[Idea] A Serious Jungle Cruise

[MrNick]

One thing I've never really liked is the use of humor on the ride. I could be in the minority here, but I would much rather ride a serious Jungle Cruise.

I feel that the immersion on the ride would be 10x better if it wasn't making fun of itself the whole time. Maybe it was a novel idea when Disney first added wise-cracking skippers, but I believe its kind of run its course.

I think the Imagineers have potential to create a serious, romantic, atmospheric, thrilling, dark journey through the Congo, without all the fluff.

What do all you think? Maybe it's just me...

[Maleficent4811]

Re: A Serious Jungle Cruise

Ill try it once. But because JC is my favorite ride I must say i enjoy the humor. But on that note the humor is not the same as it has been in the past. It seems to me that the humor is the same with most if not all the skippers and I find myself hard pressed to actually be laughing out loud anymore.

So maybe a serious cruise could be a breath of fresh air .....

[disneylandreport]

Re: A Serious Jungle Cruise

I for one would not want a serious Jungle Cruise. I wouldn't mind more changes in the script though. On a side note, I heard the following over the PA while walking past the Jungle Cruise the other day:

PA: Attention guests. Due to events beyond our control, The Jungle Cruise will unfortunately be fully operational and open for the rest of the day. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Funniest thing I heard that day

[ohmyjustin]

Re: A Serious Jungle Cruise

After riding through the jungle so many times, I think I'd find it hard to reimagine it as a serious journey. All I would be able to think about are the jokes. It might work with newer crowds, but only for so long. I feel part of Jungle Cruise's success is having kids laugh at both the frightening and friendly animals while giving a comical nod to the adults who realize that they're all animatronics. The ride is so wonderfully tongue-in-cheek and it's one of the few places that offer a different sense of humor and style.

[MarenBoBarren]

Re: A Serious Jungle Cruise

With good delivery those jokes can have me laughing out loud every time. Plus you get the occasional skip who throws in their own spin. A year or so ago my sister and I decided to make Jungle Cruise the last ride of the night and we got on the last boat running and the girl said it was her last day, and therefore we were her last boat. On top of that it was just my sister and I (aged 22 and 32 respectively) and three other guests who were around the same ages. The skipper got so excited that there were no young children on her boat that she gave the most hilarious tour of the jungle that I have ever heard. No skipper will ever be able to top that one in my book

[Kohrsfilms]

Re: A Serious Jungle Cruise

The ride in it's current form is very very serious! Hundreds if not thousands of innocent animatronic hippos are murdered every day! Educate yourself, visit the link in my sig.

...In all seriousness, I think that may be interesting. I can't even imagine what that version of the Jungle Cruise would even be like. A Jungle Cruise without jokes would take some getting used to because they are so ingrained into the fabric of the ride.

[animark]

Re: A Serious Jungle Cruise

well here's a slightly realistic version of The Jungle Cruise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6Ho...feature=relmfu

[sgtfox]

Re: A Serious Jungle Cruise

JC used to be a serious spieling attraction. The humor was added in later. There are old videos of the serious version you can view. I think the Disneyland USA documentary has a ride-through of the old serious version.

[film975]

Re: A Serious Jungle Cruise

JC used to be a serious spieling attraction. The humor was added in later. There are old videos of the serious version you can view. I think the Disneyland USA documentary has a ride-through of the old serious version.

The transition from serious to funny I think occurred in 1963 when Marc Davis' designs were added to the ride. Which include the Elephant Bathing Pool, the African Veldt, and the Trapped Safari.

[calsig31]

Re: A Serious Jungle Cruise

I would just settle for the skippers being given more leeway with their spiel so we don't have to hear the same one over and over again. How many times do you need to be shown the backside of water?

[badger hollow]

Re: A Serious Jungle Cruise

The Jungle Cruise is one of my favorite attractions, but only when the skipper is in good form.

I too wish the scripts had more options for good skippers to work with.

[techskip]

Re: A Serious Jungle Cruise

well here's a slightly realistic version of The Jungle Cruise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6Ho...feature=relmfu

Thank you

---------- Post added 09-14-2012 at 01:24 PM ----------

The transition from serious to funny I think occurred in 1963 when Marc Davis' designs were added to the ride. Which include the Elephant Bathing Pool, the African Veldt, and the Trapped Safari.

Unofficially they were cracking jokes as early as 56. Officially the script re-write started in 63. The additions were added between 63 and 72.

I would just settle for the skippers being given more leeway with their spiel so we don't have to hear the same one over and over again. How many times do you need to be shown the backside of water?

I too wish the scripts had more options for good skippers to work with.

The problem isn't the lack of options. The problem is a lack of Skippers using said options.

[fifthrider]

Re: A Serious Jungle Cruise

Since the idea of a funny version spawned from the reaction to the lackluster "serious" version it would seem that a serious version has already been tried and didn't do so well.

If you're dead set on a serious JC then I can give you the names of some CM's with that ride who are just plain NOT FUNNY and have terrible timing with their jokes, all of which are told with the monotony of reading from a script they just don't care about. It's the closest thing to being on a serious ride, or at the very least the furthest thing from being a funny ride.

---------- Post added 09-14-2012 at 01:30 PM ----------

The problem isn't the lack of options. The problem is a lack of Skippers using said options.

Thank you! I'm so glad to hear you say that. Now I have a little more faith in it all. I'm not the sort to complain, mostly because I know how serious a customer complaint can harm a CM ( three strikes and you're out, something like that? ) but the only two times I ever wrote Disney and complained were on two different occasions about two terrible skippers who just didn't care. To them this was just a job, they could have been out sweeping the sidewalk and not cared less. Conversely I've also included in one of those complaints a commendation for a parking tram driver who was so funny that he should have been on the JC as a skipper.

Glad there's people out there like you TechSkip.

[smartlabelprint]

Re: A Serious Jungle Cruise

We've been on the cruise once and didn't really like it. I can't remember why not, I'm thinking it was the stupid jokes. I'm all for trying it again if I knew it'd be serious.

[techskip]

Re: A Serious Jungle Cruise

This subject comes up from time to time. It's difficult to explain the complexities of a spiel, and the difficulties of a "live show/audience". But I'll do what I can to break this down. To start with Jungle Cruise Skips are not paid to be funny. You could have a dead pan cruise, no jokes, no laughter, and as long as the Skip didn't go off script they wouldn't be in trouble. Being funny is an expectation placed on Jungle by the public. You can go back and forth as to if this expectation if fair or not, but it is an expectation set by the public not a job description mandated by Disney. What Disney is concerned with is the script. More specifically they want Skips to adhere to the script. If a Guest complains and cites specific jokes that they did not like, Disney will compare those jokes to the script. If the Skip is off script then he/she will be in trouble for that. To answer the obvious question... yes... I've had friends get busted by a Guest COMPLIMENT because the individual giving the compliment cited a non-approved joke. Compliments and Concerns are weighted differently. That's why I'm not as quick to complain as I am to compliment. I don't hand out either one easily, but it takes a lot for me to spend time at City Hall and complain.

The reason Jungle has a script is to protect the Skips. If what a Skip said was in the script, then it was approved by the employer, and the employer, not the Skip, would be responsible for it. The script is constantly being re-evaluated. If jokes are added or removed then the Jungle is notified of this.

Being in front of an audience isn't easy, and it isn't for everyone. The Jungle itself always had a way of either appealing to CM's, or scaring them. There honestly wasn't a "middle ground" at Jungle. Everyone has a different sense of humor. Every boat has a different PA system. Every trip has a different crew. You could have several horrible boats, and suddenly have a very fun lively one. It's pretty random.

There's the male Skip vs female Skip debate. For most of Jungle's history it was a boys' club, and there are still individuals in the public who feel a female Skip isn't funny. I know plenty of female Skips who have proven otherwise. They have openly said how being a female has been even more difficult on Jungle, and even more rewarding.

There's the day vs night debate. I would argue that people are more open to being entertained at night. The temperature is cooler, you're tired so it's more relaxing, the expectation is lowered because there isn't much of a wait, and the Skip has the added benefit of the lights. Others would argue that night is worse because the crew is usually a lot newer.

When I said "lack of using said options", every scene has multiple jokes. During the training period a Skip works with their Trainer to select their jokes. They learn those jokes. They take them apart, re-word them, practice and polish it so they know it works. A Trainer will usually encourage the new Skip to use that joke for the first month or so, then slowly start adding to it. Every day pick 1 joke in the spiel, use it every trip, figure out how to make it work. Usually within a few month a Skip will at least know most of the jokes. He/she may not use every joke, might go a month or more without using some, but knows how to deliver it should the desire arise. From what I have seen, and what I have been told, not very many are expanding. Most are sticking to the spiel they were trained on, which is why a lot of boats sound almost identical. A solution would be for the Trainers to each teach a different spiel. I've mentioned it before. I don't know if they will ever implement that or not.

[BlAcKoUt510]

Re: A Serious Jungle Cruise

My last ride in August was just hilarious. & the time before that. Some skips just seem sound like they are reading lines, but the last two I had were just really into it and I loved it.

A serious jungle cruise sounds fun as well but it can be rather boring at times unless the made some modifications. The comedy with the ride itself always makes me want to re-ride though.


I remember my skipper's last quote as we were exiting the boat was, "When I was a young boy, my father looked down on me with his big brown eyes and pouty lips and said 'Boy, you're a good kid & a hard worker, but it's time for you to get out of here. So get out!" The way he said it was just hilarious.

[techskip]

Re: A Serious Jungle Cruise

I forgot to mention that the original spiel (for the scenes that still remain) is in the script. It's commonly referred to as National Geographic (for obvious reasons). It's very dry, completely fact based, the serious trip you are referring to. I don't know who would be able to deliver it these days, but it is there. In the past it was used on Managers that tried to do a spiel check, rowdy crews that wanted to heckle the Skip, and bored Skips looking for something different. I'd usually dig it up when a boat broke and I knew we'd be there for a while.

A breakdown is when you really get to see if you have a decent Skip. Because now instead of being stuck with them for 7 minutes, you're there until it's fixed or until they find a way to get you out. Some Skips go silent. Some try to do jokes and run out. I preferred just talking to the crew. I know a lot about Jungle and I'd use that when appropriate. One compliment I have that means a lot to me was from a woman who loved my "breakdown spiel". She said she learned more from that than she did from Walk in Walt's tour. That still makes me laugh.

[jcruise86]

Re: A Serious Jungle Cruise

I propose this every couple of months (sorry Techskip--you've seen this):

Every year or every other year. . .

. . . Jungle Cruise Contests Held at Disneyland and at WDW

Two or three finalists compete at night where one boat full of guests stays in the boat while captains are rotated. The winning captain receives a customized Stetson Jungle Cruise hat/crown and a champion nametag, and her or his black 'n' white photo is added to a framed collection of winning captains that will fit the small photos and winning captains' names for the next 100 years.

The winner and second place will fly to WDW (WDW's top two will fly to Anaheim) via coach ticket and stay in a Disney moderate hotel (own rooms) for five days and work on the other coast's cruise for three hours a day, partly to fertilize the minds of some of the guides on America's other Jungle Cruise. (Fertilizer metaphor was carefully chosen.)

[sbk1234]

Re: A Serious Jungle Cruise

I wouldn't want to see a serious Jungle Cruise, but I'd be all for a serious new ride in the same vein as the Jungle Cruise. A different adventure through an exotic locale. Maybe a tour of an alien planet in Tomorrowland or something.

[sdjeff4sc]

Re: A Serious Jungle Cruise

Yes! You're in the minority here - a good Skipper makes ALL of the difference between a stupid and uninspiring ride and a really funny adventure.....