Poor Jungle Cruise

[rteetz]

I didn't notice anything that bad in January. We also had a excellent skipper. One of the best I have ever had.

 

[missnic]

I didn't notice a broken hippo this weekend, and the waterfalls were all working.. but are they now making a point to ignore the crocodiles? We rode twice this weekend, and both skippers completely ignored them.. like, directed us to the other side of the boat ignored. As recently as mid December for Jingle Cruise they were making the 'crockpot' joke, so it doesn't appear to be related to the incident.

I LOVE the corny jokes, but my favorite was when the skipper pointed at the boa and says 'Little known fact, the boa is the fastest animal in the jungle - they can run over 35 miles per hour and jump over 10,000 feet'. Then points to the butterfly, 'Little known fact, the butterfly is the fastest animal in the jungle - they can run over 35 miles per hour and jump over 10,000 feet.'. Every single animal got that the line. It was awesome.

 

[teller80]

Don't think so. I first rode it at DL in 1957 as a very young child and they were doing corny jokes then. My parents kept telling them afterwards.

He agreed to use audio-animatronics instead of live animals before the park opened, but according to MickeyWiki (who knew there was even such a thing?) (bolding mine):

The Jungle Cruise opened with the rest of Disneyland on July 17, 1955 to rave reviews. 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.

 

[a742246]

The appeal (or not) is 99.44% on the Skipper.

And to ride it at night!

 

[CarrieR]

I didn't notice a broken hippo this weekend, and the waterfalls were all working.. but are they now making a point to ignore the crocodiles? We rode twice this weekend, and both skippers completely ignored them.. like, directed us to the other side of the boat ignored. As recently as mid December for Jingle Cruise they were making the 'crockpot' joke, so it doesn't appear to be related to the incident.

Well... crockpots are a sensitive subject for much of the country at the moment. Did your rides happen to coincide with Super Bowl Sunday?

*whistles innocently*

 

[Jim Shuler]

What has happened to this attraction? I know the storm affected this but still. I just got off and couldn't believe they've allowed it to deteriorate so horribly. Waterfalls not working. Butterflies not fluttering. Hippos with ears broken off. Animatronics with cracks or with no movement.

I hope this gets a refurbishment soon. It's embarrassing. Not worthy of the Fast Pass to see it like this(especially when introducing it to someone for the first time)

What has happened to this attraction? I know the storm affected this but still. I just got off and couldn't believe they've allowed it to deteriorate so horribly. Waterfalls not working. Butterflies not fluttering. Hippos with ears broken off. Animatronics with cracks or with no movement.

I hope this gets a refurbishment soon. It's embarrassing. Not worthy of the Fast Pass to see it like this(especially when introducing it to someone for the first time)

I usually enjoy the ride but the last time I did it the sound system was so bad no one could understand what was being said. Kind of made the ride worthless.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

It was ahead of its time then but the years, and technology, have not been kind to it. Forget any lack of maintenance, it's horribly dated now in light of the dazzling things the Imagineers have accomplished over the years.

Bill From PA

Also out dated in light of AK. We made the mistake of going on JC the day after doing KS at AK one year. It felt very disappointing after seeing real animals.

Not my fav ride but we do it each trip.

 

[WillowRain]

We love it! My husband genuinely laughs at every joke. Best one we have ever heard was at Disneyland years ago. He said "Up on your right is a pair a docks and on those docks are a pair a dorks!" We laughed so hard people thought we were insane. I quite enjoyed the cave part at WDW and I can't wait for it to get an overhaul!!!

 

[Lisa F]

My kids absolutely LOVED this ride. We had to go on it twice. The first time, there were one or two things not working (they made jokes out of it) but the next day, they were working again. I didn't notice the broken ear at all. We were there at the end of January. My boys absolutely LOVED our first skipper "Joe-nathan" and he even let my youngest drive the boat. I gave him a cast appreciation tweet. They were looking for him the next day.

glad to hear it appears to be up and in decent shape, we are planning to RD adventureland in a couple of weeks!

 

[DisneyFive]

Yup.
Of course, it didn't take much to convince him that real animals would be a bit impractical.
After all, Walt was a Missouri farm boy earlier in life.

I think I remember that too. Maybe we saw the same documentary or were on the same Keys to the Kingdom Tour lol

Glad my memory isn't TOTALLY failing me yet. I've never done the KTTK tour so it must have been the documentary. Either way, yeah, the kind of animals on the jungle cruise would NOT work well that close to guests. "Hey Bob, another boat came back empty!"

Dan

 

[missnic]

Well... crockpots are a sensitive subject for much of the country at the moment. Did your rides happen to coincide with Super Bowl Sunday?

*whistles innocently*

Haha! Nah, almost a week later, but still well within the mourning period.

 

[Aela]

I usually enjoy the ride but the last time I did it the sound system was so bad no one could understand what was being said. Kind of made the ride worthless.

We have been on it twice, once each trip we have gone to Disney (last year and this year). Both times I couldn’t hear the skipper at all, and the jokes weren’t anything exciting. He seemed almost bored, and wasn’t trying both times. I’ve heard of good skippers,
But we were unlucky both times.

 

[joyjoy]

The last couple of times on JC the sound was awful. Like so bad little kids had their hands over their ears. I do like the dumb jokes, though, and I take the same photos everytime - Squirting elephant, rhino, cave with priceless treasures.... years and years of priceless treasures.

 

[GAN]

If I was a skipper, everyone in my boat would be regailed with the legend of why some hippos are famous in these treacherous waters for their missing ears.

Yup ...I’ve seen plenty in the wild with missing ears. Some people here must think it’s easy going, swimming with crocs all day.

 

[JerseyJanice]

I love this attraction. It’s different experiences day and night, rain and shine.

It was closed when we were there post-Irma. I missed it. I know my little nieces would love it.

 

[wgeo]

We were there before Christmas when it was Jingle Cruise and had the best skipper we've had in years. She was incredible, and we got stopped for quite awhile at the end and she just kept going. It really is all about the skipper.

 

[scrhsa]

The appeal (or not) is 99.44% on the skipper.

I have had some great skippers but for me its the crowd that makes the ride. Every time I've ridden it the other people never pay attention to what the skipper is saying and letting the kids climb all over everything etc. It's made to play along with the jokes but NO ONE ever does and I always feel sorry for the skipper! Maybe I'm just unlucky when it comes to people I'm stuck with

 

[MainMom]

My kids absolutely LOVED this ride. We had to go on it twice. The first time, there were one or two things not working (they made jokes out of it) but the next day, they were working again. I didn't notice the broken ear at all. We were there at the end of January. My boys absolutely LOVED our first skipper "Joe-nathan" and he even let my youngest drive the boat. I gave him a cast appreciation tweet. They were looking for him the next day.

How do you give cast appreciation tweets?

 

[GADisneyDad14]

How do you give cast appreciation tweets?

Tweet @WDWToday and use the hashtag #CastCompliment. Obviously make sure to include the CM’s name/location and a brief description.

 

[MainMom]

Tweet @WDWToday and use the hashtag #CastCompliment. Obviously make sure to include the CM’s name/location and a brief description.

Thank you!