Did our Jungle Cruse skipper give us some pixie dust?

[DLgal]

So, we rode Jungle Cruise at Disneyland yesterday afternoon. My son was sat right up front next to the wheel. He had his ear defenders on. He's been on the ride a few times and isn't a fan of the cap gun, but we usually end up in the back. As soon as he sat down, I realized he might freak out. Well, when the time came, the skipper just said "bang bang" instead of shooting the gun. Do you think he noticed the headphones and decided to not shoot the gun for real. He didn't say anything to us or otherwise make any indication, but I've never seen a skipper do that before and thought it was a nice gesture if it was because of my sons headphones.

 

[vleeth]

I can't remember which one happened on our last trip, but if he did change it for your son...that's awesome.

 

[SueM in MN]

I don’t know about DL, but during at least our last rides before WDW closed, the Skipper did the same thing. We rode multiple times in two trips in 2019.
We were planning to ride during our June 2021 trip, but it closed for Lightning just before we were going to load.

 

[DLgal]

I can't remember which one happened on our last trip, but if he did change it for your son...that's awesome.

We rode twice in July and the gun DEFINITELY went off then. Maybe he was out of caps yesterday afternoon?

 

[evilmommie]

Love this! And, I absolutely think this was pixie dust and a very good JC Skipper!

 

[DisneyOma]

Have they not changed Jungle Cruise over to the new version at Disneyland? Rode it twice at WDW in August, no guns at all?

 

[DLgal]

Have they not changed Jungle Cruise over to the new version at Disneyland? Rode it twice at WDW in August, no guns at all?

There have always been guns at the Disneyland version. There are still guns.

 

[DisneyOma]

There have always been guns at the Disneyland version. There are still guns.

Yes, the old version at both parks had guns. But is Disneyland still running the old version, or the new version of the cruise?

 

[c_los75]

Some CMs know how to deal with certain disabilities if they have personal experience with them, whether it's themselves or a loved one.

If you remember the CM's name and the time you were on the ride, I'd suggest you let City Hall know so they can get special recognition. I'm sure the City Hall CM wouldn't mind not hearing a complaint for once.

 

[SueM in MN]

I couldn’t remember just when WDW changed from shooting the hippos to just verbal, but here’s a video from 6 years ago at WDW that shows what we’ve been seeing there.
Jungle Cruise video WDW
the ‘bang-bang’ is at about point 6:35

 

[Evita_W]

So, we rode Jungle Cruise at Disneyland yesterday afternoon. My son was sat right up front next to the wheel. He had his ear defenders on. He's been on the ride a few times and isn't a fan of the cap gun, but we usually end up in the back. As soon as he sat down, I realized he might freak out. Well, when the time came, the skipper just said "bang bang" instead of shooting the gun. Do you think he noticed the headphones and decided to not shoot the gun for real. He didn't say anything to us or otherwise make any indication, but I've never seen a skipper do that before and thought it was a nice gesture if it was because of my sons headphones.

The skippers at Disneyland are usually pretty conscious about it, sometimes they may ask you, other times they will just do this.

And I don't know if they are currently using the guns or not, hopefully they are in general.

 

[SueM in MN]

I found a 2014 thread from the Disneyland Board that talked about DL sometimes firing the gun and sometimes not. I don’t know if it’s still that way, but the thread indicated the Skippers did often avoid using the gun if they thought it would be an issue for a guest. So, sounds like Pixie Dust
DL Jungle Cruise thread

 

[Evita_W]

I found a 2014 thread from the Disneyland Board that talked about DL sometimes firing the gun and sometimes not. I don’t know if it’s still that way, but the thread indicated the Skippers did often avoid using the gun if they thought it would be an issue for a guest. So, sounds like Pixie Dust
DL Jungle Cruise thread

It should also be noted that the guns are actually part of the safety system, they have code to use them to alert if they have an issue like a boat derailing, etc.

They also won't fire the guns during certain events, for example Candlelight Procession, except for such a safety issue, this is because the guns can be heard on Main Street, especially when it is quieter like that and would disrupt such events.

 

[SueM in MN]

It should also be noted that the guns are actually part of the safety system, they have code to use them to alert if they have an issue like a boat derailing, etc.

They also won't fire the guns during certain events, for example Candlelight Procession, except for such a safety issue, this is because the guns can be heard on Main Street, especially when it is quieter like that and would disrupt such events.

Yes. That is in the thread I found.

 

[TillyMarigold]

As I understand it, the Jungle Cruise spiel is actually a book of different possible options the skippers have at each point in the ride. It's possible they're simply allowed to choose between the cap gun and saying "bang bang" the way they can choose between "turned the Jeep over" and "painted it blue" or whatever other option there is (I'm sure there's at least one more).