There are three Disney "castle parks" that lack a log flume: those three parks are Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland, and Shanghai Disneyland. None of these parks ever recieved a Splash Mountain, and I wouldn't wish Tiana's Bayou Adventure on any of them. With all the hullabaloo about those two attractions recently, the gears in my head started turning and I thought of a log flume attraction in the style of Splash Mountain but based on what's always been one of my favorite Disney animated movies: The Jungle Book. I'm not the first one to think of this idea, but I hope my version of the idea will be unique enough to stand on its own.
This flume ride would be best at home, I feel, in Adventureland - or, should it be built in Shanghai Disneyland, Adventure Isle. I don't know if any of those parks have room in their Adventurelands/Adventure Isle for a flume ride, but let's hypothetically say that there is. The attraction's facade is a mountain based on the mountains found in the Western Ghats of India, with a bit of Rainforest Cafe influence in there as well. Just like Splash Mountain, there's an opening at the top of the mountain, out of which flows a five-story waterfall. Every so often, a log full of guests emerges from the opening and plunges down the waterfall and into a clump of jungle foliage at the bottom. Unlike Splash Mountain's briar patch, the foliage hides the entrance to another show scene that the logs land in after the plunge. This is because, due to the cold weather they can have in France, I'd prefer not to have the soaking wet guests spend too much time outside in this attraction.
Near the base of the mountain is the village that Mowgli went to at the end of the movie. The entrance to the queue is a pair of bamboo-constructed gates, one of which has a wooden sign bearing the attraction's name (I'm not sure what a good name for the ride would be, though... any suggestions?) on it. Once guests walk through these gates, they find themselves in the village, weaving around many huts with thatched roofs - all of which are off-limits to guests, except one which leads into the indoor portion of the queue.
Inside, guests discover that this hut is actually the one Mowgli's family lives in. As a matter of fact, we're in his bedroom, taking inspiration from the one seen in The Jungle Book 2. Continuing down a set of wooden stairs, we see hand-woven tapestries (featuring images of characters from the movie) and baskets hanging from a clothesline. Coming from up ahead is the sound of Mowgli's voice. He's whispering to someone. Similar to the Brer Frog shadow effect in the queue of the Magic Kingdom's Splash Mountain, we can see a large tarp hanging at the far end of the room. Every so often, two shadows appear on the tarp. One is Mowgli's, and sharp-eyed guests might notice that the other belongs to Shanti, the village girl who lured Mowgli into the village at the end of the movie (and a main character in the sequel). The two shadows appear to be sneaking around, occasionally pausing to see if anyone else is around before dashing away. Very peculiar...
Eventually, we arrive in the attraction's load area, which is topped by a thatched roof and illuminated by flickering torches. Scattered around are signs in English and French warning us that we may get wet, that there's a five-story plunge ahead, and that this is your last chance to exit. It's here that we climb aboard our logs. The logs resemble those of Splash Mountain, specifically the Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland's versions with side-by-side seating. Each log has five rows of two, making for a total of ten riders per log. On the bow of the raft is a small wooden carving of a character from the movie - different logs have Baloo, Bagheera, King Louie, Shere Khan, Kaa, or Colonel Hathi. The logs also have lap bars and waterproof compartment pouches in front of each seat for you to stow whatever belongings you've brought aboard and really, really don't want to get wet. If YOU don't want to get wet, well, they DID warn you that this was your last chance to exit.
Jumping into our log, we hear Baloo's voice providing the safety spiel: "Hey, everybody! It's your ol' friend, Baloo. I just wanna tell you to keep your hands, arms, feet and legs inside the log while you're floatin' down the river. And watch your man-cubs, too. I'll see ya in the jungle!"
Up ahead, the bamboo-built gates of the village appear, flanking a small lift hill. At the top of the lift hill are Mowgli and Shanti, talking to each other as they sneak out of the village. It's here that the plot for the attraction is set up: Mowgli is taking Shanti into the jungle to meet all his animal friends.
After passing Mowgli and Shanti, the log zips down a very small drop that takes the riders outside. We circle the base of the mountain before entering a cave opening on the other side and mounting another lift hill. The sound of snoring can be heard as we go up. Eventually, at the top of the lift hill, we see the source of the snoring: a sleeping Bagheera, who eventually opens his eyes and sees us approaching. Confused, he says, "I wasn't expecting to see humans in the jungle today... do be careful, I've heard rumors that Shere Khan, the tiger, has been spotted in this part of the jungle."
We then go down another, slightly larger but still rather small, drop and emerge outside. The "Overture" from the film's soundtrack begins to play, accompanied by the occasional call of a bird or howl of a wolf - perhaps one of the wolves who raised Mowgli? Jungle foilage surrounds us, growing on the riverbanks. After an outdoor loop, we eventually turn to the left and pass the waterfall that flows from the top of the mountain (another log might fall down it as you float by), another cave appearing in front of us. The log drifts into the cave - and suddenly down a waterfall, this one much larger than the first two!
Upon landing at the bottom, we find ourselves inside the mountain... or rather, further into the jungle. The ominous-sounding overture is suddenly replaced by a bouncy rendition of "The Bare Necessities". Here, we see Mowgli and Shanti again, meeting up with Baloo outside his cave. As the three of them begin to sing, they don't notice Kaa, the sneaky python, emerge from the treetops and eyeing Mowgli and Shanti hungrily. Nor do they hear him whisper to himself about what a nice meal they would make.
Entering the next room, we find more of the jungle's residents, all of them also singing "The Bare Necessities". A leopard lounges on a branch overlooking the river, occasionally attempting to snatch a fish from the water with his paw. A couple red pandas have stacked themselves up, trying to get honey from a beehive hanging from another branch. Gharials and crocodiles emerge from the water, one of them having a startled-looking crane standing atop its back. None of these characters were in the movie, but much like the various reused America Sings animatronics in Splash Mountain, they help to populate the attraction and make the jungle really feel alive.
Rounding a corner, we come across Colonel Hathi and his herd. As a reference to the Jungle Cruise found at other Disney parks, they're taking a dip in the Indian Elephant Bathing Pool, showering under waterfalls and squirting water out of their trunks (watch out - some of them take aim at us!). Hathi himself is helping to clean his adorable mop-topped son, who lets out a trumpet as we go by.
Emerging through a "curtain" of vines hanging down, we come across a group of Baloo's fellow bears: a Himalayan brown bear, an Asiatic black bear, and a sun bear and his cub enjoying the "Bare Necessities" of life themselves. The brown bear is lifting up a rock to take a glance at the fancy ants (and maybe try a few), the black bear is is picking prickly pears with his claw, and the sun bear is bending down a banana tree, allowing his cub to pick one. Baloo, Mowgli, and Shanti are here again, scratching their backs on the trunks of trees. Once again, they don't know that Kaa is slithering nearby, wrapping his coils around Mowgli's leg. But before he can do anything, Bagheera shouts "HOLD IT, KAA!" and pounces on the python. Baloo, Mowgli, and Shanti don't even react - they're too caught up in their enjoyment of the "Bare Necessities". Across the river, a pack of striped hyenas laugh their heads off at the sight of what's going on.
Over our heads are perched Mowgli's vulture friends Buzzie, Flaps, Ziggy, and Dizzy. They greet us as we float by, then Buzzie turns to Flaps and asks what he wants to do. Flaps' response is, "I dunno... hey, now, don't start THAT again!" More animals appear on the riverbanks. Rocky, a dimwitted rhino, seems to have taken the lyric "LOOK FOR the Bare Necessities..." literally, and is peering into a hole in a nearby tree, much to the confusion of the birds perched on its branches. A strange amount of monkeys appear, one of them mentioning that King Louie is having a party at his temple and invites us, Mowgli and Shanti to come along. Look up, and you'll see a monkeys scampering around in the treetops, followed by Mowgli and Shanti, swinging over our heads on vines a la Tarzan.
A reference to Splash Mountain appears up ahead after we dip down another small drop, in the form of a crocodile standing atop a rock sticking out of the water. Waving his clawed thumb like a hitchhiker, he asks us (to the tune of "The Bare Necessities") if he can come along, promising he won't eat us. Further ahead, we see Baloo and Bagheera on the left side of the river. Bagheera asks Baloo where Mowgli and Shanti are, making Baloo realize that they've wandered off. "Aw, man... they were right behind me a second ago!" the bear groans. "Where'd they run off to?" Unbeknownst to them, on the right side of the river, a tiger pops out of a patch of tall grass. It's Shere Khan! "And now for MY run-in with the little lost man-cubs," he says to himself.
Before we can warn Baloo and Bagheera of Shere Khan's presence, our log turns a bend in the river and hurtles down another waterfall. Then, just as quickly as we went down, we suddenly zip back up and land in the ancient ruins that the Bandar-Log call home. An instrumental version of "I Wanna Be Like You" starts to play as monkeys appear on both sides of us, drumming on logs and scatting. King Louie can be seen, relaxing on his throne, another monkey on his right fanning him. "Hey, welcome to my temple!" the orangutan greets us. "Didn't expect Cuz to bring more man-cubs with him. Not that I'm complainin'. Let's get this party started!"
We go down another drop that sends us further into the ruins, where the party is in full swing. Mowgli and Shanti are dancing together in the center of the room. Kaa, hanging down from atop a column, tries again to eat Mowgli, only for a gibbon to grab his tail and swing around on it like a vine, pulling him out of reach. King Louie sings "I Wanna Be Like You" as his monkey minions dance atop stone podiums. Some of the animals make music - a mongoose drums on the shell of a turtle, a peacock shows off his tailfeathers as he plays a makeshift guitar made of a log and vines, and a dopey-looking elephant uses his trunk like a trumpet. A pygmy hog munches on bananas (unpeeled ones) in a basket. Everyone's having such a good time that nobody notices the dark clouds gathering in the sky overhead.
Suddenly, the party is interrupted by the sound of a loud roar. The animals scatter as Shere Khan appears in front of us. He demands to know where the man-cub, Mowgli, is. Columns fall down, nearly on top of us, as we try to get away. On our left, we see King Louie desperately trying to hold up the crumbling ruins. He urges us to make a run for it.
We flee, briefly seeing Mowgli and Shanti's shadows running alongside us as we enter the deepest, darkest, most menacing part of the jungle. Thunder rumbles and lightning flashes. There is very little foilage around, and whatever animals we see aren't nearly as friendly as the ones we've encountered so far. A flock of bats dive-bombs us, snakes much more menacing than Kaa slither out of the shadows, gharials burst from the water and snap their jaws at us. As our log darts away, Shere Khan pounces out of the bushes towards us... only to fall to the ground a few inches short. Why? Baloo has grabbed him by the tail and is holding him back. "Let go, you big oaf!" Shere Khan demands. "No! I'm not lettin' you hurt my pals!" Baloo says nervously. "Run, everybody!"
The storm is getting worse. Up ahead, we see the vultures again, perched on a gnarled tree branch. "This way, friends!" Buzzie urges us. "Up the hill! Run!" Our log boards the lift hill and chugs towards the top of the mountain. Lightning flashes, setting the dry grass on either side of the lift hill aflame (this effect is achieved via projections). Near the top of the hill, we see Mowgli and Shanti again, cornered by Shere Khan on the edge of a cliff despite Baloo's best efforts. Mowgli tells Shanti that they'll have to jump for it, and despite Shanti's reluctance, she agrees if it's the only way to get away from Shere Khan. This is our log's cue to finally level off and emerge from the hole at the top of the mountain into the daylight. It's a great view of the park from the top, but the only way down is the five-story waterfall mentioned earlier. Down you go, right into that clump of jungle foliage.
We land at the bottom of the waterfall, creating an enormous splash, and find ourselves in a large pond. Confused frogs sit atop lily pads on either side of us. Turning left, we see Baloo slide down a waterfall (presumably the same one we just went down) himself, creating a huge splash of his own. Nearby are Mowgli and Shanti, sitting in the water, soaking wet but laughing their heads off - and very relieved that they got away from Shere Khan.
Making another turn, we see Bagheera again. "So THERE you all are," he says, both relieved that we're alive and annoyed at Baloo's irresponsibility. "Baloo, I'd say it's time we brought the man-cubs home." Emerging back outside, we travel down the river next to the mountain's exterior as a more relaxed, serene instrumental of "The Bare Necessities" plays in the background. Eventually, we reenter the mountain via a cave at its base, its entrance marked by a monkey playing a bongo drum and a leopard cub playing a large stick like a flute.
Inside, we find ourselves amongst what seems to be hundreds of singing jungle animals - the Vultures, water buffalo, antelope, bears, elephants, jackals, wolves, crocodiles, mongooses, birds, even fish poking their heads out of the water. They all sing a fantastic reprise of "The Bare Necessities", celebrating the fact that Mowgli and Baloo once again have triumphed over Shere Khan. Some of the animals have stacked themselves into a makeshift pyramid, with five elephants at the bottom, four antelope standing on their backs, three Komodo dragons standing on THEIR backs, two mongoose standing on their shoulders, and a tiny field mouse on top.
Going down the river a little more, we see what's become of Shere Khan - in another scene reminiscent of the Jungle Cruise, we that Rocky the rhino, who we've previously encountered, has chased him up a tree, the tiger desperately trying to climb up the trunk as the rhino's horn gets dangerously close to his backside. Hanging from the top branch of the tree is Kaa, his coils wrapped around it, snickering at Shere Khan's misfortune. Further down, Baloo and Bagheera are seen watching Mowgli and Shanti dance back into the village. "I know it's where they belong," Baloo says, "But I still think they would've made two swell bears."
Turning away from the scene, just before we reach the unload area we encounter King Louie once again, hanging from a vine. "Now THAT was a swingin' good time!" he says with a grin. "Come back and see us some time, y'hear? Say, any of you know the secret of man's red flower?" With this, the log pulls into the same thatched roofed dock where we boarded our logs, allowing us to disembark. Be sure to pick up a photo of your log hurtling down the waterfall on your way out.
Should this attraction be built in Disneyland Paris, heaters/dryers will be placed near the end of the ride and most of the water effects will be turned off during the winter months.
This flume ride would be best at home, I feel, in Adventureland - or, should it be built in Shanghai Disneyland, Adventure Isle. I don't know if any of those parks have room in their Adventurelands/Adventure Isle for a flume ride, but let's hypothetically say that there is. The attraction's facade is a mountain based on the mountains found in the Western Ghats of India, with a bit of Rainforest Cafe influence in there as well. Just like Splash Mountain, there's an opening at the top of the mountain, out of which flows a five-story waterfall. Every so often, a log full of guests emerges from the opening and plunges down the waterfall and into a clump of jungle foliage at the bottom. Unlike Splash Mountain's briar patch, the foliage hides the entrance to another show scene that the logs land in after the plunge. This is because, due to the cold weather they can have in France, I'd prefer not to have the soaking wet guests spend too much time outside in this attraction.
Near the base of the mountain is the village that Mowgli went to at the end of the movie. The entrance to the queue is a pair of bamboo-constructed gates, one of which has a wooden sign bearing the attraction's name (I'm not sure what a good name for the ride would be, though... any suggestions?) on it. Once guests walk through these gates, they find themselves in the village, weaving around many huts with thatched roofs - all of which are off-limits to guests, except one which leads into the indoor portion of the queue.
Inside, guests discover that this hut is actually the one Mowgli's family lives in. As a matter of fact, we're in his bedroom, taking inspiration from the one seen in The Jungle Book 2. Continuing down a set of wooden stairs, we see hand-woven tapestries (featuring images of characters from the movie) and baskets hanging from a clothesline. Coming from up ahead is the sound of Mowgli's voice. He's whispering to someone. Similar to the Brer Frog shadow effect in the queue of the Magic Kingdom's Splash Mountain, we can see a large tarp hanging at the far end of the room. Every so often, two shadows appear on the tarp. One is Mowgli's, and sharp-eyed guests might notice that the other belongs to Shanti, the village girl who lured Mowgli into the village at the end of the movie (and a main character in the sequel). The two shadows appear to be sneaking around, occasionally pausing to see if anyone else is around before dashing away. Very peculiar...
Eventually, we arrive in the attraction's load area, which is topped by a thatched roof and illuminated by flickering torches. Scattered around are signs in English and French warning us that we may get wet, that there's a five-story plunge ahead, and that this is your last chance to exit. It's here that we climb aboard our logs. The logs resemble those of Splash Mountain, specifically the Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland's versions with side-by-side seating. Each log has five rows of two, making for a total of ten riders per log. On the bow of the raft is a small wooden carving of a character from the movie - different logs have Baloo, Bagheera, King Louie, Shere Khan, Kaa, or Colonel Hathi. The logs also have lap bars and waterproof compartment pouches in front of each seat for you to stow whatever belongings you've brought aboard and really, really don't want to get wet. If YOU don't want to get wet, well, they DID warn you that this was your last chance to exit.
Jumping into our log, we hear Baloo's voice providing the safety spiel: "Hey, everybody! It's your ol' friend, Baloo. I just wanna tell you to keep your hands, arms, feet and legs inside the log while you're floatin' down the river. And watch your man-cubs, too. I'll see ya in the jungle!"
Up ahead, the bamboo-built gates of the village appear, flanking a small lift hill. At the top of the lift hill are Mowgli and Shanti, talking to each other as they sneak out of the village. It's here that the plot for the attraction is set up: Mowgli is taking Shanti into the jungle to meet all his animal friends.
After passing Mowgli and Shanti, the log zips down a very small drop that takes the riders outside. We circle the base of the mountain before entering a cave opening on the other side and mounting another lift hill. The sound of snoring can be heard as we go up. Eventually, at the top of the lift hill, we see the source of the snoring: a sleeping Bagheera, who eventually opens his eyes and sees us approaching. Confused, he says, "I wasn't expecting to see humans in the jungle today... do be careful, I've heard rumors that Shere Khan, the tiger, has been spotted in this part of the jungle."
We then go down another, slightly larger but still rather small, drop and emerge outside. The "Overture" from the film's soundtrack begins to play, accompanied by the occasional call of a bird or howl of a wolf - perhaps one of the wolves who raised Mowgli? Jungle foilage surrounds us, growing on the riverbanks. After an outdoor loop, we eventually turn to the left and pass the waterfall that flows from the top of the mountain (another log might fall down it as you float by), another cave appearing in front of us. The log drifts into the cave - and suddenly down a waterfall, this one much larger than the first two!
Upon landing at the bottom, we find ourselves inside the mountain... or rather, further into the jungle. The ominous-sounding overture is suddenly replaced by a bouncy rendition of "The Bare Necessities". Here, we see Mowgli and Shanti again, meeting up with Baloo outside his cave. As the three of them begin to sing, they don't notice Kaa, the sneaky python, emerge from the treetops and eyeing Mowgli and Shanti hungrily. Nor do they hear him whisper to himself about what a nice meal they would make.
Entering the next room, we find more of the jungle's residents, all of them also singing "The Bare Necessities". A leopard lounges on a branch overlooking the river, occasionally attempting to snatch a fish from the water with his paw. A couple red pandas have stacked themselves up, trying to get honey from a beehive hanging from another branch. Gharials and crocodiles emerge from the water, one of them having a startled-looking crane standing atop its back. None of these characters were in the movie, but much like the various reused America Sings animatronics in Splash Mountain, they help to populate the attraction and make the jungle really feel alive.
Rounding a corner, we come across Colonel Hathi and his herd. As a reference to the Jungle Cruise found at other Disney parks, they're taking a dip in the Indian Elephant Bathing Pool, showering under waterfalls and squirting water out of their trunks (watch out - some of them take aim at us!). Hathi himself is helping to clean his adorable mop-topped son, who lets out a trumpet as we go by.
Emerging through a "curtain" of vines hanging down, we come across a group of Baloo's fellow bears: a Himalayan brown bear, an Asiatic black bear, and a sun bear and his cub enjoying the "Bare Necessities" of life themselves. The brown bear is lifting up a rock to take a glance at the fancy ants (and maybe try a few), the black bear is is picking prickly pears with his claw, and the sun bear is bending down a banana tree, allowing his cub to pick one. Baloo, Mowgli, and Shanti are here again, scratching their backs on the trunks of trees. Once again, they don't know that Kaa is slithering nearby, wrapping his coils around Mowgli's leg. But before he can do anything, Bagheera shouts "HOLD IT, KAA!" and pounces on the python. Baloo, Mowgli, and Shanti don't even react - they're too caught up in their enjoyment of the "Bare Necessities". Across the river, a pack of striped hyenas laugh their heads off at the sight of what's going on.
Over our heads are perched Mowgli's vulture friends Buzzie, Flaps, Ziggy, and Dizzy. They greet us as we float by, then Buzzie turns to Flaps and asks what he wants to do. Flaps' response is, "I dunno... hey, now, don't start THAT again!" More animals appear on the riverbanks. Rocky, a dimwitted rhino, seems to have taken the lyric "LOOK FOR the Bare Necessities..." literally, and is peering into a hole in a nearby tree, much to the confusion of the birds perched on its branches. A strange amount of monkeys appear, one of them mentioning that King Louie is having a party at his temple and invites us, Mowgli and Shanti to come along. Look up, and you'll see a monkeys scampering around in the treetops, followed by Mowgli and Shanti, swinging over our heads on vines a la Tarzan.
A reference to Splash Mountain appears up ahead after we dip down another small drop, in the form of a crocodile standing atop a rock sticking out of the water. Waving his clawed thumb like a hitchhiker, he asks us (to the tune of "The Bare Necessities") if he can come along, promising he won't eat us. Further ahead, we see Baloo and Bagheera on the left side of the river. Bagheera asks Baloo where Mowgli and Shanti are, making Baloo realize that they've wandered off. "Aw, man... they were right behind me a second ago!" the bear groans. "Where'd they run off to?" Unbeknownst to them, on the right side of the river, a tiger pops out of a patch of tall grass. It's Shere Khan! "And now for MY run-in with the little lost man-cubs," he says to himself.
Before we can warn Baloo and Bagheera of Shere Khan's presence, our log turns a bend in the river and hurtles down another waterfall. Then, just as quickly as we went down, we suddenly zip back up and land in the ancient ruins that the Bandar-Log call home. An instrumental version of "I Wanna Be Like You" starts to play as monkeys appear on both sides of us, drumming on logs and scatting. King Louie can be seen, relaxing on his throne, another monkey on his right fanning him. "Hey, welcome to my temple!" the orangutan greets us. "Didn't expect Cuz to bring more man-cubs with him. Not that I'm complainin'. Let's get this party started!"
We go down another drop that sends us further into the ruins, where the party is in full swing. Mowgli and Shanti are dancing together in the center of the room. Kaa, hanging down from atop a column, tries again to eat Mowgli, only for a gibbon to grab his tail and swing around on it like a vine, pulling him out of reach. King Louie sings "I Wanna Be Like You" as his monkey minions dance atop stone podiums. Some of the animals make music - a mongoose drums on the shell of a turtle, a peacock shows off his tailfeathers as he plays a makeshift guitar made of a log and vines, and a dopey-looking elephant uses his trunk like a trumpet. A pygmy hog munches on bananas (unpeeled ones) in a basket. Everyone's having such a good time that nobody notices the dark clouds gathering in the sky overhead.
Suddenly, the party is interrupted by the sound of a loud roar. The animals scatter as Shere Khan appears in front of us. He demands to know where the man-cub, Mowgli, is. Columns fall down, nearly on top of us, as we try to get away. On our left, we see King Louie desperately trying to hold up the crumbling ruins. He urges us to make a run for it.
We flee, briefly seeing Mowgli and Shanti's shadows running alongside us as we enter the deepest, darkest, most menacing part of the jungle. Thunder rumbles and lightning flashes. There is very little foilage around, and whatever animals we see aren't nearly as friendly as the ones we've encountered so far. A flock of bats dive-bombs us, snakes much more menacing than Kaa slither out of the shadows, gharials burst from the water and snap their jaws at us. As our log darts away, Shere Khan pounces out of the bushes towards us... only to fall to the ground a few inches short. Why? Baloo has grabbed him by the tail and is holding him back. "Let go, you big oaf!" Shere Khan demands. "No! I'm not lettin' you hurt my pals!" Baloo says nervously. "Run, everybody!"
The storm is getting worse. Up ahead, we see the vultures again, perched on a gnarled tree branch. "This way, friends!" Buzzie urges us. "Up the hill! Run!" Our log boards the lift hill and chugs towards the top of the mountain. Lightning flashes, setting the dry grass on either side of the lift hill aflame (this effect is achieved via projections). Near the top of the hill, we see Mowgli and Shanti again, cornered by Shere Khan on the edge of a cliff despite Baloo's best efforts. Mowgli tells Shanti that they'll have to jump for it, and despite Shanti's reluctance, she agrees if it's the only way to get away from Shere Khan. This is our log's cue to finally level off and emerge from the hole at the top of the mountain into the daylight. It's a great view of the park from the top, but the only way down is the five-story waterfall mentioned earlier. Down you go, right into that clump of jungle foliage.
We land at the bottom of the waterfall, creating an enormous splash, and find ourselves in a large pond. Confused frogs sit atop lily pads on either side of us. Turning left, we see Baloo slide down a waterfall (presumably the same one we just went down) himself, creating a huge splash of his own. Nearby are Mowgli and Shanti, sitting in the water, soaking wet but laughing their heads off - and very relieved that they got away from Shere Khan.
Making another turn, we see Bagheera again. "So THERE you all are," he says, both relieved that we're alive and annoyed at Baloo's irresponsibility. "Baloo, I'd say it's time we brought the man-cubs home." Emerging back outside, we travel down the river next to the mountain's exterior as a more relaxed, serene instrumental of "The Bare Necessities" plays in the background. Eventually, we reenter the mountain via a cave at its base, its entrance marked by a monkey playing a bongo drum and a leopard cub playing a large stick like a flute.
Inside, we find ourselves amongst what seems to be hundreds of singing jungle animals - the Vultures, water buffalo, antelope, bears, elephants, jackals, wolves, crocodiles, mongooses, birds, even fish poking their heads out of the water. They all sing a fantastic reprise of "The Bare Necessities", celebrating the fact that Mowgli and Baloo once again have triumphed over Shere Khan. Some of the animals have stacked themselves into a makeshift pyramid, with five elephants at the bottom, four antelope standing on their backs, three Komodo dragons standing on THEIR backs, two mongoose standing on their shoulders, and a tiny field mouse on top.
Going down the river a little more, we see what's become of Shere Khan - in another scene reminiscent of the Jungle Cruise, we that Rocky the rhino, who we've previously encountered, has chased him up a tree, the tiger desperately trying to climb up the trunk as the rhino's horn gets dangerously close to his backside. Hanging from the top branch of the tree is Kaa, his coils wrapped around it, snickering at Shere Khan's misfortune. Further down, Baloo and Bagheera are seen watching Mowgli and Shanti dance back into the village. "I know it's where they belong," Baloo says, "But I still think they would've made two swell bears."
Turning away from the scene, just before we reach the unload area we encounter King Louie once again, hanging from a vine. "Now THAT was a swingin' good time!" he says with a grin. "Come back and see us some time, y'hear? Say, any of you know the secret of man's red flower?" With this, the log pulls into the same thatched roofed dock where we boarded our logs, allowing us to disembark. Be sure to pick up a photo of your log hurtling down the waterfall on your way out.
Should this attraction be built in Disneyland Paris, heaters/dryers will be placed near the end of the ride and most of the water effects will be turned off during the winter months.
