Jungle Cruise - Adventureland attraction at Disneyland; opened on July 17, 1955. One of the most eagerly awaited attractions because of extensive publicity given by Walt Disney on pre-opening television shows.

Very little else was far enough along for him to show, but the channel was dug for the Jungle Cruise, trees were being planted, and Disney was able to talk his viewers through a typical ride, and eventually drive them through in his Nash Rambler (one of the television show's sponsors).

The attraction was expanded in 1962 (bathing pool of the Indian elephants), with more additions in 1964 (trapped safari, African veldt region) and 1976 (7 new scenes and 31 figures). A new two-story queue building was added in June 1994, and the channel was moved slightly to allow space for the queue area for the new Indiana Jones attraction, which opened in 1995.

Also, Adventureland attraction in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, opened October 1, 1971, and in Tokyo Disneyland, opened April 15, 1983. A Jungle Cruise was not built at Disneyland Paris because after the popularity of the Disneyland attraction, a number of European parks had already copied the concept, and to build one at Disneyland Paris would not have provided anything new to European visitors.

I love the Jungle Cruise for the silly jokes if nothing else. The jungle cruise captains have a standard script, but the best ones ad lib. If the ad lib is good enough, it becomes part of the standard script, and then the cycle starts all over again. ~~Becky