Jungle Cruise
Jungle Cruise 
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| The entrance sign for the Jungle Cruise. | |
| Magic Kingdom | |
| Land | Adventureland |
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| Attraction type | Boat Ride |
| Opening date | October 1, 1971 |
| Ride duration | 9:05 minutes |
| Fastpass Available | Yes |
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The Jungle Cruise is an attraction located in Adventureland
Attraction History
The genesis of what would eventually be known as the Jungle Cruise began with Walt Disney's True Life Adventures in the 1950s. Walt wanted to create an attraction for his Disneyland park that would take inspiration from the films series, particularly from the "African Lion" installment. Disney enlisted the help of Harper Goff (who had worked on the film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) to help design the attraction. Goff used not only the True Life series for inspiration, but also the 1951 film, "The African Queen, which featured two main characters traveling down a river in Africa, aboard a steam boat. Goff took the movies basic premise, and expanded it to also include rivers in South America and Asia.
During the Jungle Cruise's early stages, Walt Disney had hoped to use real animals in the attraction. 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. 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). Engineer Bob Mattey was responsible for the effects that made the animals move.
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 Santa Ana Freeway construction for the ride.
The Jungle Cruise opened with the rest of Disneyland on July 17 1955, to rave revues. 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. 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.
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. Construction began on the Jungle Cruise in the spring of 1969 and the attraction was ready for the Magic Kingdom's opening day on October 1, 1971.
Attraction Plot
The Jungle Cruise features a live skipper and thus the script for the attraction is often unique. The below description does not give the skipper's dialogue, it instead focuses on the sights that guests see while on the attraction. For a list of jokes that the skippers on the Jungle Cruise often use see: List of Jungle Cruise Jokes
The Jungle Cruise begins with guests exiting the loading dock and entering the Amazon River. Here, guests see giant butterflies, remnants of a safari and Inspiration Falls. After traveling down the Amazon, guests transition to the Congo River. Here, the first thing guests see is the sight of pygmy war canoes on a nearby beach. Although the boats are empty, the sound of tribal drums beating in the distance can be heard as the boat continues on. As the boat turns the corner, guests come face to face with a yellow and brown python before the skipper decides to swing by camp to pick up supplies. Unfortunately, it seems as if gorillas have overrun the camp. Near the bank of the water, a jeep is flipped over and cans and boxes are scattered along the beach. Inside the tent, a group of gorillas are seen "playing" with various belongings. The father ape tries to put on a small helmet, as the mother ape sits nearby holding a baby. Also in the tent, two young gorillas are shown holding guns, which they are “innocently” pointing towards the boats.
As the boat travels on pass the camp, guests enter the Nile River. Here, guests pass by African elephants who "trumpet" as the boat passes by. Further on, guests see gnus, giraffes, zebras, impala, and vultures in the distance. The boat also passes by lion’s den, where a pack of lions is shown eating a zebra.
After taking a sharp turn past the lion’s den, guests see the "trapped safari scene". Here, four men on safari have been run up a pole by a large rhinoceros. Past the safari, guests come across a beach which features two large crocodiles (named Old Smiley and Ginger) who hiss as guests pass by. Nearby, native totem poles can be seen. Past the crocodiles and straight ahead, guests see the beautiful scenic falls. The boat then takes another sharp turn, before it enters the hippo pool. Here (with the sound of crickets in the background) guests navigate past some hippopotamuses, which pop out of the water on either side of guests. Although the hippo’s initially pose a threat to guests, the skipper fires a warning shot which keeps the hippos at bay. In the hippo pool scene, guests can also see the back half of an airplane (the front half of the plane is used in the Great Movie Ride.
Just past the hippo pool, guests come upon the headhunter village. Here, the sound of the native drums can once again be heard in the distance. Along a nearby beach, a canoe full of skulls can be seen in front a small hut, which houses three warriors jumping around with their spears. Nearby, a smaller hut houses three drummers who have seemingly been making the beats that guests have heard in the background. After surviving the village, the boat is attacked by Zulu warriors. Seven men hide in the bushes along the shore with there spears raised. Although the sound of whizzing spears can be heard overhead, guests survive the attack, and soon find themselves passing under Schweitzer Falls. The falls mark the transition between the Nile and Mekong (formally called the Irrawaddy) Rivers.
As the boat enters the Mekong River, guests find themselves heading into ancient ruins. On either side of the boat, crocodiles watch closely as the riders pass by. As guests enter the temple, the boats pass by a statue of the Hindu God Vishnu. Inside the crumbling temple, relics depicting scenes of Hindu mythology surround guests, and for a brief moment the boat passes by a tiger who growls menacingly. Just pass the tiger, a python stares intently at the boat as it passes by. Traveling deeper into the ruins, guests hear the soft sound of xylophones in the background. Two pythons sway to the music, as the boat passes by a mound of treasure, as well as giant spiders (similar to the ones that used to be found in the Haunted Mansion).
After exiting the temple, guests find themselves in the elephant bathing pool. While elephants squirt water around them, the boat narrowly misses getting sprayed. Just pass the elephant bathing pool; guests pass Trader Sam who sells shrunken heads. The skipper usually comments that Sam is willing to "trade two of your heads for one of his". After passing Sam, guests arrive back at the dock and unload.
Fun Facts and Trivia
- The temple scene is not found on the Disneyland version of the Jungle Cruise.
- Harper Goff, an Imagineer suggested that the ride be based on the African Queen, a 1951 film staring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn.
- Each ship has a name:
- Amazon Annie
- Bomokandi Bertha
- Congo Connie
- Ganges Gertie
- Irrawaddy Irma
- Mongala Millie
- Kwango Kate (retired)
- Nile Nelly
- Orinoco Ida
- Rutshuru Ruby
- Sankuru Sadie
- Senegal Sal
- Volta Val
- Wamba Wanda
- Zambezi Zelda
- Ucyali Lolly
- Sankuru Sadie is the only boat to have ever sunk in the Magic Kingdom. It sank in 2004, but returned to service.
