Jungle Cruise Reimagining Info & Reopening Date
Jungle Cruise at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World and Disneyland will receive a reimagining in 2021 with new characters, a continuous storyline, changes to show scenes, and more. This post will share timeline info & details, concept art, and commentary with our thoughts. (Updated May 27, 2021.)
Per the Disney Parks Blog, these new adventures will stay true to the Jungle Cruise experience fans know and love. The ride reimagining will add more humor, wildlife, and skipper heart, while also reflecting and valuing the diversity of the world around us.
The new creative concept for our river’s journey will be original to Walt Disney Imagineering, just like the attraction itself. Here’s a first look at some of the new things Disney is adding to the iconic Jungle Cruise…
Imagineers are adding more humor, wildlife and skipper heart to the classic attraction, and as part of a much larger effort, this update to Jungle Cruise will welcome new characters from around the world. The new scenes will be interconnected, and be heightened by Jungle Cruise Skippers’ legendary comedic tone.
Last month, Disney released new info about what this will entail. First, the attraction will remain open at Magic Kingdom during the reimagining, as Imagineering utilizes a “phased approach” to the project. This is not a huge surprise, as this is exactly how the annual Jingle Cruise overlay is accomplished each year at Christmas.
Disney has since announced that the Disneyland version of Jungle Cruise will reopen on July 16, 2021. The Magic Kingdom updates are progressing swiftly (with the Trader Sam Gift Shop scene described below now installed) and all changes will be completed this summer.
The way the attraction’s scenes are staged makes it more conducive to changes that can be accomplished overnight or in the span of a day or two. It’s likely many of the new scenes won’t be overly elaborate or substantial departures from what’s currently there, but rather one-for-one exchanges of figures and props. Most of that can be fabricated off-site, with old props removed and new ones installed overnight.
Above is concept art for the replacement scene, where Trader Sam has opportunistically “reimagined” lost & found as a gift shop as a quick and easy way to make some extra cash from tourists.
In this scene, Trader Sam is betting on an established reputation as the best merchant in the jungle, and while he’s out lost and finding some new inventory, the animals are getting the last laugh and “reclaiming” the jungle. Personally, I love this scene. It’s on-brand with the Jungle Cruise humor and self-deprecating, as Disney pokes fun at its commercialism and opportunism with rides exiting into gift shops.
There also appears to be a lot to see in this scene, which is always great for re-rideability as guests will want to revisit the attraction to spot all of the gags. Also, it’s tough to argue with any scene that features five (5) monkeys. Finally, and slightly ironically, the very scene that pokes fun at Disney’s commercialism also extends it via a new on-ride photo. All wins in my book!
I’m guessing some fans might object to Trader Sam no longer being a visible character, but I like it. For one thing, the two versions of Trader Sam looked very different at Disneyland and Magic Kingdom. For another, he’s also an invisible presence at the bar bearing his name, so this works as an extension of that. There’s a certain mystique about a character who has an outsized presence, but is never seen. Reasonable minds might disagree with that assessment, though.
Next, Imagineering has released a 1938 issue of The Daily Gnus about Alberta Falls and the World-Famous Jungle Cruise to tease the upcoming project. There are fun tidbits in there that reflect how Imagineering will be expanding the Jungle Cruise’s backstory. This will be centered around Alberta Falls, granddaughter of world-renowned Dr. Albert Falls, as the proprietor of the Jungle Navigation Company Ltd.
The article also introduces a number of new characters, including Victoria Marie Falls, Siobhan “Puffin” Murphy, Dr. Leonard Moss, Rosa Soto Dominguez, and S.E.A. Member Dr. Kon Chunosuke. If you’re interested in more info about these characters, check out the My Disney Experience app, which will give you detailed bios.
Most notably, this establishes a direct connection to the Society of Explorers and Adventurers, or S.E.A. That’s a secret society of fictional and real-life explorers that began at Tokyo DisneySea two decades ago and has grown into a shared universe of characters and story points that has spread as far as Typhoon Lagoon.
Notably, a Society of Explorers and Adventurers show was just announced for Disney+ as the first project for the Magic Kingdom Universe. Previously, an S.E.A. connection to Jungle Cruise was implied via other attractions and restaurants, but this will be the organization’s first appearance in Jungle Cruise itself (at least, to my knowledge).
It’s likely there will be plenty of other plot modifications beyond the S.E.A. connection. Here’s how Kevin Lively, Imagineer and former Jungle Cruise skipper described the storyline changes: “As part of this story update, we’ll get to follow a skipper and his passengers as their journey goes awry.
That’s right, for the first time ever, the skipper role will not only be that of a live, experienced, and witty guide, but also represented by a show figure within the attraction itself. In fact, the expedition will be up a tree (literally!) after their sunken boat splits apart and chimps board the wreckage, with monkey business ensuing.”
“But that’s not even half of the hull story. Fans of the Jungle Cruise attraction may recall some boats that used to make their way around the river but haven’t been seen for a while–specifically the Mekong Maiden and Kwango Kate. Ever wonder what happened to them? Well, you might go ape when you find out! Ultimately, the jungle gets the last laugh.”
The reimagined storyline will begin with a trapped safari party that finds itself up a tree after their journey goes awry. Unexpected scenarios along the way will give the jungle and animals the last laugh!
Disney has stated that more details about the enhancements will be revealed soon, and that the Jungle Cruise reimagining is coming later in 2021. Kevin Lively also shared this video:
In an interview with D23, Imagineer Chris Beatty further clarified the nature of the Jungle Cruise update: “I want to make sure people know we are not changing the whole Jungle Cruise. This is not a re-envisioning of the entire attraction. It’s the Jungle Cruise you know and love, with the skippers still leading the way, and at the same time, we’re addressing the negative depictions of ‘natives.’ So that’s one of the scenes we’re going to go in and change.”
“And for the first time, we are actually linking scenes together…So we’re not really re-envisioning that scene, we’re just adding a narrative and storytelling to bring things to life and connect that moment with other happenings along the river.”
Chris Beatty explained that Jungle Cruise would be relying and building upon the hilarious scenes added by future Disney Legend Marc Davis and skippers’ spiels: “We’re keeping a lot of the classic jokes that the fans know and love, like the backside of water. But it will give our skipper some new material to play off of.”
Additionally, the changes won’t be inspired by the upcoming film, said Beatty. “I’m excited about the movie, and having Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt be a part of that film. But these adjustments are really focused on enhancing the existing attraction storyline and addressing some areas that needed refreshing along the way. I’m sure the film is fantastic and we’re very excited about it, but integrating the film into our classic Jungle Cruise is not part of this effort.”
After the backlash and fan petitions in response to last summer’s announcement that that Splash Mountain will be rethemed to the Princess and the Frog at Walt Disney World and Disneyland, the company is undoubtedly aware that any changes to an iconic attraction will be controversial, even ones done carefully and with thematic integrity.
Accordingly, Disney has provided “testimonials” about that changes from Imagineers:
As with Splash Mountain at Tokyo Disneyland, it seems unlikely that Jungle Cruise will change in Japan. In part this is because Oriental Land Company–and not Disney–owns those parks, but also because that incarnation of the attraction changed a few years ago. It now has a different storyline, plus different day and night versions, unique lighting schemes, and projection mapping effects.
Hong Kong Disneyland could change eventually, although the story and show scenes there are also very different.
We don’t have a ton of commentary about the Jungle Cruise story rewrites and scene changes. In fairness, we are also most definitely not Jungle Cruise purists who view it among the pantheon of all-time classics. (Honestly, we prefer the Tokyo Disneyland version–even though we can’t understand it–thanks to superior visuals and effects.)
To the contrary, our view is that Jungle Cruise is way too taste-specific and skipper-dependent. It has a cult following among longtime fans and has achieved iconic status via longevity, but doesn’t have as much mainstream appeal. While that’s obviously not the impetus for these changes, we’re cautiously optimistic about anything that makes the attraction more coherent, consistent, and enjoyable to first-timers.
This appears to be part of Disney’s new focus on inclusion, but the changes also pretty clearly go well beyond that. As we’ve been saying for months now, there are a variety of updates in store for older attractions, many of which are small scale and could be accomplished overnight or with a brief closure.
No matter how much fans protest or petition, this was an inevitability for some of the scenes and script in Jungle Cruise. You might also recall the outrage to the Auction Scene Changes in Pirates of the Caribbean when that was announced a few years ago; the update happened anyway. Expect the same for other attractions in the not-too-distant future.
The bigger surprise to me is not that Jungle Cruise changing, but that there’s an accompanying announcement from Disney. I thought they would’ve learned their lesson on that one–but maybe the hope here is that hardcore fans will see there’s more substance to this overhaul (and it’s not outright replacing a fan-favorite with something different entirely), and will give Disney the benefit of the doubt or take a “wait and see” approach.
My expectation was that Jungle Cruise would close with mentions of “synergy” or enhancements related to this year’s Jungle Cruise featuring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and the problematic aspects would quietly change along with movie tie-ins being added. It’s pretty clear from the announcement my guess widely missed the mark with the Jungle Cruise changes. As much as I love the Rock, I’m not particularly eager to see him in Audio Animatronics form, so I’m happy that isn’t happening.
Between dodging that bullet and based on what we know thus far about this Jungle Cruise reimagining, I’m perfectly willing to withhold judgment until seeing the finished product. There’s definitely promise to the ideas, and plenty of potential for Jungle Cruise to improve.
The other interesting aspect of this announcement is that Imagineering indicates the changes (presumably for both Disneyland and Walt Disney World) will be added to the attraction in 2021. Given everything else, that means it’ll almost certainly be finished by October 1, 2021. That’s a fast turnaround time, and it also comes during a year when there’s no guarantee that physical distancing or barriers will be removed from boats. As it stands, the guest experience on Jungle Cruise is significantly impeded. (To the point that it’s the one attraction we avoid right now.) I’m surprised Disney would want to debut the changes with all of that still potentially in place.
Moreover, there’s still no timeline set for the Splash Mountain reimagining, and rumors that the finished project could be years away. Jungle Cruise being announced much later but being finished much earlier suggests to me that perhaps the changes aren’t as substantive as implied. Then again, the tone and appearance of Jungle Cruise can be dramatically changed in a limited amount of time–just look what happens each year literally overnight for Christmas with Jingle Cruise! We’ll keep you posted on future developments with Jungle Cruise, and other attraction updates at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of Jungle Cruise being reimagined? Excited for new show scenes and some script rewrites? Are you likewise cautiously optimistic, or apprehensive about the changes? Do you agree or disagree with our commentary? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
If you want to respectfully debate show scenes that could be improved or worsened via the enhancements, the opportunities or shortcomings of a potential storyline, pros & cons of new characters being added to the attraction, or other aspects of this news about Jungle Cruise, have at it.
Please stop debating NCIS or other topics well outside the scope of this Disney blog. I know Mark Harmon is a polarizing fella, but he’s not germane to Jungle Cruise. Going forward, off-topic comments will be deleted.
Thank you Tom, it is appreciated.
Get rid of Iger and chapek and hire Ann to replace them.
I will give an Imagineer one hundred dollars if a reference to Weird Al’s “Skipper Dan” is incorporated.
Nice. I saw Weird Al in concert at Pleasure Island in 92!
YES! YES! YES! I would love to see that. But here’s the joke, there was actually according to the cast members working the attraction an actual Skipper Dan at WDW in the summer of 2010. I asked one of the cast members how often do they get people asking for Skipper Dan, they replied that quite a few people have asked since the song came out, but they actually did have a Skipper named Dan.
after reading all of these comments, i wonder why we can’t all respect each others opinions. I don’t like to hunt or fish, but know people that do. that does not make me right or them wrong. we all have different opinions of what is funny. That does not make mine right or someone else wrong. This country is made up of many people, and we should respect others, whether we like there comments or not.
When you refuse to consider the experiences of people who aren’t of the same background as you, you are indeed being unkind. When you tell them that their feelings don’t matter, that is being unkind. And people aren’t “offended,” they are hurt, angered, and demeaned by stereotypes that depict them as being less fully human than straight white people are. Your memories of a kinda crappy ride aren’t more important than other people’s feelings. And the same thing goes for Splash Mountain, which is awful.
Meagan H, Tell me exactly how watching NCIS or any other movie or show for entertainment is worlds different than watching a ride at Disney for entertainment? I’m so sick of the hypocrisy. Like you saying you “battle racism with every fibre of your keyboard” while telling me I don’t have the right to an opinion on what is offensive because of the color you assumed my skin was. What a racist statement that was! Also you saying you were not bothered by the moment in the ride itself but it brought up memories of other experiences…so now Disney has to also take out everything that could possibly remind people of something else?!? Where does it end? I am not the problem here. And I’m not being unkind because I think enough is enough and we’ll never please everyone in this new culture of being offended at absolutely everything and calling everything racist. A true Disney fan would appreciate the original rides that Walt Disney himself was a part of creating. It ceases to be the happiest place on earth if it ceases to be Disney World anymore.
Ann no one is offended by “everything” here we are offended by racism. I definitely think racism is something to get offended and take personally. Since it clearly doesn’t affect you you can afford to do so. However you should be advised that makes you part of the problem. I was not born as lucky as you Ann so I will continue to battle racism with every fibre of my keyboard.
I also think The Happiest Place on Earth should be that way for everyone. I would think a true Disney fan should appreciate and understand that. Teachable moments require context to be effective and an amusement park isn’t the place for that. NCIS is a world away from Splash Mountain and that’s how it should be.
Andy, so should NCIS stop showing murder because someone might have a family member that was murdered? Should the show now be about roses and daisies so nobody has life experiences that are similar to the ones reflected in the crimes depicted on the show? There is a real scary trend in teaching everyone to be offended about everything. We have to move past this. Since you asked, I actually DO think it is wrong or incorrect to teach people to take everything personally and be bothered by everything. I DO think it’s wrong to say because a crime is depicted on this entertainment platform it invalidates the feelings of anyone who has ever gone through it–when it has nothing to do with them personally. If we took away all of it there would be nothing interesting left for a storyline. As mentioned, no one is condoning the actions OR saying that everyone in that culture, region, etc. acts the way the CHARACTERS do in the rides. But yes, some pirates did auction off women and showing that in the ride was in no way condoning the behavior. Besides if we take out and hide everything that ever happened we won’t learn from it. And if we teach people to be upset about every little thing there can’t be peace on this earth. If you want peace on earth please stop teaching everyone to be mad at everything! Finally it DOES affect me and all of us personally. It absolutely does take away from our fun to lose rides we hold near and dear to our heart, Splash Mountain being the biggest loss. We can’t ever get them back once they are gone and it is what made Disney fun for us. We also don’t want our Disney costs increasing to redo hugely successful rides for no legitimate reason, that is a huge loss to families who already think cost is getting high. Once they change them there will be a whole new group who finds something offensive. You can find fault with almost anything, so let’s just be upset all the time? No, we are better than that. We all have things in our life that were hard but we are overcomers and we chose joy over being petty!
Very well said! I agree 100%!
1. You as a white person do not get to decide what is offensive.
2. Disney is meant to be a place everyone can enjoy and not be reminded of the troubles outside by removing offensive and dated aspects Disney is ensuring that for everybody. Whether you agree with it or not is beside the point clearly it bothered enough for Disney to make the change.
3. Nostalgia should not override kindness. You may want everything to stay as it was but it is coming at the expense of others.
4. Change is lifes only constant and it should be Disney’s too. If the World hadn’t changed it would have shut its doors long ago.
5. It doesn’t really matter if its meant to be funny. Even if I as an Aboriginal woman are not bothered by the moment itself it still brings up memories of other terrible moments. That’s the real problem like moments like this one and moments like them. Selling women in Pirates may seem harmless on the surface but I’m sure a lot of black people and remembered all the stories of family sold off and a thousand other bad memories. Something I’m sure Walt would have never wanted his park to evoke.
I’ll take a ‘wait and see’/‘give Disney the benefit of the doubt’ approach on this update. The cruise is, I believe, an original 1955 attraction at Disneyland (and definitely an original 1971 attraction at WDW); I would be surprised at the removal of too many of its aspects perceived to have Walt’s fingerprints on them. With that said, the attraction needs *something*. On our last visit, my 18-year old daughter sighed audibly when I wanted to ride it to see the ‘Jingle Cruise’ overlay.
It’s already completely different from the 1955 version. They do this every few years- change out a few show scenes. This will probably be one of the bigger re-does since Indiana Jones opened and they re-did the boat house though.
—“As a women the former scene in Pirates did not bother me at all, not as a kid, and not as an adult.”
Just because something doesn’t bother YOU doesn’t mean that those who are bothered by it are wrong or incorrect. If someone is bothered by something and you aren’t, does that mean that they “cannot laugh and enjoy themselves?” Might you feel differently about lighthearted depictions of women being sold if you’d had different life experiences? Have you never been upset by something, even though others weren’t upset by it?
—“Please let’s get back to a nation that is not trying to point fingers at everyone and find blame with everything…Let’s learn to laugh and be entertained again.”
You should know that the above reads as “let’s get back to a nation where people who are hurt or offended are expected to keep it to themselves, because they know that nobody cares about their feelings.”
This is not about you. Nobody is coming after you. Nobody is accusing you of doing something wrong for NOT being offended by something. Disney is saying that the “natives” in the Jungle Cruise reflect a racist stereotype that they know some people are (and always have been) legitimately offended by, so they’re going to remove them. Why would you have a problem with a profit-driven company trying to avoid offending people, so that a visit to their parks could be equally enjoyable for all who visit? How does removing spear-chucking natives from a ride take away from YOUR fun?
Thank you Ann! Couldn’t agree more.
We went on the Disneyland version not too long ago with the kids and yeah, eesh, parts were a bit dated and cringeworthy. As long as the skippers are still able to have their own spiels, I’m curious to see what they come up with.
I’m still a lot more worried about integrating a new IP with Splash Mountain, which is my favorite ride.
I totally agree with everything you said!
As a multiple-Disney-trips-a-year person, I can emphatically state that I haven’t had an enjoyable ride on the Jungle Cruise in perhaps 10 years or more. I know there will be others who disagree, but I don’t feel like most of today’s skippers understand the real character of the attraction. The performances, even if they’re funny (which they rarely are), don’t feel as though they treat the attraction with the integrity it deserves.
My only wish for the changes is that they retain core elements of the attraction’s 1930s adventure serial vibe while opening up new and more inclusive storytelling opportunities. Most of the attraction’s most questionable scenes are really more boring than they are offensive, so there’s no reason to be too sad about any of that changing.
Of all the changes, I am the most intrigued by the idea of an AA skipper guiding the story. I imagine they’re doing this to give guests a more consistent experience on the attraction, while still leaving some room for the on-board skipper to tell some jokes.
For medicore skippers (of which there are far more than anyone usually dares to say), this alleviates the burden of actually being good at their jobs – while for skippers who are actually good at their jobs, it creates new opportunities to react to the story in engaging ways.
And you can bet this means the whole attraction is going to get a deep cleaning and be shinier and prettier than ever. All in all, I’m cautiously optimistic about this.
A welcome change for us. The jungle cruise used to be one of our must do attractions, but we haven’t felt the need to ride it in the last few years do to it feeling a bit stale compared to newer attractions. Hoping this will freshen up and revitalize the ride.
Appreciate the updates as always Tom. Just bought a 40-210mm lens for my Sony 6100 and I can’t wait to get back to Orlando to try it out.
I’m ok with this since no movie tie in or IP although it would be cool to have the Rock as my live Skipper! I actually think the attraction is decent but not worth more than a 20 min wait. I like how its pretty long in duration and the part where you do in the dark temple is cool. I do wish they would concentrate their energies on getting Tron and Guardians done. Thanks for the continued updates.
They were working on Tron last week. We could hear and see it from our 11th floor balcony at BLT. Crane was moving all day when we were at the MK! Finish the damn railroad tracks and get it running again! The track is completely gone over by BTMRR for replacement, something which should’ve been completed during the closure…
In general, arguments are much more persuasive when they’re substantive, and not just buzzword soup, expressing blanket disdain for change, or engaging in slippery slope comparisons.
Just something to consider.
Yes! You are “spot on”! “Negative” things can be found with just about everything; “Cancel culture” is alive and well at Disney. SMH
You don’t seem to understand what cancel culture is…
Will be nice if they bring back in some feeling of adventure. Was sad last time we rode that they can’t even pretend to shoot at a hippo (maybe elephant) anymore. What’s the world come to when u can’t even make believe that scene while in a jungle? Otherwise, times have changed so not sad to see some of the other parts change for the better.
I understand a fondness for nostalgia, but I don’t understand why we should be encouraging “hunting for sport” as an adventurous activity. The simple act of learning about our world – be it through travel, exploration, reading – promotes adventure. One can have an adventure in his/her own backyard as well as across the world. Adventure does not and should not require the devaluing of another living thing. Our planet is a complex, intertwined web teetering on the edge. With more and more species ranging from at risk to critically endangered, all of us living under exponential climate change, changing and disappearing habitats, food and water sources, and long term safe living locations, it is more important than ever before that we do all we can to teach the value in preserving and protecting the world around us. That also means that we adults need to readjust our thinking. We can have fond memories of the past we lived while still embracing growth and change for a positive today and tomorrow. When we know better, we can and should do better. This is not hyperbole – we only have one planet. We need to be doing everything within our power to protect it, lest we lose the only home we have.
@Kyle: Back in the day, the skipper would shoot at the “main” hippo to stop it. Now, they shoot in the air to scare it away.
Why would it make you sad that nobody pretended to shoot an animal? The “feeling of adventure” should come from surviving an encounter with a hostile hippo, not from watching someone pretend to shoot the hippo in the head…
Thank u both for making my point! Adventure is OK, we don’t have to be so sensitive that shooting at an animal attacking us is taboo.
Shooting wild animals isn’t an adventure, or fun.