Thursday, January 5, 2012

Disneyland - Jungle Cruise - The Way We Were

Scavenging along the shoreline of the Internet, I came across the following footage of the old Jungle Cruise from 1992.  It shows the attraction as it was when I first worked it, including the old hornbill at the turn in the river that is now occupied by the queue for Indiana Jones.  Even "Old Smiley" is referenced by the skipper (a favorite joke at this part of the old river was "Old Smiley is the oldest and laziest crocodile in these parts, he just sits around my boat waiting for a handout.  Just last week I had an English teacher on board.  She put her hand out.  Now she teaches...shorthand").  I miss the old guy.



Many thanks to Eric aka MrDisneyfanman for originally posting this to YouTube.  Since there are relatively few good videos of the mid to late 1980s Jungle Cruise, I found this one to be useful because it really shows the old queue, the dock, Trader Sam, the striped canopied boats, even the old Jungle costume as they appeared around the time I first worked the attraction.

Hope all of you Jungle fans have a great day today, wherever you may be. 
I love each and every one of you.
Except you in the back.
Yeah, over there on the left.
I'm keeping an eye on you.
Well, it's 8:04 a.m. and time for a Jungle Julep.
Last night the Tiki Gods had a party.
Some luau!
When tiki drums begin to pound, my head full BIG sound!
Cheers, Jungleteers!
And remember, nothing says good, clean Disney fun like human skulls over Adventureland!

---Mike

5 comments:

Okie said...

Thanks for the great post.

We just booked our family trip to DL for the end of March. Can't wait to take the kids on the Jungle Cruise. Thanks for the memories. :)

Connie Moreno said...

LOL, that was great! While early visitors to the Park rode the Jungle Cruise for all it's wonder, I ride it now to listen to the hilarious and corny jokes.

Anonymous said...

And a Happy New Year to you Mike. Talk about deja-vu! Really not much of a change from the 70s.

#4

the walking dead comic said...

Belated happy new year to you :)

Max said...

You'll be happy to know that specific Cast Member is still at the Jungle Cruise. His name is Randy. Still the same guy, same comedic timing.