What’s in the Water at Jungle Cruise in Disneyland?

The Jungle Cruise has lived up to its “World Famous” moniker for nearly 7 decades. One of the few opening day Disneyland attractions that’s operating at Walt’s original theme park, the Jungle Cruise has become a touchstone of American culture in a way few Disney rides have.

In addition to the ride itself, there have been books and documentaries produced about the ride, toys produced, and even a theatrically-released film starring Dwayne Johnson. With all of that, one would think there are no mysteries left to answer about The Jungle Cruise. However, there’s still one question that many guests often ask as soon as they get off the ride: What’s going on under the water?

The Jungle Cruise was one of the first rides planned for the park that would eventually become Disneyland, as one of Disney’s most successful endeavors at the time was the series of True Life Adventures nature documentaries.

Initially (and somewhat unbelievably) Walt Disney wanted to have a river ride featuring REAL animals. For reasons both practical and pragmatic, that idea was nixed relatively quickly. Instead, Disney and his team (the designers that would eventually come to be known as Imagineers) came up with the idea of populating the ride with rudimentary animated figures of animals, the predecessors to modern animatronics.

Some of these figures, including hippos, elephants, and crocodiles, would actually be partially or full submerged in the river’s water, with some even “popping out” to surprise guests riding past on the African Queen-influenced boats.

These figures are pieces of heavy machinery, and some of them are unfinished, with only the parts visible above the water being complete and themed to look like animals.

Speaking of those boats, the track that the boats run on (sorry to burst your bubble, but no, the skippers aren’t truly in full control of the boats) is also at the bottom of the river.

So, in other words, there is a lot of machinery under the Jungle Cruise’s water. So, how come you don’t see it? Well, Imagineers came up with a relatively simple yet ingenious solution to the issue: they dye the water.

The dye is mixed into the water at one of the ride’s most famous spots: The Backside of Water!

The dye enters the water pink, however it turns to a rusted tree color as it mixes with the water…

… or at least it’s supposed to.

Back in 2022, the ride when viral when the dye didn’t mix right and the Jungle Cruise’s water turned a BRIGHT PINK! Disney actually closed the ride until it mixed back to green, though to be honest, we kind of wish we could have ridden the Jungle Cruise through hot pink waters.

Despite nearing its 70th birthday, the Jungle Cruise remains one of Disneyland’s most iconic rides. Stay tuned to AllEars for more on the history of Disney’s attractions.

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Have you ever wondered what’s under the water of the Jungle Cruise? Let us know in the comments below.

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