Rumor Magic Kingdom 50th Refurbishments

[Magenta Panther]

I’m in favor of a JC refurb just to reset and retrain the CMs running it. Like many of you my last skipper wasn’t good; I couldn’t tell if he was playing disinterested too well or was actually just tired of being on the boat after a long day. Either way the ride was only like a 6/10 when with a great skipper it’s a 10/10.

IIRC the ride didn’t start it’s existence with a joking atmosphere, it evolved that way over time. It may have now evolved too far to the sarcastic/cynical for its own good.

Shut it down, fix the animatronics, reassign the skippers to Magic Carpets for a while, then be meticulous with training/retraining before it reopens.

The Jungle Cruise is EXTREMELY dated and is cornball beyond belief. Walt would have refurbed or torn it out a long time ago. The last time I rode it, the CM was good enough as a performer, but the ride is still cringe-worthy. TDO will have to invest big-time to bring it up to acceptable standards. I have no faith it will do that. But I hope to be surprised. Pleasantly, for a change.

 

[TiggerDad]

Having been to all three places, my order is a bit different as it probably is for the various duplicate rides within the different parks. It’s all subjective.

Lots of things are subjective, but Paris BTMRR is far superior to the ones in the States. Going underwater to the island for the ride and then back is an awesome change.

 

[DCLcruiser]

I've been to WDW many times (see sig), and maybe we rode JC when I was very young and then this last December I made it a point to go bc of the Christmas overlay...it was ok. The jokes were corny, but that's fun. My family wasn't overly impressed.

I can't see riding it again in the near future.

BTMRR is a lot of fun, for a small coaster, so I would appreciate any updates.

 

[Dr.GrantSeeker]

I wish more people would realise the average guest doesn’t care so long as they’re enjoying something.

Then Disney should give us what we want!!

 

[BigThunderMatt]

Then Disney should give us what we want!!

This community is a drop in the bucket compared to annual P&R attendance. They couldn't care less what we want.

 

[Dr.GrantSeeker]

This community is a drop in the bucket compared to annual P&R attendance. They couldn't care less what we want.

I'm saying if the average guest doesn't care as long as they are enjoying their time, then give the real fans what we want! The average guest will have the same level of enjoyment!

 

[SteamboatJoe]

I am always conflicted about JC.

On one hand: it was conceived by Walt, an original DL attraction, an original WDW attraction, is wonderfully themed, is family-friendly, very unique, nostalgic, and incredibly enjoyable if you get it and don't mind cornball humor.

On the other hand: it's very old, takes up a lot of space, the style and humor don't translate as well to younger generations, seems a little redundant since there is an entire park now devoted to seeing live animals, and has its thematic roots in European colonization of Africa which did not tend to work out well for the fauna or the continents native inhabitants (although you could use social justice critiques to probably shame most attractions in any theme park these days if you really wanted to).

I will say that I have been fortunate to have mostly good skippers over the years. That does help alot. Also, I love the restaurant tie in.

 

[BigThunderMatt]

I'm saying if the average guest doesn't care as long as they are enjoying their time, then give the real fans what we want! The average guest will have the same level of enjoyment!

Yes but what we want would likely cost more to build and operate than what they can build to please the average guest.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Yes but what we want would likely cost more to build and operate than what they can build to please the average guest.

By this metric of “average guests” what they already build is a waste of money as they would be just fine with whatever.

 

[tissandtully]

Guest survey scores would say different than Disney purists on the matter of if people enjoy the Jungle Cruise.

Guests are dumb, half the people whenever I'm on it are looking at their phones and not even listening to the skippers.

 

[HauntedPirate]

This community is a drop in the bucket compared to annual P&R attendance. They couldn't care less what we want.

"Don't you know what Disney forum I belong to???"

 

[RobbinsDad]

JC will always have me because I'm a sucker for Adventureland and boat attractions.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Yes but what we want would likely cost more to build and operate than what they can build to please the average guest.

Building for "the average guest" sets the bar very, very low. Sadly. But modern audiences have been conditioned to expect less but enjoy it more. All the low-brow humor that masquerades as "comedy" on TV is a apt example of that. Bumbling parents, stupid kids, barely-lucid adults doing ridiculous things... It's sad. Don't expect more, don't think, just "be in the moment and love it!!!!".

 

[ImperfectPixie]

Disney should be trying to impress the more nitpicky guests, IMO, because someone who visits once a year or even once every two years is dropping way more money than someone who brings their kids once or twice and then quits.

 

[Communicora]

Everyone has their JC anecdotes so I will share mine. We had a great skipper on our last cruise. There were some duds on the boat and she rolled with it by shaming them in a playful way. She even threw in some millennial humor about having two bachelor's degrees and college debt. I wish I would have remembered her name and sent in a cast compliment. She was hilarious!

Perhaps there are people who don't belong in the skipper role, but I'd rather see them improve their hiring and training than scrap it.

 

[Magenta Panther]

Everyone has their JC anecdotes so I will share mine. We had a great skipper on our last cruise. There were some duds on the boat and she rolled with it by shaming them in a playful way. She even threw in some millennial humor about having two bachelor's degrees and college debt. I wish I would have remembered her name and sent in a cast compliment. She was hilarious!

Perhaps there are people who don't belong in the skipper role, but I'd rather see them improve their hiring and training than scrap it.

But bear in mind that the ride NEEDS a good skipper to apologize for it via humor. That's the elephant in the room/river. Will Disney step up and refurb this ride to make it a non-embarrassment? I confess I have no idea how they could do that. Perhaps some of the more savvy ride experts here could offer some suggestions. I'd love to read them.

 

[DCLcruiser]

But bear in mind that the ride NEEDS a good skipper to apologize for it via humor. That's the elephant in the room/river. Will Disney step up and refurb this ride to make it a non-embarrassment? I confess I have no idea how they could do that. Perhaps some of the more savvy ride experts here could offer some suggestions. I'd love to read them.

Move it to DAK and let us finally see the Dragon's den? It's a longer river (I think), designed for a boat ride, and could actually incorporate real animals or expand on the overall theme.

 

[Ponderer]

If you want to look at why the younger generations are getting more and more entitled, look at the parents. There's an attitude of "why should we pay to have droids out that guests are just going to break for the fun of it?" that I'll admit (sadly) is fair.

I love when I hear things like this, because every generation says this. I worked in food service from the 80s and the kids were full-on animals then, screaming and jumping on tables and kicking the crap out of the arcade machines, and the parents being annoyed with US when we told them to control their kids. I knew a freshman who blew up every toilet in a bathroom in my high school with cherry bombs. I knew another kid in the seventh grade who managed to cook up his own homemade napalm, BEFORE THE INTERNET. I remember my dad laughing at the scene in American Graffiti where they vandalized the cop car, saying, “Yeah, me and my friends did stuff like that in the 50s, that’s what kids did. No one really cared.” Nothing has changed, with kids or their parents.

Disney has always had to contend with this kind of thing. The difference now is them using it as a justification to not do fun stuff.

 

[wdwgreek]

For jungle cruise I am hoping they finally incorporate the missing Marc Davis gorilla reached for the bannans/ hitting a crocodile joke. Also also would love to see that lift hill fixed up!

 

[SteamboatJoe]

But bear in mind that the ride NEEDS a good skipper to apologize for it via humor. That's the elephant in the room/river. Will Disney step up and refurb this ride to make it a non-embarrassment? I confess I have no idea how they could do that. Perhaps some of the more savvy ride experts here could offer some suggestions. I'd love to read them.

I'm fairly certain that's how the jokes got there to begin with. Didn't skippers originally start messing around without authorization to entertain themselves and bored riders who found the original iteration of the ride unimpressive?