Jungle Cruise
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| Jungle Cruise | |
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| Poster advertisting Disneyland's Jungle Cruise | |
| Land | Adventureland |
| Designer | WED Enterprises |
| Attraction type | Boat Ride |
| Theme | Ride through the jungle |
| Vehicle type | Boat |
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| Disneyland | |
| Opening date | July 17, 1955 |
| Site area | 217,800 ft2 |
| Required Ticket | C (1955-1956), D (1956-1959), E (1959-1982) |
| Magic Kingdom | |
| Opening date | October 1, 1971 |
| Vehicle capacity | 39 |
| Ride duration | 9:05 minutes |
| Maximum speed | 2.18 mph (3.5 km/h) |
| River capacity | 1,750,000 gallons of water |
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| Tokyo Disneyland | |
| Opening date | April 15, 1983 |
| Vehicle capacity | 32 |
| Ride duration | 9:50 minutes |
| Site area | 217800 ft2 |
| Required Ticket | E (1983-2000), Passport (1983- ) |
| Jungle River Cruise | |
| Hong Kong Disneyland | |
| Opening date | September 12, 2005 |
| Vehicle capacity | 39 |
| Ride duration | 8 minutes |
The Jungle Cruise is an attraction at the following Disney theme parks: Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland (under the name Jungle River Cruise). As France's climate is too cold for a realistic presentation of tropical vegetation, Disneyland Paris is the only Magic Kingdom-style Disney theme park that does not have the Jungle Cruise in its attraction roster.
The Jungle Cruise was one of the twenty-two attractions operating at Disneyland on its opening day (July 17, 1955). In celebration of Disneyland's 50th anniversary, the Disneyland version of the attraction features one gold-painted riverboat, which is the Congo Queen.
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[edit] History
The theme and idea for the cruise came after a 1955 True-Life Adventure about a family of lions, and the boats are modeled after the non-Disney movie “The African Queen”, which Harper Goff particularly loved. Bill Evans, responsible for landscaping DL and most of WDW, found “character plants” which could give the feel of exoticism in a jungle. By uprooting trees and replanting them upside-down, then growing vines on the exposed roots, Evans created new plant visuals, furthering the feel of the unusual. Imagineers originally dyed the water brown to prevent visitors from seeing the bottom of the “river”, which varies between three and eight feet deep. Although Goff and Evans can be credited with the creation and initial design of the ride, Marc Davis (of Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean fame) added his touch to two notable scenes, one of which truly has his signature on it. He added the wading pool of elephants, but more similar to his style, the rhinoceros chasing the explorers up the totem pole contains the caricature and humor that stamped Pirates and the Haunted Mansion with Davis’ style.[1]
According to Jeff Lange, a writer for Jim Hill Media, The Jungle Cruise resulted in Walt becoming obsessed with the concept of plussing when a mother told her child that they had already been on the ride the last time they visited the park, and didn’t need to go on it again. Walt observed this in horror and disappointment and told the Imagineers to add more scenes. Many variations of this story exist, although the overall theme and end result remain constant: Disneyland rides need continuous addition. [2]
[edit] Ride description
The attraction is a riverboat journey through the jungles of Asia, Africa and South America. The boats were later revamped to a more authentic, weathered style. The guides still use revolvers, which are reloaded at the end of each trip with blank rounds. The boat's Skipper provides humorous narration featuring puns relating to the various scenes viewed during the ride. The seemingly ad-libbed comments individual skippers now often include during their recitations make each ride on the Jungle Cruise a substantially different experience. The original spiel, however, is legendary among Disney fans. Competitions in which they compete to say the seven-minute spiel the fastest have been held.
[edit] Version comparisons
Disneyland's version includes a piranha attack scene as well as some explosive effects in a scene where gorillas are ransacking a camp and throwing dynamite into the river.
The Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland versions are similar to each other. They each have indoor temple scenes and the character of Chief Namee corresponds to Disneyland's Trader Sam. The Magic Kingdom ride operates in a counter clock-wise fashion while Tokyo Disneyland's operates clock-wise.
The shape of Hong Kong Disneyland's route is significantly different compared to the others and it also includes scenes depicting angry Tiki gods.
[edit] Refurbishments and Boat facts
[edit] Disneyland
- Major refurbishments: 7
- 1962 - Indian Elephant pool
- 1964 - African Veldt and Lost Safari scenes
- 1993 - Additions to the attraction
- 1994 - Boathouse queue
- 1995 - Rerouting of river to make room for The Indiana Jones Adventure
- 1997 - Original river boats replaced
- 2005 - Rebuilding of areas of the attraction and addition of Piranhas and updates to Trashed Camp
- Boats: 12
- Amazon Belle
- Congo Queen (Painted gold for Disneyland's 50th anniversary)
- Ganges Gal
- Hondo Hattie
- Irrawaddy Woman
- Kissimmee Kate
- Nile Princess
- Orinoco Adventuress
- Suwannee Lady
- Ucayali Una
- Yangtze Lotus
- Zambezi Miss
- Boat Names Decommissioned in 1997: 2
- Magdalena Maiden (mechanical problems)
- Mekong Maiden
[edit] Magic Kingdom
- Boats: 16 (10 in operation)
- Amazon Annie
- Bomokandi Bertha (Wheelchair lift equipped)
- Congo Connie
- Ganges Gertie
- Irrawaddy Irma
- Kwango Kate (Named but never built)
- Mongala Millie
- Nile Nellie
- Orinoco Ida
- Rutshuru Ruby
- Sankuru Sadie
- Senegal Sal
- Ucyali Lolly
- Volta Val
- Wamba Wanda (Wheelchair lift equipped)
- Zambesi Zelda
[edit] Tokyo Disneyland
- Major refurbishments: 2
- Boats: 13 (12 Max in operation)
- Amazon Annie
- Congo Connie
- Ganges Gertie
- Irrawaddy Irma
- Kwango Kate
- Nile Nelly
- Orinoco Ida
- Rutshuru Ruby
- Sankuru Sadie
- Senegal Sal
- Volta Val
- Wamba Wanda
- Zambezi Zelda
[edit] Hong Kong Disneyland
- Show Enhancement: 1 (Summer 2006)
- Piranhas Attack
- Explosion in Gorilla Camp
- Effect enhancement in African Veldt
- Trapped Safari
- More natives added to the Headhunter's Territory
- Boats: 9 (Max 8 in operation)
- Amazon Annie
- Congo Queen (Wheelchair Accessible Boat)
- Ganges Gal
- Irrawaddy Irma
- Lijiang Lady
- Mekong Maiden
- Nile Nellie
- Yangzi Ying Ying
- Zambezi Zelda
[edit] The Ride In Other Media
The Walt Disney Company announced in 2004 that the Jungle Cruise would be adapted into a motion picture, also called Jungle Cruise. This would follow the footsteps of fellow Disney attractions: The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, and Country Bear Jamboree that had been adapted for the big screen. There was a tribute to the ride in 2005 on an episode of the podcast The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd as well as a Strong Bad E-mail entitled "theme park".
[edit] Trivia
- Robin Williams, Steve Martin and John Lasseter once worked as Jungle Cruise Skippers, but it is rumored that Williams was fired for doing unscripted comedy routines while "underway". [1].
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Minnick, Nathaniel. The Jungle Cruise: Foray into the Faux, (University of Michigan, 2005)
- ^ http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jeff_lange/archive/2005/05/09/1488.aspx
