The Jungle Cruise is a humorous adventure trek into various exotic locations around the world led by a not-so-experienced Jungle skipper. The original Disneyland attraction was inspired by the True Life Adventure documentary series produced by Walt Disney and the film The African Queen starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn.
The Jungle Cruise was an opening day attraction at the Magic Kingdom on October 1st, 1971. When the Florida version of the attraction premiered, the original at Disneyland had already changed into the humorous version that we now experience today. Key comedic scenes, such as the elephant bathing pool and rhinoceros chasing explorers up a pole scenes were both designed by Marc Davis, also known for his work on the Haunted Mansion. The Asian temple is also a unique, Florida-only scene and provides a classic dark ride element to the attraction. The Florida version’s queue is designed to be a Depression era, British jungle outpost. While walking the queue, guests will see the office of Albert Awol, who can also be heard in the queue serving as the radio disc jockey on the jungle airwaves. This queue, and the attraction has remained relatively untouched throughout the years. The only major change took place in the 1990s in the first portion of the attraction which takes guests through the Amazon. To provide guests with a real sense of what the rainforest looks like, Imagineers constructed a steel web covered in foliage that acted as a canopy over the river. However, many snakes were discovered to be traveling on the web and would occasionally leap onto the top of the ride boats. This caused Imagineers to remove the steel web and use more of a mist effect to look like the jungles in the Amazon.
The Jungle Cruise is located in Adventureland at the Magic Kingdom next to the Swiss Family Treehouse and a few steps away from the Magic Carpets of Aladdin. If you are a big fan of the Jungle Cruise, you will certainly want to experience the Skipper Canteen restaurant located at the entrance to the land. The theme of the restaurant is actually an extension of the Jungle Cruise. You’ll get the same cheesy Jungle Skipper jokes from the staff here and the rooms are beautifully decorated to celebrate the ride and the entire land itself. FP+ reservations are accepted for the Jungle Cruise and highly recommended for families with small children. The boats are easily accessible for disabled guests using a wheelchair or ECV. If you are using one of these chairs, you can remain in your chair and board the boat without transferring. There are no height restrictions to enjoy this attraction and there are plenty of hidden Mickeys worth searching for on the attraction.