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Island Skipper Tours in IOA
- Thread starter johnvree
- Start date
DigitalDisney
New Member
1. I'm not sure. It might be a seasonal attraction at this point.
2. The dock is near the edge to Lost Continent. You can get to it via the walkway that takes you to the waterfront edge of the JP Visitors Center. It's a quiet walkway that's not labelled too well.
2. The dock is near the edge to Lost Continent. You can get to it via the walkway that takes you to the waterfront edge of the JP Visitors Center. It's a quiet walkway that's not labelled too well.
Michael72688
New Member
I'm pretty sure it is closed for good, I've never seen it in operation
SkipperTina
New Member
Island Skipper Tours changed to a very seasonal attraction in 2001, and then by the next season it never reopened.
All of the orginal skippers are gone, and the boats are in horrible shape. The attraction was more expensive to maintain than what it was worth (though I loved it!)
It would take a major redoing to reopen that ride, so I wouldn't count on it!
All of the orginal skippers are gone, and the boats are in horrible shape. The attraction was more expensive to maintain than what it was worth (though I loved it!)
It would take a major redoing to reopen that ride, so I wouldn't count on it!
TheOneVader
Well-Known Member
I remember that... We rode it the first time we went to IoA... It was pretty cool, and now that I think of it, I can't remember seeign them cross the lagoon.
SkipperTina
New Member
That reminds me of another reason Skipper Tours closed...when they moved it to a seasonal attraction, it was only in the highest of peak seasons, which was also when they'd do their lagoon/fireworks show. With those daily setups, skipper tours could only run for three hours each day (11-2). You can't really bring someone in to work for only 4 hours- the skippers would either have to go home or go to wardrobe to change and work at another attraction. Another shining example of the hassles related to cutbacks.:brick:
I never went on the Island Skipper Tours because it seemed really pointless unless you are really really lazy and want to wait like 20minutes to cross the lagoon. I mean you go on a boat and cross the lagoon:snore: . Huh oh yea well it was just like boring, I mean they do the same thing at Epcot and I don't ride those and frnakly I don't miss them.
Michael72688
New Member
Its not that we are lazy, just tired from walk so much
Michael72688
New Member
They should be open later, from like 11 or Noon till park closing, that would be nice
Michael72688
New Member
thats true but they dont do fireworks all the time
SkipperTina
New Member
There was actually a script that was used on the tours. It talked about each of the islands, giving some info in a clever way. It was great for people new to the park to get aquainted with more of the theming that is so ever emphasized at IOA.
See I figured that they did something along those lines. They did something along those lines at Animal Kingdom with the short lived boat tour. See in my opinion thats just anoter boring pointless tour. I've never been a fan of them. Maybe when I'm old I will but for now, no thanks.:snore:
Skipper Sam
New Member
I was a Skipper 2000-2003 Skipper Sam
Margret was our speail coach.
The Boatney was a bus on pontoons and was hard to steer.
It Had a power lift for wheelchairs and none of the Skippers liked it.
The Tropic Trader looked like a large sailboat but strong winds could make it slam into the POE dock
It had an engine failure one day and drifted into the Hulk Coaster.
The Sam Plane was everybody's favorite, but at 6'4, I always had a long day because it only had 6'2 headroom
The dock at Popeyes was used to store the second or third boat if needed.
The bridge between Suess and Lost Continent was a functioning drawbridge that opened to allow our boats back to the drydock area for repairs and refueling.
Our break room was under Sylvester Mc Monkey and that made a long walk to POE and even further to JP docks
We lost our cool break room (Dustin's hideaway) to Grinchmas, where they used it as a make up made up room for the Grinch
Dustin left Island Skipper tours and worked over at Characters.
We moved over to Jurassic park where they decided to no longer have dock attendants.
We were part of the Trike crew now, but still dressed as Skippers.
Our lead was the Trike lead (Nancy ?)
Island Skipper Tours closed anytime there was rain or lighting, many times we sat in our break room for 3 or more hours watching movies till a summer storm passed.
The 7 seas lagoon closed at 2 PM friday saturday sunday so the fireworks barges could be brought out.
If you had clocked in at 9:00 park opened at 10:00 am so by then you had then gone to lunch and had worked 4.5 to 5 hours.
All skippers were full time so we had to find something else to do for 4 hours.
Some skippers at 2 o clock, took the bus back to wardrobe and changed into Jurassic park clothing to then work at the Discovery Center. This took about an hour...(On the clock cause we are slow skippers)
Lisa Whipple was the Supervisor of Jurassic park and got tired of paying Skippers for an hour changing, so skippers worked the Discovery Center wearing their skipper clothes. Or wandered the park for 3 hours acting like we were sweeping !
Dan Gurwitz was a former skipper and took over River adventure.
When Skipper tours closed some of them went to the front of the park to run resort boats.
I was the last Skipper , I worked in Discovery Center and operated the boats on special occasions for about another year. Then moved to Fast pass.
The boats closed for good in 2003 I believe.
Margret was our speail coach.
The Boatney was a bus on pontoons and was hard to steer.
It Had a power lift for wheelchairs and none of the Skippers liked it.
The Tropic Trader looked like a large sailboat but strong winds could make it slam into the POE dock
It had an engine failure one day and drifted into the Hulk Coaster.
The Sam Plane was everybody's favorite, but at 6'4, I always had a long day because it only had 6'2 headroom
The dock at Popeyes was used to store the second or third boat if needed.
The bridge between Suess and Lost Continent was a functioning drawbridge that opened to allow our boats back to the drydock area for repairs and refueling.
Our break room was under Sylvester Mc Monkey and that made a long walk to POE and even further to JP docks
We lost our cool break room (Dustin's hideaway) to Grinchmas, where they used it as a make up made up room for the Grinch
Dustin left Island Skipper tours and worked over at Characters.
We moved over to Jurassic park where they decided to no longer have dock attendants.
We were part of the Trike crew now, but still dressed as Skippers.
Our lead was the Trike lead (Nancy ?)
Island Skipper Tours closed anytime there was rain or lighting, many times we sat in our break room for 3 or more hours watching movies till a summer storm passed.
The 7 seas lagoon closed at 2 PM friday saturday sunday so the fireworks barges could be brought out.
If you had clocked in at 9:00 park opened at 10:00 am so by then you had then gone to lunch and had worked 4.5 to 5 hours.
All skippers were full time so we had to find something else to do for 4 hours.
Some skippers at 2 o clock, took the bus back to wardrobe and changed into Jurassic park clothing to then work at the Discovery Center. This took about an hour...(On the clock cause we are slow skippers)
Lisa Whipple was the Supervisor of Jurassic park and got tired of paying Skippers for an hour changing, so skippers worked the Discovery Center wearing their skipper clothes. Or wandered the park for 3 hours acting like we were sweeping !
Dan Gurwitz was a former skipper and took over River adventure.
When Skipper tours closed some of them went to the front of the park to run resort boats.
I was the last Skipper , I worked in Discovery Center and operated the boats on special occasions for about another year. Then moved to Fast pass.
The boats closed for good in 2003 I believe.
Skipper Sam
New Member
hey Tina
Skipper Sam here, I don't remember you.
Were you a Skipper before June 2000 ?
Skippers were the highest paid park attendants training took 80 hours
40 hours boat training then 40 hours spiel training
Remember each boat had a different spiel ? One from Port of Entry and one from Jurassic Park dock !
Skipper Sam here, I don't remember you.
Were you a Skipper before June 2000 ?
Skippers were the highest paid park attendants training took 80 hours
40 hours boat training then 40 hours spiel training
Remember each boat had a different spiel ? One from Port of Entry and one from Jurassic Park dock !
StageFrenzy
Well-Known Member
@Skipper Sam, Welcome to the boards and thanks for some nice info on an extinct attraction. I don't know if you noticed but you practiced some wicked necromancy on a 10 yr old thread. Most boards think Necromancy is bad mmmkay. Most of the members who have posted on this thread seem to no longer be with us, so I don't think you will get an answer. If you have anymore tidbits on the attraction or the other boats on property feel free to share though.
StageFrenzy
Well-Known Member
It is, some new members when they join seem to practice necromancy left, right and center.