Should a Jungle Cruise Skipper have Good Verbal Communication Skills??

[radiohost]

Just wondering...makes for a good discussion


I have seen Skippers who are great Communicators who I can understand clearly.

And I have seen Skippers who I cant understand one word they were saying.

Should good verbal communication be a requirement?

Radiohost

 

[ClemsonTigger]

Probably as much as dancers should be coordinated and tinkerbell not be afraid of heights...

 

[MiceysBestPal]

I have seen Skippers who I cant understand one word they were saying.

Funny you should say that.

A year or so ago, Disney brought over a LOT of trainees for the new Hong Kong Disneyland.
These were energetic young Asians for whom English was a second language.
Disney was putting them "on-line" at WDW as training to be English-speaking CM's when they returned home.

Great idea, up to a point.

And that POINT was having them skipper the Jungle Cruise.
Here you have an attraction that depends on English word double-meanings and puns, plus comic timing and delivery... hosted by CM's with thick Chinese accents who likely don't really get the puns because in a different language, the dual-meanings for "sound-alike" words don't translate very well.

We rode the cruise several times that trip, and each time the Asian skippers tried very hard to make the most of the tired old script... but it just didn't work. I wonder how many "first-time/only-time" visitors to WDW got to experience the Jungle Cruise under such "odd" conditions.

I hope those CM's are having a better time of it back Hong Kong Disney than they did here.

 

[Master__Gracey]

I had the same thing. An asian woman that was cheerful, but I just couldn't understand much. Then she would miss or forget parts. One part I really remember was the line "Plane crash mean only one thing......Hippos!" :ROFLOL: Still we joke and say that quote whenever something gets mistranslated.

 

[Figment82]

Nothing beats the hungover dude I rode with once.

He spoke the script as one long narration - not a single joke uttered! :brick:

 

[SirNim]

Either have good verbal communication skills...

...or be very attractive... :lookaroun

 

[Peaches Magee]

yeah when we went on the Aladdin's Flying carpet ride last week, there was an young Asian girl just directing us to where we had to go and it is like a two sentence safety direction basically and we couldnt understand a word. She was really trying and I thought it was great, but just very hard to understand. Guess it is on various rides then...
I have nothing against anyone working at Disney from all walks of life.
Ithink to a certain extent of being able to enjoy the ride and understand narration and especially in cases of explanation of safety procedures of rides it is very important that verbal skills be pretty good. Right?

 

[PhotoDave219]

Just wondering...makes for a good discussion


I have seen Skippers who are great Communicators who I can understand clearly.

And I have seen Skippers who I cant understand one word they were saying.

Should good verbal communication be a requirement?

Radiohost

One of the best Jungle Curises i ever went on was this kid from Hong Kong named Kenny. Didn't speak a word of english.... but he made up for it in the delivery.... So you got the jokes, one way or the other.

So ... its all in the delivery.

 

[MiceysBestPal]

I had the same thing. An asian woman that was cheerful, but I just couldn't understand much. Then she would miss or forget parts. One part I really remember was the line "Plane crash mean only one thing......Hippos!" :ROFLOL: Still we joke and say that quote whenever something gets mistranslated.

OUR favorite line, was the very LAST one delivered on the cruise of a particular Asian skipper.

Its funny line in English... but really WIERD if you can't quite understand it because of a thick accent.

This kid was really having a great time during the cruise (he really was laughing a LOT at his own jokes, even if nobody else could understand them). I'll bet this guy makes a fun CM at Hong Kong by now.

The scripted line (spoken after the boat is docked at the end of the cruise) is supposed to be (paraphrased)
"Did everybody have fun? Well...
The fun's over, so GET OUT!"

When he finally docked and came to the above lines after a very long trip of largely unintelligible "jokes" he said,

Did have Fun? Well...
Fun ova - gee ouuut!
(Followed by his own hysterical laughter.)

The rest of that trip (and to this day) when something comes to an end and/or falls completely 'flat' I'll say,
"Fun ova - gee ouuut!"

 

[eizenga13]

As a former alumni of the Jungle Cruise (2001 REPRESENT!!), I have done SOOO many different styles... AND YES Hung over is a style, BUT you must be good to make it work... ONE LONGGGG SLOW SPIEL... Sometimes it works sometime it doesn't... Others I have done...

- 80's Theme Shows
- 80's films (only once and it was on a night of extended hours where a corporation bought out the Magic Kingdom and catered in BEER!!)
- Accents of all Kinds....
- ADULT VERSION (mostly ONLY on nights with extended hours.
- doing the jungle cruise with the Haunted Mansion Spiel
- doing the jungle Cruise with Pirates... Spiel
- No punchline spiel ... Butterflies have wingspans from 12 inches.... (don't say the last part about "to a whopping 1 foot")

There are always great jokes... BEFORE 9/11 I had some REALLY great ones about the airplane that were used if you were there BEFORE the tragedy .

SO anyways if you have more questions JUST LET ME KNOW
Thanks for coming and thanks for laughing if you didn't laugh thanks for leaving.

Nothing beats the hungover dude I rode with once.

He spoke the script as one long narration - not a single joke uttered! :brick:

 

[Launchpad]

- 80's Theme Shows
- 80's films
- ADULT VERSION (mostly ONLY on nights with extended hours.

Can you give us an example of these?

There are always great jokes... BEFORE 9/11 I had some REALLY great ones about the airplane that were used if you were there BEFORE the tragedy .

Like what?

 

[Peaches Magee]

OUR favorite line, was the very LAST one delivered on the cruise of a particular Asian skipper.

Its funny line in English... but really WIERD if you can't quite understand it because of a thick accent.

This kid was really having a great time during the cruise (he really was laughing a LOT at his own jokes, even if nobody else could understand them). I'll bet this guy makes a fun CM at Hong Kong by now.

The scripted line (spoken after the boat is docked at the end of the cruise) is supposed to be (paraphrased)
"Did everybody have fun? Well...
The fun's over, so GET OUT!"

When he finally docked and came to the above lines after a very long trip of largely unintelligible "jokes" he said,

Did have Fun? Well...
Fun ova - gee ouuut!
(Followed by his own hysterical laughter.)

The rest of that trip (and to this day) when something comes to an end and/or falls completely 'flat' I'll say,
"Fun ova - gee ouuut!"

haaa! That's great!
That is something that would happent o my family, it would become a constant one-liner that would never die! hehe

 

[ThumperDude]

I've always loved the scripts and improves these captians use. It makes the ride for me. If you get an especially perky CM, it's even better. But you have to listen to him/her to get the joke in combination with the scene or between scenes even the jokes about the other boats. Most the time the passangers 'get it' about 2 minutes later. Makes for a funny situation. And the passangers can make the journey even better if their in the right frame of mind. Try the cruise at night. It's eerily unquie but just as much fun.
One tip I must pass on: don't drink the water. ;-)

 

[LudwigVonDrake]

Either have good verbal communication skills...

...or be very attractive... :lookaroun

Well put... :lookaroun

 

[hooters dude]

Hey guys I've recently finished reading "More Mouse Tales - a closer peek backstage at Disneyland" by David Koenig (a good read by the way even though it's about Disneyland). Anyhow, there's a chapter which features heavily on the skippers of the jungle cruise at Disneyland and the strict rules brought in with the spiel they deliver.

Apparently some skippers were deveating from the script with their own jokes or style of narration and the powers that be were not happy. A mandate went out instructing all skippers to adhere strictly to the script with the threat of termination for those who didn't follow procedure. Things got so bad that Disneyland had 'spies' posing as tourists videoing the ride and skippers and using this as 'evidence' to terminate anyone not towing the line. A number where dismissed even though tourists loved some of the delivery from these long serving cast members. A strike was preposed, an underground newsletter was even produced and distributed amongst cast members and things became very ugly.

Does anyone know if anything similar ever happened on Disney Worlds jungle cruise or not. I've always loved the crazy skippers who more than make up for some of the less realistic animatronics in Disneys collection. And in answer to the original post, yes it's very important that's what they're supposed to be there for, to entertain!

 

[slappy magoo]

Can't speak for the Jungle Cruise, but I once had an Asian CM-in-training as a server in the 50's Primetime Cafe. Between speaking English as a Second language AND having little-to-no experience with the old sitcoms after which the restaurant is patterened, all I can say he was that he was eager to learn and do a good job and was a great waiter, but not particularly entertaining. Nothing I complained about at the time, we still had fun with the whole theme of the place and watching OTHER people getting chewed out by THEIR servers. But I did wonder why they would choose to have people waiting tables in a themed restaurant when they weren't really familiar with the theme, especially when there are so many other resturants in WDW where being able to deliver patter or interact as a character isn't expected at all. In NYC, there are still a few places where the serving staff is each expected to stop what they're doing at some point, grab a mike and belt out a tune either with prerecorded music or with a piano player in the corner. So naturally, anyone who waits tables there either is an actor/actress in-between jobs waiting for a break, OR a very talented ham. But whenever I've been in a restaurant like that, I've yet to see someone who can't belt out a tune. Seems to me that, if being entertaining is an expected component of the job, whether it's as performing wait staff, or a ride operator working off a script, being articulate and well-versed in your subject should be no-brainer requirements.

And in case I start sounding xenophobic, I'd think it'd be great to have ride operators or wait staff who are multilingual, and who can tailor their routine to people who speak different languages. If Disney had a revised Jungle Cruise script in, say, Japanese, and was able to accomodate a boatful of Japanese tourists in their native language, that'd be awesome. Of course, the logistics of the linguistics would be impossible. I doubt they could have Jungle Cruise operators who speak all the more popular languages on-call in case a large group of tourists from a particular country are visiting one day. And while I'd like to suggest they could have pre-recorded versions of the script, in various languages, AND in English in case the "skipper" wasn't proficient in English (or just shy), that would open up the argument of just doing away with the skipper interacting with the guests and strictly relying on the canned track, which would take away so much of JC's charm.


So, I guess I'm saying, I hoe it's not politically incorrect to say that any job that requires the CM be a performer and recite a script and interact with guests should have the language skills and the personality necessary to perform that job. Though given the choice between someone who speaks English as a second language really doing his/her best to "sell it," and someone who was a better speaker but monotonous and boring, I'd choose the former.

 

[WDWFigment]

As a former alumni of the Jungle Cruise (2001 REPRESENT!!), I have done SOOO many different styles... AND YES Hung over is a style, BUT you must be good to make it work... ONE LONGGGG SLOW SPIEL... Sometimes it works sometime it doesn't... Others I have done...

- 80's Theme Shows
- 80's films (only once and it was on a night of extended hours where a corporation bought out the Magic Kingdom and catered in BEER!!)
- Accents of all Kinds....
- ADULT VERSION (mostly ONLY on nights with extended hours.
- doing the jungle cruise with the Haunted Mansion Spiel
- doing the jungle Cruise with Pirates... Spiel
- No punchline spiel ... Butterflies have wingspans from 12 inches.... (don't say the last part about "to a whopping 1 foot")

There are always great jokes... BEFORE 9/11 I had some REALLY great ones about the airplane that were used if you were there BEFORE the tragedy .

SO anyways if you have more questions JUST LET ME KNOW
Thanks for coming and thanks for laughing if you didn't laugh thanks for leaving.

This post gave me a new appreciation for Jungle Cruise...I think I was really missing the point before when I expected the skipper to take it more seriously. Now I can't wait to go on it multiple times next time I'm in MK to see what I get!

 

[Tom Morrow]

This is a big problem with the way WDW staffs its heavy spieling/acting attractions, and I really think they should have some sort of audition for it. But they don't, and many people, especially College/CareerStart/International Cast Members get placed in these roles randomly because they are just included in with any other operations role.

As a result, you get...

Certain Tower of Terror bellhops who don't care and treat the ride like any other thrill ride (I, however, put a lot of effort into the role).
Haunted Mansion butlers who just seem ed off, not creepy.
Jungle Cruise, Backlot Tour, Great Movie Ride, and Safaris people who don't like to spiel and deliver boring, uninspired spiels.

I really think they need to put more thought into where they place people, because, lets face it, all these attractions rely strongly on the enthusiasm of the CM's.

 

[Launchpad]

Haunted Mansion butlers who just seem ed off, not creepy.

Yeah. I hate these guys. 90% of the CMs there suck. I'd rather no character than just coming off as a-holes. Most people don't realize if they are really that way or what is going on.

The other day we heard one of the a-hole girls yelling at a couple for looking at the door in the stretch room. "TURN AROUND OR YOU WILL GO DEAD LAST! I'M SERIOUS! I'M NOT JOKING!" When the doors opened she stuck out her hands and tried blocking them in. They ran by her and I just laughed at the girl. Pretty much anything the a-holes say gets laughed at and ignored by our posse.

Rebecca is pretty much the worst one there. Hate 'er. :sohappy:

 

[eizenga13]

Does anyone know if anything similar ever happened on Disney Worlds jungle cruise or not. I've always loved the crazy skippers who more than make up for some of the less realistic animatronics in Disneys collection. And in answer to the original post, yes it's very important that's what they're supposed to be there for, to entertain!

Yep a few people I know lost their jobs due to "improper spieling" but the UNION broke that up QUICK, because in Florida it is a right to work state "with a union"