida
- Rutshuru Ruby
- Sankuru Sadie
- Senegal Sal
- Volta Val
- Wamba Wanda
- Zambezi Zelda
Disneyland Paris
Disneyland Paris does not have any Jungle Cruise attraction, due to the cold temperature and weather of northern France. Because many copies of the original Jungle Cruise attractions exist in other French theme parks, French guests might be used to the experience and not find it exciting. An indoor jeep ride called Jungle Expedition was originally planned at the opening of the park, but was cancelled due to financial difficulties.
Hong Kong Disneyland
The shape of Hong Kong Disneyland's route is significantly different compared to the others, and circumnavigates Tarzan's Treehouse. A grand finale is included with a battle between angry fire and water gods. Three languages are regularly available: Cantonese, English, and Mandarin. Each language has a separate queue, allowing visitors to experience the journey in their preferred language.
Attraction summary
The queue takes place in a small boathouse of The Jungle Navigation Co. that is less elaborate than the boathouses found at the other parks. After winding through the queue, guests board one of the boats and meet their skipper who speaks either English, Cantonese, or Mandarin, to accompany the park's guests who speak many different languages themselves.
The boats then depart and head down the river, past Tarzan's Treehouse where the skipper tells guests to wave goodbye to the guests traversing the treehouse, for they will never see them again. The boats then drift past a mother Indian elephant and her calf playing in the water, followed by another elephant showering in a waterfall. A large bull Indian elephant emerges from the water squirting a plume of water at the boats with the guests narrowly avoiding the free shower.
The vessels then drift down a narrow stream past ancient Cambodian ruins which have been claimed by the jungle. Giant spiders and king cobras watch the boats as they move on. Up ahead several crocodiles are seen resting on a small beach, while a school of hungry piranha are jumping in the hopes of attacking the guests. The boats escape into Africa and they pass a large safari camp where several curious gorillas have discovered clothes, guns, hammocks, and books, as the "Trashing the Camp" song from Tarzan plays on a nearby 1930s radio. The African Veldt comes into view where antelope, giraffes, zebras, and African elephants stare at the boats. The vessels then drift into a small pool where a pod of hippos try to tip the boat. Several feet ahead a rhino is seen chasing a safari group up a tree while several hyenas look on laughing.
Skulls and cloth impaled on broken bamboo sticks appears as tribal drums and horns fill the air. The skipper tells guests that they have entered head hunter country and must quietly sneak by. The boats slowly pass through the main village where several upright shields rest in the tall grass. A native notices the boats and all the shields now revealed to have head hunters behind them begin firing spears and poison darts at the boats as they narrowly escape into a rocky canyon. In the rocky canyon, the boats stop near two unusual rock formations that look like faces, revealed by the skipper to be the fire god and the water god who constantly feud over their differences. The fire god sets the river ablaze while the water god vomits a water bomb, causing the flames to die and the whole canyon to become a cloud of steam. The boats escape the canyon and pass a baby elephant before returning to the boathouse.
Major changes
- 2006 - Piranha Attack and Trapped Safari scenes added, enhancement of Gorilla Camp, African Veldt, and Headhunter Territory
- 2007 - Temporary scenes added during the "Pirate Takeover" summer event (from May to August); attraction name changed to "Jungle River Cruise, Pirate Takeover!"
- 2015 - Temporary scenes added during Halloween event; attraction name changed to "Jungle River Cruise - Curse of the Emerald Trinity"
Boats
There are 9 vehicles, with a maximum of 8 in operation at any given time.
- Amazon Annie
- Congo Queen (Wheelchair accessible)
- Ganges Gal
- Irrawaddy Irma
- Lijiang Lady
- Mekong Maiden
- Nile Nellie
- Yangzi Ying Ying
- Zambezi Zelda
Albert Awol
Albert Awol is a fictional Jungle Cruise boat captain and disc jockey for the Disney Broadcasting Company. Considered the "Voice of the Jungle", he broadcasts everything from news, to quizzes, reminders, weather, etc. on the DBC (Disney Broadcast Company). He also serves as a period disc jockey for the station, filling the airwaves with music from the 1930s depression era.
Albert Awol was added in 1991 to the Jungle Cruise during a refurbishment:
- "Standing in the Jungle Cruise queue was a somber affair prior to the aforementioned 1991 rehab; once guests crossed the threshold they were faced with a series of twists and turns that led past bare walls, their fellow guests and occasional glimpses of the river. There was no background music at that time either, so if the queue was full it promised a fair amount of shuffling drudgery. Of course DL's Jungle Cruise queue is now closer to the full embodiment of how cool a ride's waiting space can be, but Florida's 1991 upgrade did include queue music interspersed with radio commentary by Albert AWOL, 'the voice of the jungle.' A considerable array of visual enhancements were also made at that same time, from a series of new destination-based wall murals to the artifact-laden 'office' in the center of the queue."
Albert's broadcast is projected not just over the Jungle Cruise queuing area, but over Adventureland as a whole, setting the time period. In Disneyland, Albert is replaced by "Jungle Radio." Various air personalities comment on the environment, the luminaries who are in the area (including references to the designers of the attraction - Harper Goff, Bob Mattey, Winston Hibler [True-Life Adventure films, upon which Jungle Cruise is based]). The music is a good deal slower in pace and tempo than the tracks used at Walt Disney World. The music was previously linked with the outdoor speakers at the Temple of the Forbidden Eye (Indiana Jones Adventure), however, two separate tracks of material with similar tone and some songs now exist. The Jungle Radio at Disneyland does connect the setting with the nearby Indiana Jones attraction, and ties in announcements that reference Indiana Jones, and the temple in which the ride is set.
Jingle Cruise
Since 2013, a Christmas overlay called Jingle Cruise has run during the holiday season in the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland versions of the Jungle Cruise.
In popular culture
- There was a tribute to the ride in 2005 on an episode of the podcast The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd, as well as a Strong Bad E-mail titled "theme park".
- In the sing along songs video Disneyland Fun during "Following the Leader", Jungle Cruise made an appearance.
- Jungle Cruise was parodied as Timon and Pumbaa's Virtual Safari on The Lion King Special Edition.
- A stand up comedy show featuring only Jungle Cruise skippers, called The Skipper Stand Up Show, has been doing shows in Fullerton, California since May 2006.
- "Weird Al" Yankovic wrote and recorded a song titled "Skipper Dan" about a failed actor who ended up as a guide on the Jungle Cruise. The song is included on his 2009 digital Internet Leaks EP and his 2011 album, Alpocalypse.
- The cruise boat and the "River Expedition Company" boathouse were incorporated into an original painting and limited edition print offering by artist Randy Souders titled "Jungle Cruise", created for the 1999 Official Disneyana Convention at Disneyland.
Soundtrack
A studio recorded soundtrack of the Jungle Cruise was released in 1968 by Disneyland Records included as the B side of the album Walt Disney Presents The Enchanted Tiki Room and the Adventurous Jungle Cruise (ST-3966). The Jungle Cruise attraction has always featured narration by a live Disney cast member; for the release the narration was provided by Thurl Ravenscroft. This soundtrack was also used in Disneyland television features as early as 1964.
Film adaptation
The Jungle Cruise is an announced Disney motion picture loosely inspired by the theme park attraction of the same name. The film, originally scheduled for release in 2007, experienced various delays and changes. Shooting of the film, originally scheduled for 2006, was postponed. Moreover, the original screenplay by Josh Goldstein and John Norville was reportedly rewritten by Al Gough and Miles Millar. The film plot follows a group's riverboat journey through a jungle in search of a cure. Further details have not been forthcoming, apart from confirmation that the film is set in the twentieth century. Though initially announced to star Toy Story duo Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, a new iteration of the project is moving forward with Dwayne Johnson starring. The film is described as a "period piece in the vein of Humphrey Bogart's The African Queen."
See also
- List of current Disneyland attractions
- Magic Kingdom attraction and entertainment history
- Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar
References
External links
- Disneyland - Jungle Cruise
- Magic Kingdom - Jungle Cruise
- Tokyo Disneyland - Jungle Cruise: Wildlife Expeditions
- Hong Kong Disneyland - Jungle River Cruise