October 30, 2009: Jungle Cruise Comparison

[Werner Weiss]

The Jungle Cruise was an opening day attraction at the original Disneyland in 1955 and Florida's Magic Kingdom in 1971. Both rides are still popular today. They're similar, but not identical. The differences go beyond just the piranha attack in California and the Cambodian temple cave in Florida.

Link to Jungle Cruise Comparison

Which version is better? What are your observations?

Please discuss it here.

[a-net-fan]

I would say The Jungle Cruise was the worst experience we had last year at WDW. The line was very VERY long, the boats seemed to be in very bad working condition (they were very loud and there was strong exhaust smells coming from the boat), and our skipper was just STUPID, smelly ( got to sit right by him) and sweaty (oh yea pit stains and back sweat....ew). The Skipper seemed to make a joke out of the ride (pretty much mocking it) while he was conducting the tour.....which made the experiences underwhelming. Its fun when you get a skipper who plays the part but this guy was awful.

Aside from those things tho the ride was pretty good. The water fall and the temple were my favorite parts of the ride. How new is the shrunken head salesman from the WDW version?? I remember thinking he must be new on our last trip because I dont remember seeing him before. I could swear there was another one that looked more like the DL version ....but I could be wrong.

[sediment]

The skipper was mocking the Jungle Cruise attraction? Making silly jokes the whole way?
This has got to stop!!

And he was sweating outdoors in Florida? How dare he!

[HiddenMickeyBook]

I am a huge Jungle Cruise fan. We ride it at least twice every time we go to Disneyland. I like to compare the jokes of the skippers and actually laugh along with the corny lines. Their adlibs can really make the journey quite good. One of my favorites is to see what the skippers do at the charging hippo when their gun either is out of bullets or doesn't go off. One of them grabbed a handfull of bullets and actually threw them at the hippo. Another yelled BANG! and then remarked how the hippo was motionless from surprise. One gal waved her arms and yelled and then told us the one in the water was ok, but she got the one in the tree...you never know....

The new piranha attack is a nice addition to the ride.

I do remember the 'old' Jungle Cruise with the momma and baby rhino that would turn around and 'run' away.

I haven't been to WDW since 1983, so my memories are dim. The Jungle Cruise in WDW has a cavern and the Bengal tiger is in there, right? That was pretty cool as I remember it.

[Eagleman]

I LOVE the Jungle Cruise !
I think the one at Disneyland is mush better than WDW!

[sir clinksalot]

Great Stuff Werner ... as usual.

As far as which ones better ... both have their bright spots and not-so bright spots.

The FL show building shrine is great and gives it a slight edge IMO.

[vfire]

Schweitzer Falls in DL is just sad in comparison to WDW's. Would it really be that difficult and expensive to bring it up to snuff?

[filmfreak11]

When DL was refurbishing The Jungle Cruise for the 50th anniversary with piranhas and the Gorilla Camp explosion, didn't the Falls get damaged and had to be completely rebuilt?

And also before the 50th, wasn't Trader Sam's face hidden behind a mask? Then afterwards, they took the mask off and revealed the face as it is now?

Another good mention is probably that before the piranha scene, it was just a "rapids" scene that wasn't all too convincing.

[jackie0109]

I am not a Jungle Cruise fan. Although the older version looks ok than the recent.

[leopardchucks]

They removed a large chunk of the ride to make room for Indy, didn't they at DLR? Is that where the mama and baby rhinos were?

I definitely like the DL version of Trader Sam more than the WDW one. He looks more menacing and less cartoonish. That chubby fella is not intimidating enough. I think the umbrella gives him a 'goofy' appearance.

Wouldn't it be awesome if they had tiny monkeys swinging on vines or giant macaws "flying" above you at one point? I'd love it if there was also some other ways to get guests wet while on the ride. Something new and surprising...

[stu29573]

Having been on both, I'd say that WDW has the edge. The temple adds a lot, as do the large falls. I agree that Trader Sam at DLR is much better that Chief Name.

As an aside, after DL opened in 1955, Six Flags over Texas copied many of their attractions in a "Texas History" format. (This was the REAL six Flags, not the abominations that we now have). One of these rides was La Salle's River Boats, more or less a direct rip off of JC, but with a fort with booming smoke belching cannons and a temple at the end. You would come up to a water fall and as the skipper was saying it looks like everyone is going to have to walk out since the river ended, the water would part and doors would open into a dark and dank temple of treasure. Pretty cool stuff. Anyway, later when WDW opened, their JC had a temple at the end too! I always thought it was a good example of how a rip off can plus something and then be re-ripped off! (by the way, I still like the parting waterfall bit)

[Athlonacon]

It's funny how all the WDW characters need tarps and umbrellas. I've never been to WDW myself, but I'd find it highly surreal to experience attractions very similar to Disneyland some 3,000 miles away. It would be like being back home, but still being far away from it physically.

The great thing about WDW is that it seems to be like a "Disneyland Museum", it seems to have all the stuff that Disneyland lost or modified over the past 20 years. Whereas our "waterfall" (and I use that term loosely) is a bunch of leaky rocks, theirs is still the mighty waterfall that used to roar down on our Jungle Cruise as well. I only wish they built the Tahitian Terrace next to it in 1971, we'd most likely still have it today at WDW if they had.

[indyIluvu]

Does anyone have pictures of the jungle cruise queue building pre-indy? I can't seem to remember what it looked like.

[TrevorD]

Originally Posted by sediment

The skipper was mocking the Jungle Cruise attraction? Making silly jokes the whole way?
This has got to stop!!

And he was sweating outdoors in Florida? How dare he!

Next thing you know those darn skips will start shooting at the animals!