Poor Jungle Cruise

[LaurenT]

Jungle Cruise is all about the skipper. It’s supposed to look fake. It’s a comedy ride and, when you get a really good skipper, it can be the best part of a day at Magic Kingdom.

 

[Biggen]

We avoid that ride at all costs. It’s horrid. Needs to be shut down along with its companion restaurant.

 

[North of Mouse]

Loved it for the first several rides many years ago, but haven't ridden it in years also - just never one we think about anymore.

 

[GAN]

We avoid that ride at all costs. It’s horrid. Needs to be shut down along with its companion restaurant.

Wow ...you REALLY don’t enjoy it! Are you a former Skipper???

 

[ArwenMarie]

I like the ride, but I’ve found the skippers’ voices to be grating the last few times. Very screechy. Maybe it’s the audio system? I don’t know. I would prefer to ride it in silence at this point

I feel the same way about the safari in DAK, depending on the voice, it can take me right out of the moment.

 

[Miffy]

If I was a skipper, everyone in my boat would be regailed with the legend of why some hippos are famous in these treacherous waters for their missing ears.

Robo, if you were the skipper on the boat, I would (a) wait for your boat, even if it meant an extra 45 minutes in line and (b) make sure to ride the JC every time I'm at MK.

On the last JC I did, in May, the sound was so bad that it was almost impossible to hear what the skipper was saying. And, yes, the skipper is the whole point of the JC. We had an amazing skipper a couple of years ago. I don't remember his name, but this guy was funnier than most professional comedians, and his material was fresh and fun.

 

[Shanti]

I know this is blasphemous, but I have never understood the appeal of this ride, even 20 years ago when I started coming.

The skippers are supposed to be funny. If you get a really funny one, the ride is great. If you get a not-so-funny one, the ride is meh.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

On the last JC I did, in May, the sound was so bad that it was almost impossible to hear what the skipper was saying.

I would say that most of the times we've ridden, this has been a problem. Other than the times we've been able to sit up front, they are very hard to hear. Many of them talk fast (which I assume is intended to be part of the character) with their mouths right on the mics so the audio is a garbled mess and really hard to hear the jokes. It really makes it a skippable ride for me.

 

[rteetz]

We avoid that ride at all costs. It’s horrid. Needs to be shut down along with its companion restaurant.

Yikes...

 

[Robo]

A classic that often requires the GUEST to actively make the "connections"
of the double-entendre jokes.

 

[Mithent]

I rode it twice during my last visit (terrible puns are definitely up my alley). My daytime skipper was perhaps a little funnier (or, maybe, it was more that the rest of the guests were more into it, as someone suggested), but I agree with the ride feeling very different at night. It being dark with just the boat's lights for much of the time was atmospheric and made it feel more genuinely like you weren't in the Magic Kingdom any more. I've heard that the skippers can also be a little freer with the nature of their jokes at night, but that wasn't really the case on that particular trip.

 

[GAN]

Robo, if you were the skipper on the boat, I would (a) wait for your boat, even if it meant an extra 45 minutes in line and (b) make sure to ride the JC every time I'm at MK.

Now, you aren’t just saying this because of Robo’s affinity with WDW maps? Because clearly, if there was one person who could be trusted to navigate the treacherous rivers of JC -it’s @Robo .....

 

[LaurenT]

Just as an FYI, I had the most amazing skipper to date on this last trip! And I’m a stand up comedian myself, so I’m pretty judgemental. His name is Jonathan (calls himself Joe Nathan) and he totally killed it ... he even had to ad lib for a solid 5 minutes while we were delayed getting back to the dock - he didn’t miss a beat! I sent a compliment via Twitter about him.

 

[0FF TO NEVERLAND]

If you really wanna laugh, ride Kilimanjaro safaris and then jungle cruise.

 

[Miffy]

Now, you aren’t just saying this because of Robo’s affinity with WDW maps? Because clearly, if there was one person who could be trusted to navigate the treacherous rivers of JC -it’s @Robo .....

 

[fab1976]

We had a skipper who was earning her ears in April. I didn’t know about cast compliments or I would have tweeted about her. I did make sure to tell her before we disembarked that it was one of the best jungle cruises we’ve done, and her trainer was right there to hear too. She was right on cue and had some awesome lines. Very good fit for the ride.

 

[Woody412]

I’ve been to MK 8-10 times but have never done JC. Looking forward to it even more now. Puns and cheesy one liners are kinda my thing.

 

[GAN]

I’ve been to MK 8-10 times but have never done JC. Looking forward to it even more now. Puns and cheesy one liners are kinda my thing.

Please don’t mind my shock, but what the HECK have you been doing in your 8-10 visits!

 

[3gr8boys]

Arrrived on a Sunday afternoon, checked in and set out for MK on what was forecast to be (and was) a very rainy evening. My family bailed shortly after dinner.....I opted to stay and enjoy, among other rides, my first after dark JC. It was me, a family of three and skipper Allison. She totally made my night....didn't miss a single joke opportunity and delivered each pun with pep. (Yes, I sent a cast compliment email.)

 

[Woody412]

Please don’t mind my shock, but what the HECK have you been doing in your 8-10 visits!

Unfortunately we’ve neglected basically the entire left side of the park with the exception of Splash Mountain and Pirates or the Caribbean. This is the first trip I’m in charge of planning and we’re spending a good chunk of it in Adventure/Frontierland. It’s for their own good. They just don’t know it yet.