Gourt Home::Gourt :: Jungle Cruise
- "Venture deep into the mysterious and danger-filled jungle and experience the perils of the wild!" - from the original Tokyo Disneyland English guidebook, 1983
The Jungle Cruise is an attraction at the Disneyland, Magic Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland (under the name Jungle River Cruise) theme parks around the world. It was one of the twenty two attractions that opened with Disneyland on July 17, 1955 and one of the boats on the cruise was painted gold for the fiftieth celebration in 2005.
It is a humourous boat ride, hosted by a 'skipper' who takes guests on a journey through the jungles of Asia, Africa and South America. The skipper's memorised spiel is legendary among Disney fans, and many fans hold competitions in which they compete to say the seven-minute spiel the fastest. However, individual skippers now often vary their recitations so greatly with seemingly ad-libbed comments that each ride on the Jungle Cruise can be a substantially different experience.
The only Magic Kingdom-style Disney theme park that doesn't have the Jungle Cruise in its attraction roster is Disneyland Paris, for the reason that the french climate is too cold for a realistic presentation of a tropical vegetation.
The Jungle Cruises around the world vary in different ways. In 2005, Disneyland's version got a new piranha attack scene as well as some explosion effects in a scene where gorillas are wrecking a camp and throwing dynamite into the river. Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland's version have a different character, Chief Nami, in the place of Trader Sam as well as an indoor temple scene. Tokyo Disneyland and Walt Disney World have the two most similar versions of the ride - except Tokyo Disneyland operates clock-wise and Walt Disney World operates counter clock-wise. Hong Kong Disneyland has a different shaped route compared to the others, acting almost like their version of the Rivers of America found in the Frontierland area of the other parks as well as some scenes involving angry Tiki gods.
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.
Attraction facts
Disneyland
- Grand opening: July 17, 1955 (Opened with Disneyland park)
- Designer: WED Enterprises
- Size: 5 acres
- Major refurbs: 5
- 1962 - Indian Elephant pool
- 1964 - African Veldt and Lost Safari scenes
- 1993 - Additions to the attraction
- 1994 - Boathouse queue
- 2005 - Rebuilding of areas of the attraction and addition of Piranhas and updates to Trashed Camp
- Boats: 12
- Amazon Belle
- Congo Queen
- Ganges Gal
- Hondo Hattie
- Irrawaddy Woman
- Kissimmee Kate
- Nile Princess
- Orinoco Adventuress
- Swannee Lady
- Ucayali Una
- Yangtze Lotus
- Zambezi Miss
- Boat Names Decomissioned in 1999: 2
- Magdalena Maiden
- Mekong Maiden
- Required ticket:
- "C" (1955-1956)
- "D" (1956-1959)
- "E" (1959-1982)
- Ride system: Boat Ride
Magic Kingdom
- Grand opening: October 1, 1971 (Opened with Magic Kingdom park)
- Designer: WED Enterprises
- River capacity: 1,750,000 gallons of water
- Boats: 16
- Amazon Annie
- Bomokandi Bertha
- Congo Connie
- Ganges Gertie
- Irrawaddy Irma
- Kwango Kate
- Mongala Millie
- Nile Nelly
- Orinoco Ida
- Rutshuru Ruby
- Sankuru Sadie
- Senegal Sal
- Ucyali Lolly
- Volta Val
- Wamba Wanda
- Zambesi Zelda
- Average speed: 2.18 mph
- Show length: 9:05
- Ride system: Boat Ride
Tokyo Disneyland
- Grand opening: April 15, 1983 (Opened with Tokyo Disneyland)
- Designer: WED Enterprises
- Size: 5 acres
- Major refurbs: 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
- Required ticket:
- "E" (1984-c.2000)
- "Passports" accepted from Opening day until used exclusively in c. 2000
- Show length: 9:50
- Boat capacity: 32 + Skipper
- Ride system: Boat Ride
Jungle Cruise joke lists
Resources
"Jungle Cruise"