Jungle Cruise Guns

[Safari Steve]

WDW's Jungle Skippers are training with the new electronic guns today. Exciting stuff, to be sure, and certainly with real sentimental value... but the quality of the skipper's spiel will still determine how good the ride is.

 

[Sarangel]

but the quality of the skipper's spiel will still determine how good the ride is

It always has... Even when the guns were MIA, a good skipper could still make it funny.

Sarangel

 

[crusader]

I'm glad they're back.

 

[Bstanley]

Ahh, it all makes sense now - Electronic Guns.

Excellent compromise.

 

[Peter Pirate]

It's nice to see / read you again...Thanks for the post.

 

[DVC-Landbaron]

but the quality of the skipper's spiel will still determine how good the ride is.

And you are, BY FAR, the best skipper I have ever heard!!

Thanks for the post!!

 

[raidermatt]

Echoing Captain Pirate... nice to see a post from you, Steve!

 

[YoHo]

Good to hear from you steve.

FYI, I don't think DL's guns are electronic.
Maybe I'm wrong, but they looked and sounded and produced smoke like a gun with a blank or maybe a cap gun.

 

[Safari Steve]

Whether or not the DL guns are the same, the guns that are being installed on the WDW boats are real guns with the barrels welded shut. The triggers are wired to a speaker inside the boat that produces a gunshot sound, but no caps or bullets are used.

 

[dcentity2000]

Will shotguns be permitted?



Rich::

 

[arilvdc]

The DL guns are cap guns- I just went on Jungle cruise last night and I saw the skipper reload. They're also horribly loud- if you stand outside the fire station or city hall for any length of time, you can hear them.

 

[Towncrier]

From BoingBoing.net:

Jungle Cruise skippers get their guns back

Disneyland's Jungle Cruise skippers have long been the bull-goose studs of the park: Walt's favorites, these castmembers got to fire actual blanks from a real pistol at a (fake) hippo and tell bad jokes about it. Sure, from time to time one would drop his gun in the drink and they'd have to get the frogmen to dredge the firearm back up before they could restart the ride, but damn, it was worth it just to have a real pistol in the hands of a 17-year-old with a bad sense of humor. Then they took the guns away -- shooting at hippos was deemed inappropriate. Now, Disney's embarked on a quest to get back to its roots now, and they're giving the Jungle Boat skippers their guns back.

Giving the Jungle Cruise skippers their guns back is what seems to have delighted visitors the most, however.

"At least once a week somebody would get off the boat and say, `Hey, what happened to the guns?'" said Ribble's daughter, Sherri, one of the ride's operators.

Now, she says, people burst into applause when she opens fire.

 

[YoHo]

Originally posted by arilvdc
The DL guns are cap guns- I just went on Jungle cruise last night and I saw the skipper reload. They're also horribly loud- if you stand outside the fire station or city hall for any length of time, you can hear them.

You can hear it from Guest services outside the park as well.

They aren't cap guns either, they are real revolvers firing blanks.

 

[Safari Steve]

The WDW Jungle Cruise is using a system similar to the one that is used at Tokyo Disneyland.

 

[All Aboard]

Rode Jungle Cruise on Sunday (2 days ago). Had completely forgotten about this discussion until our skipper (don't remember her name) grabbed the gun. She fired it once, nearly straight up in the air and then made a comment about "scaring the hippos so they wouldn't attck."

I was a little concerned about skippers shooting ~at~ the hippos (which is what I recall from back in the day.) Seemed a mixed message v. what we learn at AK. But, the "warning shot" nature of it works better.

 

[mm6mm6]

I read the article in the Chicago Tribune sunday edition. There was a picture too.

I am very proud of Disney.

The "electronic" part wasn't in the article I read but explains the cord coming out the bottom of the stainless steel Smith & Wesson revolver.

When we went on The Great Move Ride in '02 and '03, I was impressed that both the Western and Gangster versions used real firearms loaded with blanks. In this day and age I gave Disney credit for having the...........to know what's safe and what isn't.

It made the ride so much fun. Now I want to go on the Jungle Cruise again because I never experienced it with the guns!

 

[randytenn]

So, let me get this straight. Disney is investing in technology to create "electronic guns" that play a loud recording of a gunshot when the trigger is pulled.

I guess they are willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars in electronics to save the couple of hundred they spend on blanks.

Is there something I'm missing? Won't the anti-gun lobby still object to the electronic guns, because they still represent a gun, just like the modified and non-functioning guns now?

Why not just have the skipper make a gun with his fingers, and go "bang" in the mic?

 

[Cricket2]

Not to put a reality spin on this, but blanks still shoot stuff out of the barrel. Sometimes part of the crimped jacket can come loose and break skin. It's enough to shoot out an eye or burn/cut skin at point blank range assuming they are real blanks and not some odd cap-gun version. I have a scar on my knuckle from a shotgun primer from a blank (don't ask).

 

[Cricket2]

Another point, if the barrel is "welded shut" and they used blanks, you'd have yourself a make-shift pipe bomb there fella! Talk about adventure!

JC

 

[Safari Steve]

The boats came equipped with a high-end sound system, and the technology has been used for many years at Tokyo Disneyland. The R&D cost was nil and only the cost of installing the gun hardware (which is for the most part a one-time expenditure) was taken on for this project. The object was never saving money. As for gun/anti-gun lobbies, they had very little (if anything) to do with the removal of the original guns (which was intended to avoid the mixed message GCurling mentioned.)

A sorely missed show element has returned, adding to the sense of adventure of a classic attraction. I posted this as good news, but I guess there are still folks who want something to gripe about...