Jungle Cruise to get holiday overlay

[Bairstow]

I kind of like the small scale of the show. It "makes sense" in context of the fictional world of the skippers and their landing and looks like something they themselves might have been able to pull off in a jungle surrounded by, er, heathens.


Thought: would people have liked this overlay more if it hadn't been announced? It seems like Disney may have oversold this one more than under-built the overlay, which is always the risk Disney runs when they announce anything these days because they've built their fan community blogosphere up so big that opening a new restroom causes more news stories to get published than most state senate elections. I see this as being perfectly fine for what it is, but not something someone from say, Tallahassee should drive across the state just to see, but it looks like everyone was expecting a lot more.

 

[George]

I don't see why they couldn't put a hat on an animal.

Hats are obsolete technology which as we learned with Lights of Winter is a no-no.

 

[Fox&Hound]

My two cents- people always complain about how the parks used to be run so much better but refuse to see what Disney is doing currently to invest in the parks. When Universal builds more hotel space or adds a small Springfield Alien spinner, people go crazy. When Disney invests in more hotels, expanding MK with NFL, or plussing older rides with fun overlays-I get excited. I like what they are currently doing. I'm excited about Avatar. I go to the parks and have a great time.

Part of me feels sad for the people who go to the parks and complain how how the parks are now and lament about what used to be. I try to live in the now. I refuse to live in the past and cry about how things are in reality. The truth, we're not running the park. I will enjoy what is there and not complain about every little thing. And I'll be happier for it, thank you.

 

[rct247]

Hopefully I won't get in trouble for posting about this, but the video from Attractions Magazine on YouTube is better because the skipper is more enthusiastic. In the WDWMagic video, it is so early in the morning that the skippers probably needed to warm up to the new script just a bit.

 

[Tom]

ok gang,
Ya gotta give it a little time, this is new for us, new for everyone, ..there are more puns, but a lot of the skips are still getting things Down, we have had over 100 skippers that had to learn this and we were given minimal time for training time and I mean minimal, about 3 hours each, including boat time, then the spiel was taken away and we had to try and recall what we learned, today, with live crews. The skipper that was featured in the video was doing the for the very first time live, better yet , she was the first one to do it, personally, she's a great skipper and once she's got this all smoothed and flowing, you will love her version!. You all caught the very first Jingle Cruise.

Now about the decor...again, as already stated in an earlier post, the general idea of this, at least the way I interpret it, is that we skippers were home sick for the holidays to spend it with our extended families, so in order to make things a little more "homey" we grabbed things we could find to Spruce up, err.... no pun intended there, yeah, spruce the place up...it's not like we have a lot of money to spend and it is decorated to show this! lol, so five and dime store bobbles, trinkets and decorations is all we could afford, and check out those boxer shorts on the Icicle Irma...those are real unused boxer shorts from 1940 specifically bought for the occasion...no i didn't buy them

Cheers,
Will...Aka Skipper Babs

Thanks Babs, for the great explanation. I know how Disney will just dump you into a new role or script, with little or no rehearsal time. This was never meant to be a major overlay, or to change the ride. Just nice subtle touches to Christmas up the post and boats a bit.

It looks tastefully done to me, and I'd be anxious to hear it delivered well.

 

[Dragonrider1227]

Simple reason. They do not feel that it will spin the turnstiles enough to offset the cost.

They also probably fear hundreds of Disney World guests that only come in Christmas whining about the change

 

[RSoxNo1]

I'm thinking the cheesy decorations were on purpose as the idea is it's a outpost in the jungle that's been decorated by the skippers. As for the jokes... I don't know that I've ever categorized any jokes on the Jungle Cruise as funny... that was always sort of the point for me.

The traditional Jungle Cruise jokes are mostly cringe worthy, however a good Skipper can certainly be very funny. I've been on some rides with great Skippers and it has been the most memorable experience of the trip.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Watching the Jingle Cruise video- promising idea, minimal overlay, unfunny jokes, could just be the skipper.

The skipper in the video was doing her first tour of the Jingle Cruise, you could definitely tell she wasn't as familiar with the material. When she's more familiar with the material, I'm guessing the delivery will be a bit smoother.

 

[willtravel]

The traditional Jungle Cruise jokes are mostly cringe worthy, however a good Skipper can certainly be very funny. I've been on some rides with great Skippers and it has been the most memorable experience of the trip.

Do the jokes alternate or everyone says the same thing until changed?

 

[RSoxNo1]

Do the jokes alternate or everyone says the same thing until changed?

There is some level of variation in the script. There are many staples, but so much of comedy is about delivery that two people could tell the same joke, it works for one and it doesn't work for the other.
Looking at the Skipper on the WDWMagic video, you could tell that she sold the jokes she knew a lot more. But she was unfamiliar with the entirety of the material, you could tell in a variety of spots, most notably when she got the river wrong. I guarantee that wasn't intentionally and was likely a function of her getting lost in the script. I'm highly critical of Jungle Cruise skippers because so much of it is just selling the joke. You can have a great skipper using just the generic jokes and if someone hasn't seen it before it will work. In my opinion, the best skippers are the ones that can sell a joke and can adlib a bit with a few jokes that aren't part of the main script.

Looking at the Skipper on the OrlandoAttractions video, she was a bit more comfortable with the new script. One thing I did notice is that on the Bah Humbug joke, I don't think she really liked the joke, I could be wrong but compared to some of the other new material it seemed she didn't sell that one as much.

For me, I like the irreverant humor that Skippers use more so than bad puns. I found the "gift wrapping station" joke to be pretty funny. What's interesting is that it's only a setup to a different spin on the "turnover" joke which was a bit weaker than the one in the real script.

Having said all that, there are some jokes that are a bit easier to deliver than others and some that depend largely on delivery. I'll give an example of each that I don't always hear:
Delivery is less important:
Approaching the airplane: "Oh no... a downed airplane! That can only mean one thing... hippos... anti aircraft hippos." There needs to be a slight pause before he/she says hippos, but other than that I've seen every skipper that uses that joke get a laugh.
Delivery is key:
Approaching the two African Elephants: "This is one of the rarest creatures in the world, an African Bull Elephant. I guarantee you will never see another one of these in your entire life." This is where the timing and delivery really comes into play. The skipper pulls the boat forward, the guests see the other Elephant, the skipper looks at the elephant, then looks back at the guests. From here I've seen this done a few different ways. My favorite has been a skipper looking back at the elephant, then looking at the guests again, then looking back at the elephant and saying, "That's a polar bear." Usually at this point, guests are already laughing at the mannerisms of the Skipper, and the Polar Bear (or any animal) line is just icing on the cake.

 

[shakes20]

The only time I laughed out loud on this ride was when the skipper went off script. As we approached the scene with the lions, the skipper suddenly burst out singing "Can you feel the love tonight?", that cracked me up. That said, it is still one of my favorite rides.

 

[cspencer96]

I don't know if anyone has pointed this out yet, but I think this was very well done to go with the story of the Skippers. Remember, we are boarding a boat at their landing, and then "traveling" the rivers of the world, so how and why would the Skippers have gone out and decorated the Amazon River for the Holidays? They wouldn't. They are explorers, and traveling to this destination is their occupation. But, they were "homesick," and it makes sense what Skipper Babs said, that they put together what they could with what they had and could obtain to make the landing and boat house more festive.

 

[cspencer96]

glad to help, still not sure what that poster means by the 6 flags comparison

That was just dumb on their part, in my opinion. Thanks for chiming in, can't wait to experience this in person! Maybe I'll get Skipper Babs and there'll be this "Oh, wait...that guy!" moment ha

 

[MickeyPeace]

I just saw two other skippers do their routine early on the first day and they were great. Popsong1 posted one on Youtube and the guy got a round of applause at the end. Damouse also posted and Skipper Katy was awesome as well.
More than practice it takes showmanship, confidence and basically having a good time. It is also a good idea to face the crowd.

 

[JimboJones123]

Skipper Jordan was FANTASTIC yesterday.

For those claiming that the script does not need updating, they are proven 100% wrong by this special addition. This is the first time in years where the passengers were rolling the entire trip.

Congrats to Disney for throwing something really neat together. Now if they can only freshen up the very stale normal ride.....

 

[JimboJones123]

Oh, and wait times were wicked crazy yesterday.

That is a good thing too, right?

 

[luv]

The skippers always make or break the ride. Always so happy when I get one who does a good job.

 

[Prince-1]

We will be there the week of Thanksgiving. I can not wait to ride it and see for myself how it is. Would love the County Jamboree Christmas show back (I mean how hard is it to get that up and running??) but this should do the trick.

 

[dreamscometrue]

I've watched 3 different POV of this on Youtube. If anyone on here has little idea how much difference the skipper makes. find 3 or 4 videos of the Jingle Cruise and watch each for a few minutes...wow!

 

[Uncle Lupe]

This Jingle Cruise must horrible. The guy in the front seat in the green shirt was forced to use ear buds and stare at his phone for 80% of the ride.