Uploaded June 2018 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
The Jungle Cruise is a river boat attraction located in Adventureland at Disneyland Park. The attraction simulates a riverboat cruise down several major rivers of Asia, Africa and South America. Park guests board replica tramp steamers from a 1930s British explorers' lodge and are taken on a voyage past many different Audio-Animatronic jungle animals. The tour is led by a live Disney Cast Member delivering humorous narration. This narration is based on a written and practiced script, but generally is largely delivered ad-lib.
The attraction was in the opening day roster of the park, and has remained open and largely unchanged in theme and story since then. The original plan was to use real animals, but these plans were abondened once Disney realized that the animals would likely sleep during the day. Aside from alterations and maintenance changes, four completely new show scenes have been added to date. In 1994 the river channel was rerouted to make way for the queue buildings and entrance courtyard of the Indiana Jones Adventure.
While the current version and most previous instances have made use of a comedic spiel, filled with intentionally bad puns, the original intent of the ride was to provide a realistic, believable voyage through the world's jungles. Until 1962, the original spiel had no jokes and sounded much like the narration of a nature documentary.
Sources of inspiration for the attraction include a 1955 True-Life Adventure, "The African Lion," about a pride of lions, and the film The African Queen. Imagineer Harper Goff referenced the African Queen frequently in his ideas; even his designs of the ride vehicles were inspired by the steamer used in the film. The project was placed on the schedule to open with the July 17, 1955 debut of Disneyland.
When plans began to develop, Bill Evans, the Imagineer responsible for landscaping Disneyland and most of Walt Disney World, faced the daunting task of creating a convincing jungle on a limited budget. Aside from importing many actual tropical plants, he made wide use of "character plants" which, while not necessarily exotic, could give the appearance of exoticism in context. In a particularly well-known trick, he uprooted local orange trees and "replanted" them upside-down, growing vines on the exposed roots. Disney controls the clarity of the water (known as "turbidity") in order to obscure from guests' view the boat's guidance system and undesirable items like perches and mechanized platforms of the bathing elephants and hippos. Initially, the clean water was dyed brown but after a few years the colorant was changed to a green hue and in recent years a bluish-green has been used. The water of the Jungle Cruise is approximately 5 feet deep and is part of the park's 'dark' water system which circulates southward from the northern end of Frontierland's Rivers of America, through Fantasyland and creates the moat of Sleeping Beauty Castle. The water's journey continues flowing past Frontierland's entrance and into Adventureland where it meanders alongside the Tiki Room before entering the Jungle Cruise beside the ride's exit. The water returns to the south end of the Rivers of America via a 37" diameter underground pipe near Tarzan's Treehouse. Originally, the Jungle Cruise waterway was 1,920 feet in length before being slightly shortened and re-routed in 1994.
Although Goff and Evans can be credited with the creation and initial design of the ride, Marc Davis, recognized for his work on venerable attractions such as the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean, added his own style to the ride in later versions and Disneyland updates. The "Indian Elephant Bathing Pool" and "Rhinoceros Chasing Explorers up a Pole" were among his contributions.
The Jungle Cruise is a river boat attraction located in Adventureland at Disneyland Park. The attraction simulates a riverboat cruise down several major rivers of Asia, Africa and South America. Park guests board replica tramp steamers from a 1930s British explorers' lodge and are taken on a voyage past many different Audio-Animatronic jungle animals. The tour is led by a live Disney Cast Member delivering humorous narration. This narration is based on a written and practiced script, but generally is largely delivered ad-lib.
The attraction was in the opening day roster of the park, and has remained open and largely unchanged in theme and story since then. The original plan was to use real animals, but these plans were abondened once Disney realized that the animals would likely sleep during the day. Aside from alterations and maintenance changes, four completely new show scenes have been added to date. In 1994 the river channel was rerouted to make way for the queue buildings and entrance courtyard of the Indiana Jones Adventure.
While the current version and most previous instances have made use of a comedic spiel, filled with intentionally bad puns, the original intent of the ride was to provide a realistic, believable voyage through the world's jungles. Until 1962, the original spiel had no jokes and sounded much like the narration of a nature documentary.
Sources of inspiration for the attraction include a 1955 True-Life Adventure, "The African Lion," about a pride of lions, and the film The African Queen. Imagineer Harper Goff referenced the African Queen frequently in his ideas; even his designs of the ride vehicles were inspired by the steamer used in the film. The project was placed on the schedule to open with the July 17, 1955 debut of Disneyland.
When plans began to develop, Bill Evans, the Imagineer responsible for landscaping Disneyland and most of Walt Disney World, faced the daunting task of creating a convincing jungle on a limited budget. Aside from importing many actual tropical plants, he made wide use of "character plants" which, while not necessarily exotic, could give the appearance of exoticism in context. In a particularly well-known trick, he uprooted local orange trees and "replanted" them upside-down, growing vines on the exposed roots. Disney controls the clarity of the water (known as "turbidity") in order to obscure from guests' view the boat's guidance system and undesirable items like perches and mechanized platforms of the bathing elephants and hippos. Initially, the clean water was dyed brown but after a few years the colorant was changed to a green hue and in recent years a bluish-green has been used. The water of the Jungle Cruise is approximately 5 feet deep and is part of the park's 'dark' water system which circulates southward from the northern end of Frontierland's Rivers of America, through Fantasyland and creates the moat of Sleeping Beauty Castle. The water's journey continues flowing past Frontierland's entrance and into Adventureland where it meanders alongside the Tiki Room before entering the Jungle Cruise beside the ride's exit. The water returns to the south end of the Rivers of America via a 37" diameter underground pipe near Tarzan's Treehouse. Originally, the Jungle Cruise waterway was 1,920 feet in length before being slightly shortened and re-routed in 1994.
Although Goff and Evans can be credited with the creation and initial design of the ride, Marc Davis, recognized for his work on venerable attractions such as the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean, added his own style to the ride in later versions and Disneyland updates. The "Indian Elephant Bathing Pool" and "Rhinoceros Chasing Explorers up a Pole" were among his contributions.
