Poor Jungle Cruise

[MinnieMSue]

Rode on my daughter’s fifth birthday and she was offered the chance to steer the boat. I encouraged her up and she freaked out and flat out refused. After the ride I found out she thought she would really be driving the boat and was afraid she would crash it. She was devastated when I told her she wouldn’t really be steering and ever since has prayed to be offered the chance to captain the boat and it has never happened again and probably never will considering she is 14. Still a major disappointment to her after all these years

 

[BK2014]

I agree that the skipper makes or breaks the ride, but the crowd on the boat also has a huge effect. Sometimes you get a large group who doesn't really know what the ride is before getting on, and then either doesn't like the jokes or doesn't get it, then even the best skipper will land flat. It is awkward when there are only a few people laughing and interacting with the skipper, in my opinion. And (again my own opinion), don't be the person who tries to tell the jokes before the skipper does.

 

[Bullseye]

Unpopular opinion I'm sure, but I would love to see Jungle Cruise or Splash Mountain turned into a Moana themed ride.

Moana in Frontierland don't work, but it would fit nicely in Adventureland. It is a great movie!

 

[BrianL]

I agree that the skipper makes or breaks the ride, but the crowd on the boat also has a huge effect. Sometimes you get a large group who doesn't really know what the ride is before getting on, and then either doesn't like the jokes or doesn't get it, then even the best skipper will land flat. It is awkward when there are only a few people laughing and interacting with the skipper, in my opinion. And (again my own opinion), don't be the person who tries to tell the jokes before the skipper does.

Yeah, the crowd does matter. I always try to react to every joke, even the ones I know, to help the skipper out. I did once try to be smart because the skipper asked "How do we know that those are African Elephants?" I volunteered the answer, "Because we're in Africa," but the skipper correct me and said "No, it's because of their ears," which is the correct answer. Of course if I had said ears, he'd have come back with the zinger. There is no winning that game.

 

[Moliphino]

I agree that the skipper makes or breaks the ride, but the crowd on the boat also has a huge effect. Sometimes you get a large group who doesn't really know what the ride is before getting on, and then either doesn't like the jokes or doesn't get it, then even the best skipper will land flat. It is awkward when there are only a few people laughing and interacting with the skipper, in my opinion. And (again my own opinion), don't be the person who tries to tell the jokes before the skipper does.

That also helps. We were in a boat with a large group that didn't speak English once and it was a pretty quiet trip. It also made me realize that must be why they didn't put it in in DLP, the language barrier would be a much more common issue there.

 

[Krandor]

I agree that the skipper makes or breaks the ride, but the crowd on the boat also has a huge effect. Sometimes you get a large group who doesn't really know what the ride is before getting on, and then either doesn't like the jokes or doesn't get it, then even the best skipper will land flat. It is awkward when there are only a few people laughing and interacting with the skipper, in my opinion. And (again my own opinion), don't be the person who tries to tell the jokes before the skipper does.

The skipper is what makes the ride. However the last time I was on it the audio system in the boat was really bad and could hardly hear she even though the jokes I did hear were very funny. I was on the back side of the boat though so maybe that was part of it.

I enjoy the ride. It is a classic.

 

[Tonyz]

There's two things that make this ride.... the skippers (obviously) but also the audience. You can have the best skipper in the world but if you have a group in the boat determined not to laugh at anything, it can ruin it. I sometimes think there are people in Disney World who have absolutely no idea what's going on, they just see a line and they go stand in it, without knowing what the attraction is.

Last September I have a skipper that was in the DCP and going through orientation with a more experienced Skipper. It was interesting to see, but kinda awkward. The last few times my skipper hasn't been anything special, but a couple years ago I had a Skipper, a younger girl, who went completely off script and did her own thing and it was hilarious. It was exactly the kind of thing that this ride needs and I love that there are still younger people working for this thing that want to put on a great show for the guests.

However, I think there's another thing going on here. I think the real Skipper talent is being pouched and brought over to Skipper's Canteen. There are so many incredible skippers at that place, one of the "legends" is Skipper Emma, who started off at the Jungle Cruise and then moved over to the Canteen.

It's always worth doing this attraction a couple times in hopes that you're gonna get a great skipper, but honestly, more often then not it's nothing special. But it's the few great ones that make it all worthwhile.

 

[BrianL]

That also helps. We were in a boat with a large group that didn't speak English once and it was a pretty quiet trip. It also made me realize that must be why they didn't put it in in DLP, the language barrier would be a much more common issue there.

Yes, a majority non-English speaking audience can be a downer on this ride. I rode the JC at Tokyo Disneyland, and I didn't understand the jokes either, but tried to react based on the timing alone. I figured most of the jokes were the same so I said them in advance. Come to think of it, I'm not sure they were telling jokes. Their version has much better special effects, including the indoor elephant pool, which was pretty spectacular whether I understood the narration or not.

 

[kwdw]

My last ride on this - over half the boat didn't understand English - and I really felt sorry for the skipper - the boat was just a dead audience. This ride really is about the quality of the skipper. Even if they are using the same jokes we all know - the delivery really is important and I think Disney doesn't always make sure the delivery quality stays high among the skippers.

 

[River Country]

I love this ride and yes its the Skipper, BTW the Skipper Canteen the jokes continue and I thought the food was good. I agree that they should maintain the ride but not change it.
A couple of my favs from the skippers: pulls out the gun and just yells "bang" idk I thought that was funny
another one was a joke I cant remember but my DD probably 6 at the time leans to me and says daddy I don't know why everyone was laughing the skipper says "sweetie if you didn't get that one this is going to be a long trip"
and the best was at the end the skipper says "if you enjoyed your cruise my name is Amy, if you didn't enjoy it my name is tara"... tara was the name of the CM helping us off the boat

 

[BrianL]

I love this ride and yes its the Skipper, BTW the Skipper Canteen the jokes continue and I thought the food was good. I agree that they should maintain the ride but not change it.
A couple of my favs from the skippers: pulls out the gun and just yells "bang" idk I thought that was funny
another one was a joke I cant remember but my DD probably 6 at the time leans to me and says daddy I don't know why everyone was laughing the skipper says "sweetie if you didn't get that one this is going to be a long trip"
and the best was at the end the skipper says "if you enjoyed your cruise my name is Amy, if you didn't enjoy it my name is tara"... tara was the name of the CM helping us off the boat

I'm a big fan of "If you enjoyed your voyage this has been 'The World Famous Jungle Cruise.' If you didn't enjoy your voyage then this has been 'The Haunted Mansion.' And now a hippo will follow you home!"

 

[dragonfly57005]

The appeal (or not) is 99.44% on the skipper.

Exactly!
The tour is so bad that it is funny! My kids love puns - we love a skipper who is full of puns.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

.


However, I think there's another thing going on here. I think the real Skipper talent is being pouched and brought over to Skipper's Canteen. There are so many incredible skippers at that place, one of the "legends" is Skipper Emma, who started off at the Jungle Cruise and then moved over to the Canteen.

That makes sense. They can probably do quite a bit better earning tips with the corny jokes.

 

[Robo]

However, I think there's another thing going on here. I think the real Skipper talent is being pouched and brought over to Skipper's Canteen. There are so many incredible skippers at that place, one of the "legends" is Skipper Emma, who started off at the Jungle Cruise and then moved over to the Canteen.

That makes sense. They can probably do quite a bit better earning tips with the corny jokes.

In spite of what the Disney back-story of the restaurant says,
I have to think that there are very few actual JC skippers who moved from front-line attraction CMs to food service.

 

[Hannahinwonderland]

In spite of what the Disney back-story of the restaurant says,
I have to think that there are very few actual JC skippers who moved from front-line attraction CMs to food service.

There are not huge numbers of skippers moving, it's true. Some definitely have especially when the canteen first opened. But it's definitely not a mass exodus.

 

[SuzieN]

We had a great ride on the Jungle Cruise on 2/5. Our skipper was hilarious and everything was in working order. Didn't notice anything with missing parts either!

 

[ksinniger]

This is my 14 year old daughter's favorite ride. We rode 5 times while there last month, and she used her phone to audio record each trip. Her dream is to be a skipper one day. She routinely works the jokes into our daily life -- and into her improve team's sketches!

Oh, and as for the crocs, all our skippers directed us to look at the other side when we passed by. Only one added "our lawyers said we can't talk about the other side any more."

 

[old lady]

They should make an original Moana without reboot or changing older ones.

 

[Bostonbeans99]

I agree with some on here that said the skipper can make or break this ride.
I give them a lot of credit for doing this hours on end and still making it "fresh" for each boat audience.
Personally I think it would be like Groundhog day working this ride

A few months back I did see online some fun facts on Jungle Cruise. How there's a sensor on the boat to make the waterfall shut off...and also a sensor for the Hippos to come up. As someone stated above that yes it's on a track. The water is dark to camouflage the boat track, that the water is not deep, & the animals mechanical parts. It also said the plane in Jungle Cruise is the back half of the plane used in the Great Movie Ride! I think I found that one the most interesting.

 

[Bostonbeans99]

Rode on my daughter’s fifth birthday and she was offered the chance to steer the boat. I encouraged her up and she freaked out and flat out refused. After the ride I found out she thought she would really be driving the boat and was afraid she would crash it. She was devastated when I told her she wouldn’t really be steering and ever since has prayed to be offered the chance to captain the boat and it has never happened again and probably never will considering she is 14. Still a major disappointment to her after all these years

Had sort of the same experience. When my daughter was 6 yrs old we went to see Lion King at AK about 5 times. My daughter was picked out of the audience all 5 times to participate but was too shy. Last day in Orlando and we went to Sea World. Of course she was picked to hug/kiss/sit on Shamu. Nope wouldn't do it.
I got Hoop De Doo tickets for next week. She's 22 now. I hope they pick her out of the audience.

Maybe it's possible to see if there is a Skipper that would let your daughter "steer".... the next time? Ya just never know!