#53 - Jungle Cruise

Category: Slow Rides
Category Rank: 9

Park: Magic Kingdom
Park Rank: 20

Our next item in our list is the infamous Jungle Cruise.  This is an entry that many would put higher, maybe even top ten.  It has been around since the park inception and has built up quite a following over the years.  Weird Al Yankovic took his shot at the Jungle Cruise through parody:



Essentially, the ride is a trip around a river with a few scenes from the "wild" of the world's dangerous rivers.  There are pythons and rhinos and headhunter natives and such, all animatronic.  But the ride is not about the animatronics; it is about the Skipper's Spiel.

The entire spiel is a scripted monologue of the corniest jokes (we are from Iowa, so they apparently were made special for us).  Here's a list of the bit.   Or if you prefer, here's the entire thing:





As mentioned, the exhibit's longevity and cult following make it a well-known WDW attraction.  For us, it finds itself behind other Magic Kingdom items like the Tiki Room, Pirates of the Caribbean, and It's a Small World, though.  The attraction was enjoyable the first two times we visited, but it has lost its luster a bit being so repetitive, and we don't always go on it.  Which, doesn't scream nostalgia very much.

For #52, we go back to our interactives/memorabilia category, looking at an item that every person staying at a WDW resort gets.