Get Rid of the Jungle Cruise!

[Ducky4Disney]

Hmmm... this is a tough question. I am a fan of the "oldie-but-goodies", they remind you where all this started and keep a part of Walt in the park. However, I also understand the need to change and update things. I also agree that Walt would want things kept up to date and if that meant closing/moving/refurbing a ride, he would want it done.

Take the Tiki Room for example. Now, I never saw the original but I can see that with the introduction of new characters, like Iago and Zazu, it only makes sense to encorporate them. Otherwise kids would watch that show and think, "What the heck? Who are these birds and where are Iago or Zazu?". The parents would like it for nostalgic reasons but there would be no new audience members to enjoy it.

That might be where JC is today. The people that ride it are those that know of it and like it for the nostalgia but it fails to draw a new crowd.

Now if they take out CoP I'll go ballistic!

D4D

 

[Matt]

Yeah, joking about taking out CoP should be a banishable offense. LOL

 

[Marthasor]

This thread is so funny! It's so weird - I was just in MK two weeks ago and it was almost exactly 25 years since the first time I ever went. Everything the first time was SO magical - I LOVED the Tiki Room. But now - my 9 & 11 year olds couldn't wait to get out of there, even with Zazu. So . . . is it blasphemy? I mean - I do miss 20,000 Leagues and Mr. Toad's, but Winnie the Pooh is ADORABLE. And, let's face it, POTC is in SERIOUS need of some TLC - is it possibly they will update for the next film, I HOPE!!!! And, boy oh boy, all of Tomorrowland needs some serious re-thinking. So Jungle Cruise . . . ? I think Walt would go on that ride today and come up with some FABULOUS ideas to update it and wouldn't think for a moment to just leave it as it is - wasn't his style! And, yes, that's why I admire him so much too!

 

[byoung]

Can't get rid of Walt's favorite ride.

 

[HappyLawyer]

we love the jungle cruise

 

[markwake]

we have been on the Indiana Jones ride in DL and my husband loved it. Therefore, I say replace the ride with Indiana Jones just like DL.

Just a clarification. We rode Indiana Jones at DL in July, and the Jungle Cruise, too. DL didn't take out JC. They just squeezed in Indiana Jones next to JC.

Don't get rid of the Jungle Cruise!

 

[Vivianne]

Seeing the Indiana Jones ride similar to the one at DL would be great.

But

Getting rid of the Jungle Cruise just to get a thrill ride.... very very poor move.

I didn't say they replaced JC for the Indiana Jones ride at DL. I meant we rode the Indiana ride they have at DL as this poster mentioned

 

[CDSTapisRouge]

For those saying they should replace it with Indiana Jones...

Indiana Jones is a great ride at DL but WDW has this ride already... It is "Dinosaur" at AK! Dinosaur is exactlly the same ride as Indiana Jones, it just has a different theme (all the way down to the track layout)...

I would never get rid of Jungle Cruise for the same reasons that have been mentioned... It was a "Walt ride" and if you get a great skipper it can be absolutely hysterical.

 

[Stacerita]

You can't get rid of Jungle Cruise.....its a classic. The sweetpea loves this ride. Both at MK and at DL. She loves it so much that working on the Jungle Cruise is what she wants to do when shes old enough to get a job. You ask her what job she wants......she will tell you working the Jungle Cruise. The cheesiness of the ride is the big draw for us.

 

[waltdisneyworlddreamer]

If there is anything I know about Walt Disney after years of research and understanding is that he knew the park needs to change to be vital. That was his goal.

However, I sill like the ride but he wanted real animals originally and it coudn't work then. Walt always looked to the future that's what made him who he was.

If he were alive things would change. But I like leaving everything that he had his hand in creating since I respect him so much.

Very well said!! If Walt was still here, JC probably would be much different, but since he is not we need to preserve the classic rides that he himself created. Corny as is it, it should never be taken out, in my opinion. Add more rides, but don't mess with the classics!

 

[The_Disney_God]

Its a great ride, simply because everyone, no matter what age, can catch the humor.

If you really listen to the CMs on it, it's really funny. It's also probably the most fun attraction for CMs to work. It seems everyone who works there has a really really good time with the other CMs

 

[Mecha Figment]

for all those pointing out that it was Walts favorite ride. You are wrong. His favorite was the one at Disneyland. He never saw or got to ride MK jungle cruise. He died shortly after ground was broken on the magic kingdom.

 

[keishashadow]

Very well said!! If Walt was still here, JC probably would be much different, but since he is not we need to preserve the classic rides that he himself created. Corny as is it, it should never be taken out, in my opinion. Add more rides, but don't mess with the classics!

Agree, there's lots of undeveloped land, plenty of room for new attractions w/o eliminating the old ones. Let the Imagineers develop thrill rides galore, or better yet - how about a new "all thrill park"; but don't tinker with a classic.

IMO, the Jungle Cruise's charm is it's "kitschie-ness"...and it's never the same ride twice with the CM's interjecting their own personality into their spiel.

 

[CDSTapisRouge]

for all those pointing out that it was Walts favorite ride. You are wrong. His favorite was the one at Disneyland. He never saw or got to ride MK jungle cruise. He died shortly after ground was broken on the magic kingdom.

I think we are all aware that Walt never saw the finished product of WDW. The comments that JC was one of Walt's favorite rides is based off DL and the fact that he was proud of the attraction. The rides, while not identical are very similar and Walt would have been proud of the WDW version just as much as he was of his DL version, I believe that is what people are trying to say. It was a "Walt Ride", one that he took pride in at DL and wanted to make sure was a part of his new park in Florida. That would be like saying Walt didn't care about Small World, Carousel of Progress or his Beloved Steam Trains at WDW just because he never saw them completed does not mean that he did not want his DL favorites at his new park.

 

[dixipixi]

I would NEVER get rid of it, but I do think it could be updated. Maybe made a little more interactive, put in a couple of small flume style drops (nothing huge, don't want to make it a thrill ride). I do think it needs more of a cohesive story line...maybe a safari, searching for treasure, something like that.

Myself and DS (12) are the only members of our family that ride it every time we're at the MK. The others say it's boring, but we say it's a classic!

 

[tmt martins]

I think they could do a real good TARZAN update to this ride and still keep it with all the wit and so forth.Think about it a couple of AAs' in the right spots would really freshen it up but keep with the original theam of the ride.

 

[disneyfreakjackie]

If there is anything I know about Walt Disney after years of research and understanding is that he knew the park needs to change to be vital. That was his goal.

However, I still like the ride but he wanted real animals originally and it coudn't work then. Walt always looked to the future that's what made him who he was.

If he were alive things would change. But I like leaving everything that he had his hand in creating since I respect him so much.

I agree! It's a MUST DO on every trip!

 

[Minerva]

ahhhh Blasphemy I say!!

I love the CM's who get the ride and who go the extra mile in keeping us laughing - that's the true part of the ride for us!!

ITA. I had very fond memories of that ride and nearly 30 years later my kids loved it as much as I had and I liked it again. They're still repeating some of the corny jokes over a month later.

 

[makinorlando]

We love the ride. DD and I just rode it for the first time a few weeks ago (we have had APs the entire 2 1/2 yrs we have lived here). We seemed to miss it every visit, or by the time we go to that point of the park, and rode POTC, we were ready to go!! Playing VMK and talking to the mom of one of the CMs on the ride in the SOARIN' line, piqued my curiousity. We rode it 2 times the first day we rode, and twice on the second visit. Yes the jokes are corny, but it's funny that they all have their own little spin on them!!!

 

[Markstudy]

Don't touch it... the guys in charge of Disney now are a bunch of Accountants.

Like 20,000 Leagues ride... when they close a E-ticket ride now-a-days they don't always open another one. (remember, Disney has 35 square acres of empty land)

The Financial guys running Disney now... would pave over Jungle Cruise, (stick the extra money in their pockets) and make a parking lot with colored lines to follow for 10,000 baby strollers...maybe call it BABY LAND

(PS I love Accountants, but not for their creative ability to run a theme park)