PHOTOS: First Look at the Updated Jungle Cruise in Disneyland

Table Of Content

• Updated Jungle Cruise Opens at Disneyland
• Jungle Cruise “Front Side of Water” Puzzle
• Get the DFB Newsletter
• PHOTOS: Jingle Cruise Holiday Overlay Returns to Jungle Cruise for 2023 Holiday Season at Magic Kingdom
• Secrets of Disneyland’s Jungle Cruise
• Holiday Overlays
• Exterior Refurbishment of Columbia Harbour House Completed at Magic Kingdom

There was no ad-libbed humor from the skippers, who played the entire experience straight. As an opening day attraction at both Disneyland Park in 1955 and Magic Kingdom Park in 1971, this popular, beloved ride has been entertaining Guests for decades. However, the experience varies depending on where you’re riding (and some people prefer one park’s version over the other!). Below, we’re comparing both the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland and the Jungle Cruise at Walt Disney World to determine which is the better attraction. Well, that is so they can hide the rides track system that is in the water, in addition to other mechanical parts that are in the river.

Updated Jungle Cruise Opens at Disneyland

The African Veldt comes into view, where antelope, giraffes, zebras, and African elephants stare at the boats. Once aboard the boats, guests are introduced to their skipper and they head into the jungle, allegedly never to return. The first rivers simulated are the Irrawaddy and Mekong rivers, representing tropical Southeast Asia. The boats sail through a dense rainforest, and ancient Irrawaddy temple ruins where passengers see a Bengal Tiger, giant spiders, king cobras, and crocodiles.

Jungle Cruise “Front Side of Water” Puzzle

The boats narrowly escape and encounter the lost Jungle Cruise boat, The Mekong Maiden being crewed by chimpanzees while chimps along the riverside play with the marooned crew's belongings. The boat also passes another pair of chimps with a magnifying glass and net observing an infestation of butterflies that they had released from their crates. The queue and station are themed as the former headquarters and boathouse of the Jungle Navigation Company, located in a British colony within the Lost Delta of India in the year 1938. The queuing area is cluttered with appropriate props, such as pinned insects, an old radio on top of a bookshelf, and a chessboard with miniature animals and decorated shotgun shells replacing the pieces. The extended queue winds upstairs, underneath an Audio-Animatronic hornbill, and then downstairs again. Big band music from the 1930s plays overhead from the Global Broadcasting Service and occasional news breaks by announcer Nigel Greenwater.

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The Disney Jungle Cruise was one of the original Disneyland attractions, introduced on Opening Day, 1955. You can see all the Disneyland rides at a glance on the Disneyland ride sheet. Throughout the history of the attraction, Jungle Cruise has undergone many technical changes, as well as some story and content adaptations. Albert Awol is a fictional Jungle Cruise boat captain and disc jockey for the Disney Broadcasting Company. Considered the "Voice of the Jungle", he broadcasts everything from news, to quizzes, reminders, weather, etc. on the DBC (Disney Broadcast Company).

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The Jungle Cruise is an opening day riverboat attraction located in Adventureland. Originally intended to be more educational and straightforward, the cruise is now renowned for its dry humor and excessive use of puns — courtesy of a Cast Member guide known as a Skipper. As guests traverse jungles of the world, they are treated to a bombardment of witty one-liners. The queue takes place in a small boathouse of The Jungle Navigation Co. that is less elaborate than the boathouses found at the other parks. In Tokyo Disneyland, the station and surrounding area are themed to a more upscale African city, as opposed to an isolated jungle outpost. The first installation of the ride was featured at Disneyland for its grand opening in 1955.

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This shop is shown to have originally been called Boats & Baits before being turned into a quick-service dining establishment selling exotic fish such as piranhas. After this, the boat then passes a camp that has been raided by gorillas, which transitions the cruise into the Nile River. The boats also encounter a downed airplane with the words, "The Amazing Hathaway Browne" on it, referencing the vehicle's owner. This refurbishment ceased in the January of 2017 but continued to be performed at the Magic Kingdom. The boats proceed to make their return to the boathouse but not before passing through an uncharted tributary within a Polynesian river.

Recent Walt Disney World

Along the water's edge are Jungle Navigation Company docks along the Enchanted Tiki Room and advertisements for, "The Tropical Hideaway". A white cockatoo named Rosita appears waiting for a Jungle Cruise boat and turns to sing to and crack jokes at the guests. The skipper then pilots the boat into a large pool, containing the sunken Kwango Kate and belongings of the lost expedition. Armed with a gun filled with blanks, the skipper fires into the air to frighten them away.

Holiday Overlays

It was all carefully thought out ahead of time, since a major aspect of our fun and success was audience involvement in our spiel. I personally took every chance I could to involve each kid, grandmother, or family in my spiel to make them feel as special as possible. A new version of the project starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt was announced in 2017, with a planned shooting time in the Spring of 2018. This version of the project is described as a comedic action-adventure film in the vein of Indiana Jones and the attraction's original inspiration, The African Queen. In January 2021, Disneyland and Walt Disney World both drastically changed their Jungle Cruises to remove overt racism from the attraction. This was likely due in part to the Black Lives Matter movement sparked in 2020 which had already rightfully pressured Disney into changing Splash Mountain, an attraction based on the infamously racist film Song of the South.

Exterior Refurbishment of Columbia Harbour House Completed at Magic Kingdom

The series was so successful with movie-goers and critics that it eventually evolved from two-reel shorts to full-length documentary films that quickly became a cornerstone of Walt Disney Studios. You’ll also a boat that appears to have sunk into the rivers of the jungle. And, of course, no trip to the jungle is complete without a look at the backside of water. There are a lot of heavily themed rides coming out in 2023, including this list of 11 amazing ones...

Big ones and "little squirts," the elephants will frolic and splash in the waters of Adventureland beginning in June. The "world's largest" Tree House, three unique restaurants operated by nationally known Stougger's company, and a "Safari Shooting Gallery" comprise the 1962 portion of Disneyland's two-year $7 Million expansion. The film adaptation, originally scheduled for release in 2007, has experienced various delays and changes. Moreover, the original screenplay by Josh Goldstein and John Norville was reportedly rewritten by Al Gough and Miles Millar. This original screenplay followed a group's riverboat journey through a jungle in search of a cure and was to have featured a contemporary setting. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen were set to star as a Skipper and a frustrated passenger respectively until this version was cancelled.

Guests also pass by the office of company president Alberta Falls containing her portrait and the cage of her pet bird, Kamaka. Walt Disney developed the Jungle Cruise alongside Adventureland, inspired by his successful True-Life Adventures nature-film series as Adventureland was originally named, "True-Life Adventureland". Walt originally wanted the attraction to feature live-animals though for many obvious reasons this was opted out for audio-animatronics (though later recycled for Kilimanjaro Safaris). Imagineer Harper Goff referenced the 1951 non-Disney film The African Queen frequently in his ideas; even his designs of the ride vehicles were modeled after the steamer used in the film.

Ahead of its official reopening on July 16th, we were invited to a media preview of the newly updated ride today in Disneyland. When The Jungle Cruise opened in 1955, the tour guides spiel was more of an educational tone. Later in 1962, The Jungle Cruise was changed to have more comedy happening. Not only with the Tour Guides puns, but also with the addition of four new scenes that were funny. "Weird Al" Yankovic wrote and recorded a song titled "Skipper Dan" about a failed actor who ended up as a guide on the Jungle Cruise, but sometimes those skippers often go on to bigger things. According to MentalFloss.com, famous wisecracking skippers include Kevin Costner, John Lasseter, and Richard Nixon's press secretary Ron Ziegler.

The original spiel had no jokes and sounded much like the narration of a nature documentary. Starting with the Christmas season of 2013, Jungle Cruise was given a seasonal overlay called Jingle Cruise and was decorated with various Christmas decorations. However, a modern guest would be hard-pressed to recognize much of the attraction. Sure they would be familiar with Goff’s general concept, and if they squinted they could imagine how the rather light jungle Evans planted would grow into the lush greenery seen today, but many iconic elements of the attraction would be absent.