Changes

During the Jungle Cruise's early stages, Walt Disney had hoped to use real animals in the attraction <ref> http://www.florida-project.com/walt-disney-world-photos/magic-kingdom/adventureland/jungle-cruise </ref>. After researching the issue and consulting with animal specialists however, it was decided that live animals would not be feasible for a number of reasons. For starters, Disney decided that the animals would be too unpredictable to center a scripted show around, and that the passing guests would agitate the animals. Furthermore, it would cost Disney a lot of money, land, and man power to take care of the animals <ref name= "Spence"/>. After weighing these issues Walt decided to use artificial (Audio Animatronic) animals instead of real ones. The Audio Animatronic animals used in the attraction were sculpted by Chris Mueller and built at the Disney Studio in Burbank (although some of the animals were built on site) <ref> http://matterhorn1959.blogspot.com/2009/11/making-jungle-cruise-animals-1954_03.html </ref>. Engineer Bob Mattey was responsible for the effects that made the animals move <ref> http://allears.net/ae/issue743.htm </ref>.

In order to landscape the Jungle Cruise, Disney turned to Bill Evans who was in charge of gardening all of Disneyland. Evans used foliage from nurseries all over California, as well as displaced vegetation from the construction of the Santa Ana Freeway for the ride <ref> http://articles.latimes.com/1992-08-30/realestate/re-8294_1_jungle-cruise </ref>. When choosing the foliage that would be found within the attraction, Evans said he hoped to create a "Hollywood Jungle" that would create the feeling that guests were entering uncharted territory <ref> http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2013/04/its-a-jungle-out-there-the-history-of-jungle-cruise-horticulture/ </ref>

The Jungle Cruise opened with the rest of Disneyland on July 17, 1955 to rave reviews <ref> http://www.davelandweb.com/junglecruise/ </ref>. Although the attraction was popular, one day Walt heard a guest say (referring to the Jungle Cruise), "We don't need to go on that ride, we've already seen it.” Horrified, Disney realized that he needed to update Disneyland's attractions in order to keep the attention of return visitors. To accomplish this, Walt asked Marc Davis to refresh the Jungle Cruise <ref name= "Spence"/>. Davis changed the tone of the attraction, making it a humorous trip, as opposed to the danger filled adventure that it had previously been. To this end, Davis created the Indian Elephant Pool scene (which opened in 1962) as well as the African Veldt and Lost Safari scenes (which opened in 1964). At this time, the script for the Jungle Cruise was rewritten, giving it a much lighter (and pun dependent) narration <ref name="Spence"/>.

Due to its popularity in Disneyland, the Jungle Cruise was an obvious choice for inclusion in Walt Disney World's Adventureland. Under the watchful eye of Marc Davis, Disney World’s Jungle Cruise featured more "sight gags" and a longer ride time then its Disneyland counterpart. Scenes including: Inspiration Falls, the gorillas in the safari camp, pygmy war canoes, the Bengal Tiger, and the especially the Cambodian Ruins, gave Disney World's Jungle Cruise a unique feel <ref name= "widen"> http://www.omniluxe.net/wyw/jc.htm </ref>. Construction began on the Jungle Cruise in the spring of 1969 <ref name= "widen"/> and the attraction was ready for the Magic Kingdom's opening day on October 1, 1971.