The Entrance to the Boathouse	A Skipper Navigates Through the Thick Rain Forest	Attraction Poster

vital stats

personal preference

stars: 5 (out of 5)
A Disneyland classic since 1955 that has continued to improve over the years as the foliage and the park has flourished.

free association

. . . Even without the skipper's "spiel," the ambiance of the ride is great. The rain forest feels sticky, the native raid looks perilous, and the temple ruins are eerie. . .

. . . The addition of the new boathouse queue area and the "Temple of the Forbidden Eye" gives a new dimension to the attraction. Being in the boathouse feels like visiting a remote jungle outpost on the edge of the unexplored wilderness. The swing music and various memorabilia add to the great atmosphere. The queue area also works well to separate guests from the noise and commotion of Adventureland. The temple fits in perfectly (and provides extra jokes for the captains with tourists walking by) especially since it is situated in the ride just before the Cambodian ruins. . .

. . . Although The Indiana Jones Adventure may promise the most different ride experiences, the Jungle Cruise truly delivers. Its whole character is changed by the narration and the guy (or girl) delivering it. Some skippers seemed bored (though I don't blame them). Others are very dry and some have a sarcastic edge. One time, I remember a truly great skipper late at night who had a great off-the-wall sequence that was unlike any other. . .

pointless trivia

• At one time, real alligators rented from the Buena Park Alligator Farm (a now-defunct tourist attraction just north of Knott's Berry Farm) were placed in cages near the entrance to the ride. They were removed because they periodically escaped into the Jungle Cruise river! (Mouse Tales)
• The nearest island to the dock is nicknamed "Manhattan" while its smaller sister toward the rear of the attraction is called "Catalina." (The E-Ticket, Spring 1996)
• Skippers on the boats once spouted an educational spiel to their audiences instead of the pun-filled narration today's guests hear. (Ibid)
• The "African Veldt", the "Elephant Bathing Pool," and the "Lost Safari" scenes were installed in 1964. In 1976, the ride was enhanced with 31 more animals including the "Safari Camp" scene (with the apes and the overturned Jeep). (Ibid)
• The attraction started with ten boats and later added four. Amazingly, only one boat, "The Nile Princess," has been retired since the ride was opened. (Ibid)

I received this response from Jungle Cruise skipper "CHB," 8 August 1997
You are correct that the Nile Princess was the first boat ever replaced, but there have been many to follow. Every four weeks, since last October, we have been adding one old boat with a new identically named one. The most recent one being the Ganges Gal, just added last week (I had the opportunity to offer the first tour on it). The new boats, as you may know, are about five feet longer and hold over ten more guests. Some of the plusses of these new boats: the throttles do not stick, they are quieter, the pa's are crisper, and they are generally cleaner. The negatives: the center seats are boxes and the guests seem to not want to sit on them as much as the old center benches, they are cushionless, and the front door is too wide (which causes more than one guest to unsafely exit at a time without help from an unloader. An interesting point to note: when we go down for our dry-rehab during December, the old Mekong Maiden will be cut in half and attached to the bottom of the load area cove to look like it sank.

• TEST: Can you name all the rivers the Jungle Cruise takes its guests through? Answer Below

related links

• Yoda's List of Jungle Cruise Jokes
• unsinkable cork: Jungle Cruise

Answer: The Irrawaddy River of Burma, Cambodia's Mekong, the Nile, the Congo River in Africa, and the Rapids of Kilimanjaro.

indiana jones adventure		tarzan's treehouse