Jungle Cruise: What's The Point?

[AEfx]

If Jungle Cruise dried up I wouldn't cry...it's huge, prime real-estate that I hope someday will house a new E-ticket, not one that is running mostly on the fumes of nostalgia.

AEfx

 

[BeckyLSawyer]

The fact that this thread is even up is like a slap in the face of every true Walt fan.

The Jungle Cruise was an opening day attraction at WDW, and one that Walt worked on with both hands. It's not about the "fake" animals, or the "lame" jokes. It's about the overall feel of the attraction itself.

Since October 1st, 1971, the Jungle Cruise has been open every single day, with the exception of the odd and well deserved refurbishment. It's skippers have been good and bad, and the animation has worked, or it hasn't. But the simple fact remains that this attraction was one that Walt himself worked on, and dreamed up.

Kilimanjaro is an imitation of what the Jungle Cruise was always supposed to be. It's what Walt dreamed when he dreamed his largest. But the Jungle Cruise is something that Kilimanjaro can never be. It's the first realization of that dream.

And its not just about the animals, or the animation. It's about the skipper and thier love for that attraction. It's about the skipper and their desire to make the guests laugh, and enjoy ten minutes of thier lives. It's not just "fake" animals, and "lame" jokes.

The Jungle is about loving Disney, for all that it used to be. Let's face it, Disney isn't the rollercoaster capital of the world. It's far from it. It's a place for family and children to live out a fantasy world.

It's about sharing with your children something that you loved when you were young, and the Jungle Cruise is that. Every day I'm faced with parents who laugh and clap and cheer just as hard as they have all the other times that they came on it. I've seen the look on parents faces when they see thier children having fun on a ride that they loved when they were young.

Those are the people that the Jungle Cruise stays open for. Not just now, but hopefully for years and years to come. And it's people like the one who started this post that we send to The Tiki Room.

Besides, if Jungle closed where would Babs, Ron, Jeff and Rhonda hang out?

(Sorry this was so long, but it needed to be said.)

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Nostalgia aint what it used to be.


You could fit a coaster and dark ride in that space. At the very least re write the script and update the technology of the ride.

 

[prberk]

Very nicely put, BeckyLSawyer.

I also agree with all those who say that new, more aggressive or modern rides offer a different experience than these family classics, and definitely do not make them pointless.

I also agree that this ride had many shades of meaning, from small children (for whom the ride itself is cool), to parents (who enjoy the humor and the thrill of sharing the ride with their children, just as they did with their parents). I do not have children, but I do know that this ride has meaning to me and my mother. And as a grandmother now, to my brother's children, she enjoys this with another generation.

I think we often forget the importance at Disney of the multigenerational experience. We need rides that grandparents can ride with the grandchildren ... and usually that is NOT Mission:Space, TOT, RNR, or even Space Mountain.

Paul

 

[Tracks N Slabs]

prberk ~ you hit the nail right on the head.

While from a CM point of view I have a vested intrest in the JC staying open and the way it is (and not activating those dreeded "Spiel" buttons, I have to say that as a guest the Jungle is one of those rides that everyone can share together.

When I was at M:S and out at greeter it was no fun to watch families split up and see the younger siblings watch their older brothers and sisters disappear into the ride building. I have the complete opposite feelings standing in front of the JC (or at the Steam Trains) you get to see everyone excited to go on a ride together. What other attractions can you get 4 generations of a family on he same vechicle at the same time. Even Haunted Mansion you split up in 2 or 3's.

So it may not be the most cutting edge technology and all the Hippo's are not A-100 figures, but if the Magic Kingdom is truly a place where the young and young at heart of all ages, can laugh, learn, and play together, then the Jungle Cruise seems to fit that perfectly.

 

[bjunderwood]

If you get the right skipper, they can make it funny enough to be the best ride of the day. All of the other rides you know what to expect, but with the Jungle Cruise (even though they are supposed to stick to the script) you never know how good of a skipper you may get.

 

[MickeyTigg]

Not wanting to offend any Jungle Cruise fans, but now that Walt Disney World has the Kilimanjaro Safaris, what's the point? Why would anyone want to go on a fake safari, when there's a real one just a few miles away?

I personally think they should close it down, and use the space to put some "magic" back into Adventureland. For example, they could build an Adventure Isle like in Disneyland Paris, with Skull Rock and Captain Hook's ship. Something really elaborate and based in fantasy.

It's never been meant to be anything like an actual safari...it's all about the humor and the adventure.

Anyone that drives to WDW probably has a more hair-raising experience on I-4....so why have Test Track? Soarin'....I fly down to WDW most of the time...why would I want to go on that? Mission: Space....the KSC is about an hour away, wouldn't it be better to see the real thing?

Close it down...no way!

 

[ATO]

jungle cruise

I have just returned from a 2 week trip to wdw and not only was the longest line in the magic kingdom for the jungle cruise it was the highlight of our trip when the skipper took my 4 year old son put his hat on him and allowed to steer the boat for 80% of the trip I took about 30 pictures on the ride it was truly a memory non of us will forget. As we were leaving he gave him the hat as a momento it was an awesome ride Thanks Bawana Bob

 

[DisneyDefenders]

Not likely...

With a movie in the works based on this ride...it's not likely they will close down this attraction any time soon.

Who knows...if they do a good job with the movie, maybe they'll work in something new into the attraction and make it even more popular!

 

[PacMan2006]

THAT's what the backside of water joke is supposed to imply? I never understand that joke, either.

I always just assumed the CM said it to be silly--as if the backside of water looks much different from the frontside. I thought that was the joke, I guess.

 

[bassman]

-Back side of Water (or for some skippers, the rarely seen front side of a rock!)
-The safari getting the rhino's "point"
-The witch doctor being the "head" salesman of these "parts"
-The snake known to have "crushes" on people
-The second most feared animal in the jungle being the African Bull Elephant, with the first being his Mother-in-Law

:lol: reading those makes me remember the ride and then i laugh uncontrollably
:lol:
you forgot a few though

• well it looks as though those gorillas have finally managed to get my truck to "turn over"
• we are crossing into the river nile, d ya know why its called the nile.cos it keeps going for niles and niles and niles
• in the likely case of an emergency your children can be used as a floatation device

and once i had this classic at the end

• please watch your step on the way out of the boat,if you do not watch your step and fall over please watch you language,this is a family park and we intend to keep it that way.thank you

 

[BrittanyRose428]

If the animatronics weren't supposed to be humorous, we wouldn't see headhunters and rhinos forcing safari guides up a pole.

The original plan for the ride DID call for real animals, but that wasn't feasable.

So basically, yes. Walt did want the ride to be cheesy and obviously fake. That's where its charm lies. That's why people love it so much. There's a famous picture of Walt laughing when he first heard the "Backside of water" joke that is often inserted in any pictoral history of the ride.

I'm not too big a fan of it, but I know that it wasn't meant to be taken literal. Nothing in MK is to be taken literal. You can tell that from the name of the place Magic Kingdom. It's a land of Fantasy.

http://www.justdisney.com/images/walt_disney_photos/dfa-twi3.jpg

that picture?

 

[JustinTheClaw]

If the animatronics weren't supposed to be humorous, we wouldn't see headhunters and rhinos forcing safari guides up a pole.

The original plan for the ride DID call for real animals, but that wasn't feasable.

So basically, yes. Walt did want the ride to be cheesy and obviously fake. That's where its charm lies. That's why people love it so much. There's a famous picture of Walt laughing when he first heard the "Backside of water" joke that is often inserted in any pictoral history of the ride.

I'm not too big a fan of it, but I know that it wasn't meant to be taken literal. Nothing in MK is to be taken literal. You can tell that from the name of the place Magic Kingdom. It's a land of Fantasy.

This is half-true...The origins of the robotic animals (the original Jungle Cruise pre-dates Audio-Animatronics by almost ten years) is accurate, but the ride was not originally meant to be funny. In the early 60s, Walt saw a decline in the popularity of the Attraction. People thought it was boring. Walt then hired an Imagineer (I can't remember off-hand which one, but it was one of the big names in Imagineering...I think it may have been Marc Davis judging by the sense of humor) to redesign it and make it more interesting. He added the "survival of the fastest" visual joke, the gorillas trashing the camp, and many of the more memorable images. The script was then rewritten to feature a slew of puns meant to draw laughs from the Guests, rather than gasps.

Also, as any Skipper will tell you, not all of the jokes they tell are in the script. Oftentimes Skippers will come up with their own jokes and, (usually) pending approval, use them in their speil.

As far as my opinion on the matter, I would hate to see it go. It is a classic, and it's a popular Attraction. I tell anyone who has never been to the Magic Kingdom to go on the Jungle Cruise, and they usually love it. If they were to remove it, there would be a lot of complaints. Although admittedly, people would learn to adjust, just as they did with the loss of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

 

[Wbnemo1]

Jungle LIVES !!!! and me with it ,darnit! lol
BABS

 

[hcswingfield]

:lol: reading those makes me remember the ride and then i laugh uncontrollably
:lol:
you forgot a few though

• well it looks as though those gorillas have finally managed to get my truck to "turn over"
• we are crossing into the river nile, d ya know why its called the nile.cos it keeps going for niles and niles and niles
• in the likely case of an emergency your children can be used as a floatation device

and once i had this classic at the end

• please watch your step on the way out of the boat,if you do not watch your step and fall over please watch you language,this is a family park and we intend to keep it that way.thank you

• We are crossing into the river Nile. If you don't believe that, you are in de Nile.
• their trunks are packed and ready to go
• watch out for the little squirt
• How do we know they are Asian elephants? They're in Asia!

I think each cast member has his/her own private stash of jokes. It's that and the music in the line that keep this my favorite ride.

 

[Beatles_Girl]

I love the jungle cruise!!!, it takes me back to my first disney trip back in 89', its pure family fun , not all the kids can ride the new disney thrills, so i just love it....i was soo sad when they shut down, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, that was another disney classic!!

Ive read they will reopen it on 2007 and will make anothr "Nemo adventure", hey!! youre killing all the classics....maybe you should relocate this attractions on another park for the people who like old school thrills!! youre losing the magic that one day made you famous

Can you imagine one park with all those closed attractions like..
-Carnation Ice Cream Parlor
-Main Street Electrical Parade
-Rocket to the Moon
-Alien Encounter
-Skyway to Fantasyland
-House of the Future
-Carousel of Progress
-Rocket Jets
-America Sings

That'll be soo cool!!!:sohappy: :sohappy:

 

[MeTa]

Yea they have to keep the classics. Refurb is a good idea though.

 

[JimboJones123]

didn't Kevin Costner skip?

 

[Mr. Friendly]

complaints

I always find complaints so facinating. I run a large organization and we always have complaints which always leavs us dumbfounded. You can never make everyone happy. We call it the piere in the watercoller complaint, as soon as you give them piere they want a free car and soon as you give them a free car they want a Rols Royce. I am allways surprised on how good it looks.

The best thing to do is sit back and be thankful you are not at work

 

[unkadug]

I always find complaints so facinating. I run a large organization and we always have complaints which always leavs us dumbfounded. You can never make everyone happy. We call it the piere in the watercoller complaint, as soon as you give them piere they want a free car and soon as you give them a free car they want a Rols Royce. I am allways surprised on how good it looks.

The best thing to do is sit back and be thankful you are not at work

If someone piered in my watercollar, I'd be quite upset.:lol: