Jungle Cruise Reaction

[sambres8]

I was just listening to Subsonic Radio (if you haven't discovered this yet it's fantastic) and a recording of a Jungle Cruise run came on. I found myself cracking up to all the Skipper's wry puns, but once I paid closer attention I realized that there was very little laughter coming from the passengers. Come to think of it, I feel like every time I go on Jungle Cruise I'm the only one ever laughing! Do you guys have the same experience? Is it because people just aren't paying attention? Do people not get it? Are people just sort of uncomfortable?

 

[afar28]

The only time people usually laugh when I'm on it is either me or children. I don't know if it is because they feel awkward or they don't find it funny or what..I wonder why

 

[wdwmagic]

I think people often go in expecting it to be serious, they just aren't ready for it to be humorous. Or a lot of the time, people just don't listen. Although the audio is sometimes not the clearest on the cruise.

 

[draybook]

Not to mention the sheer number of foreigners that might not understand what's going on.

 

[Tinkerfan4ever]

Although the audio is sometimes not the clearest on the cruise.

I think is exactly it. Even though I know the jokes and they are corny... I still laugh. However the last couple times I was having a very hard time understanding/hearing the audio that even I wasn't laughing.

 

[willtravel]

But you can also tell when you are in the queue and hear the recorded messges that it is not a serious ride. At least I thought that. But if you don't know English, nothing will make sense.

 

[LucyK]

Not to mention the sheer number of foreigners that might not understand what's going on.

This was my experience this past trip. Even though I'm a foreigner myself I love the jokes and participate during the spiel but during my first cruise this time around the boat was full of non-english speakers and you could see they weren't really understanding what was going on. A couple of families even had that special headphone that has a dubbed version of some attractions. It was not the best cruise I've been on, the CM cut half of the jokes out of the tour.

 

[Fantasmic]

I laugh. Often I am laughing alone.

 

[hull327]

The boat would be full of laughter if it was done in Portuguese.

 

[katiekinzakat]

People hate fun. It seems like half the boats don't speak English, and those that do would rather talk over the skipper ("Look an elephant! Look at the elephant"), interrupt the spiel to ask inane questions ("Is there a large drop on this?"), or glare at the skipper while frowning before texting for the entire ride.

 

[unkadug]

The boat would be full of laughter if it was done in Portuguese.

What does Portuguese laughter sound like?

 

[Weather_Lady]

Our boat wasn't very receptive to the comedy last time around, although my family and one other gamely chuckled along with our rather witty skipper. (Honestly, I think a lot of the puns were going right over people's heads. They were too tired and inattentive or too dimwitted to "get" it, or too uptight to react with a laugh.) Our skipper had to stop halfway through his spiel to admonish an incredibly rude woman next to us who was having a loud conversation on her cell phone DURING THE ENTIRE RIDE -- at least until the skipper told her in no uncertain terms that the boat would be stopped and everyone instructed to stare at her until she put it away. She was a snot about it, but at least she complied. I was so grateful that he took her in hand that I laughed extra loudly for the rest of the time, just to show my appreciation.

 

[unkadug]

Our boat wasn't very receptive to the comedy last time around, although my family and one other gamely chuckled along with our rather witty skipper. (Honestly, I think a lot of the puns were going right over people's heads. They were too tired and inattentive or too dimwitted to "get" it, or too uptight to react with a laugh.) Our skipper had to stop halfway through his spiel to admonish an incredibly rude woman next to us who was having a loud conversation on her cell phone DURING THE ENTIRE RIDE -- at least until the skipper told her in no uncertain terms that the boat would be stopped and everyone instructed to stare at her until she put it away. She was a snot about it, but at least she complied. I was so grateful that he took her in hand that I laughed extra loudly for the rest of the time, just to show my appreciation.

Some people just do not know how to relax and have a good time.

 

[sambres8]

Also - while I have your attention, is it true that Walt wrote the original Jungle Cruise script? If so, is any of it still present in the current script?

 

[BUZZCRUSH]

We laugh I love the corny jokes, but many times people don't. Some don't speak English, but I think most are looking for a thrill and are too cool to laugh at such corny jokes, which I think is sad. Or on the bright side maybe they are just too dumb to get it

 

[FettFan]

I was just listening to Subsonic Radio (if you haven't discovered this yet it's fantastic) and a recording of a Jungle Cruise run came on. I found myself cracking up to all the Skipper's wry puns, but once I paid closer attention I realized that there was very little laughter coming from the passengers. Come to think of it, I feel like every time I go on Jungle Cruise I'm the only one ever laughing! Do you guys have the same experience? Is it because people just aren't paying attention? Do people not get it? Are people just sort of uncomfortable?

It all depends on how good the skipper is at working the crowd. If they have the "summer job paycheck" mentality and just recite the script...then yeah, it's boring as hell.

But if the skipper knows how to work the crowd and puts their heart into it every time....then you get some real knee-slapping moments.


EDIT -- If they wind up sounding like Strong Bad with their speech patterns (raise volume, punchline, lower volume), then all hope is lost.

 

[JohnD]

I was just listening to Subsonic Radio (if you haven't discovered this yet it's fantastic) and a recording of a Jungle Cruise run came on. I found myself cracking up to all the Skipper's wry puns, but once I paid closer attention I realized that there was very little laughter coming from the passengers. Come to think of it, I feel like every time I go on Jungle Cruise I'm the only one ever laughing! Do you guys have the same experience? Is it because people just aren't paying attention? Do people not get it? Are people just sort of uncomfortable?

I was on if last Wednesday. You're right. No one was laughing. The skipper tried self-deprecating jokes at himself that he was rusty due to the 6 week refurb. It was like listening to a stand up comic crashing with an unappreciative audience. I really felt for him. I should have come back at night when everyone tends to be in on the joke and the narration is more edgy.

 

[jw24]

I must go on a little rant before I share my experiences. If you can't restrain yourself from your phone for at least three, five or even ten minutes and enjoy the ride whatever you ride on, then you shouldn't ride at all!

Rant aside, I do agree that the audio from the boats isn't exactly clear so sometimes, you can't really hear exactly what they're saying. For me, it's not so much that I don't laugh but at the same time, it's not material that makes me wanna laugh out loud like you would hear from a really good stand up comic either. The puns are corny but I haven't ridden enough to know the exact script word for word. I treat every ride like it's my first and not spoil it for others. That being said, it's not so much that it's constantly awkward pauses constantly on my rides. That would be most not enjoyable. I most definitely agree that the skipper plays a big role and how much they're into it. And from what I've told, I should ride JC at night because people have said things get really interesting. I haven't yet but riding JC at night is on my bucket list.

 

[unkadug]

It all depends on how good the skipper is at working the crowd. If they have the "summer job paycheck" mentality and just recite the script...then yeah, it's boring as hell.

But if the skipper knows how to work the crowd and puts their heart into it every time....then you get some real knee-slapping moments.


EDIT -- If they wind up sounding like Strong Bad with their speech patterns (raise volume, punchline, lower volume), then all hope is lost.

Some skippers DO sound like that!

 

[bethymouse]

riding JC at night is on my bucket list.
We recently rode it at night. The jokes were the same ( this was before the refurb) but it was so cool going through that tunnel. A bit spooky.