Magic Kingdom

Saturday, April 08, 2006

THE JUNGLE CRUISE

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 it was thought European audiences did not think of a boat ride as unique.

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 Trader Sam animatronic figure as well as an indoor temple scene. 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.

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