The skippers. The animatronic animals. The dad jokes. That’s right — this post is about the world-famous Jungle Cruise!
The opening day attraction still draws long lines day after day in Magic Kingdom, but many people don’t know its rich history. We don’t know about you, but knowing how the ride came to be and memorizing fun facts makes riding the attraction that much more special. Now, we know there’s a lot of planning and homework that already goes into a Disney vacation so allow us to take the reigns on this one. You can use your time to the fullest by doing these things next time you are bored waiting in line for the Jungle Cruise!
First, let’s go over the basics. So Jungle Cruise was an opening day attraction at several Disney theme parks around the world starting with Disneyland, then Disney World, followed by Tokyo Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland (who calls it Jungle River Cruise).
The ride has you board a boat to explore the treacherous waters of the exotic rivers across Asia, Africa, and South America. You’ll run into some wild animals along the way, but never fear! Your skipper, who is full of puns and jokes, has you covered. Then you’ll get an unforgettable view of the back side of water, of course!
The ride lasts ten minutes and Disney described it best — it’s a “10,000-mile journey that you won’t soon forget!” There’s no height requirement so it’s a fun ride for the entire family.
Now that you have some background, there are two things you can do. The first is actually in the queue — keep your eyes peeled for specific details! Jungle Cruise has one of the best queues in Magic Kingdom in our opinion because you’re in the shade, there are so many things to look at, you’re in the shade, fun Easter eggs are hidden all over, and finally, you’re in the shade. But seriously, there’s a LOT to see!
For example, there’s a reference to Skipper Shaun in the queue in the trophy case, where he was awarded first place for his movie called “A Bigger Bote.” This is a reference to a line from the 1975 film Jaws because Bob Mattey, who created animatronics for Jungle Cruise, also created the shark animatronic for Jaws.
For example, do you see anything in the photo below that stands out? If you noticed the hat, great job! That is the hat that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson wears in the Jungle Cruise movie.
There is a line of flags above the Banana Troop door. These actually have references to a variety of Disney locations!
- The S.S. Columbia is a reference to the Sailing Ship Columbia that you can ride in Disneyland on the Rivers of America.
- Harambe is the name of the village in the Africa section of Animal Kingdom.
- Bakersfield, CA is the birthplace of Marc Davis, an Imagineer (and one of Disney’s “Nine Old Men”) who worked on Jungle Cruise.
- Porto Paradiso is a fictional location in Tokyo DisneySea that has connections to the S.E.A. (Society of Explorers and Adventurers)
- Lost River Delta is also a location at Tokyo DisneySea.
- Anandapur is the name of the fictional village in Asia at Animal Kingdom.
That’s just scratching the surface, but it leads us to our next point. There’s only one thing left to do — read some Jungle Cruise trivia! And you are in luck because we’ve got PLENTY of it.
AllEars has been around for years and years and we dug deep in the archives to bring you these fun facts and trivia. The first post listed below has more queue details if you’re interested in exploring that!
- 25 Things You Didn’t Know About Jungle Cruise in Disney World
- The History and Evolution of Disney’s Jungle Cruise
- What’s in the Water at the Jungle Cruise in Disney World?
- The Best Disney World Jungle Cruise JOKES
- Photography Cruise Through the Jungle in the Magic Kingdom
- Walt Disney World Chronicles: Jungle Jingle Cruise
Be sure to bookmark, screenshot, share, or note this post and pull it up the next time you are bored in line. It’s sure to impress your family and friends! Good luck on your next jungle adventure and stay tuned to AllEars for more!
Next time you’re in line for Pirates of the Caribbean, check this out!
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What is your favorite opening day Disney World attraction? Let us know in the comments.
1972-me and my sister stood in line for 4 hours to ride jungle cruise at Walt Disney world. when we got in line it was daylight, by the time we got to ride it was dark. we were young teenagers, back in the day when you had to use an E-ticket to ride jungle cruise. I can remember racing back to our room at the contemporary to tell mom and dad about the jungle cruise. also, back in those days a room at the contemporary was 56 dollars a night.
There’s plenty more, just in the photos you shared. In the photo with Frank’s head, the map on the wall is the same one as in the “Jungle Cruise” film, and there are also visible references to S.E.A. and Alberta Falls, among other things.
The next photo has one more banner, slightly hidden, that you didn’t mention that is for another Disney destination. And the number over the door, 5571, is a double Easter Egg.
Have fun!