Everybody thinks that those skippers on the Jungle Cruise at Walt Disney World are just making a bunch of jokes, but they tell you what to do in case the top of the boat becomes the bottom of the boat, and it turns out that can be very useful information.
Yesterday, a boat at Walt Disney World's World Famous Jungle Cruise actually sank while in operation. This led to some very interesting photos and video from guests who either were on the ill-fated cruise or who saw it happen, and you can be sure that people are having some fun with it. One enterprising soul on Twitter has combined the sinking boat images with clips of the upcoming Jungle Cruise movie and Celine Dion's most popular song. Check it out.
The pictures are sort of surreal but they're not actually as terrible as the concept of a sinking boat might appear. The water of the Jungle Cruise is kept intentionally murky in order to keep guests from seeing that it's actually only a couple of feet deep, so nobody was really in any danger. But then, that's what makes setting the pictures to "My Heart Will Go On" so funny.
People got a little wet but Walt Disney World says they called the Reedy Creek Fire Department immediately and that damp guests got taken care of, which probably means they got some free Disney World merch in the form of dry clothes and probably got some other little gifts or benefits as an apology for the inconvenience of sinking in the Amazon River.
Walt Disney World hasn't said anything about what happened to cause the boat to sink, but the Jungle Cruise was back in operation the same day, so it was almost certainly just a problem with the one boat, not a larger attraction issue.
Ride breakdowns are a fairly common occurrence in the grand scheme of things. Walt Disney World has a lot of moving parts and every now and then those parts are going to stop moving. It's always frustrating when you're the one standing in line and the attraction closes. Although, in the case of the Jungle Cruise, a ride breakdown could mean taking on water. A similar mishap took place across the country at Disneyland, but with a different attraction, just under a year ago,.
The Jungle Cruise is getting ready to take center stage as the movie based on the popular attraction will be hitting theaters this summer. The movie, which stars Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, looks to be taking the Pirates of the Caribbean route of building a period action-adventure-comedy around the ride. The first trailer certainly includes a number of popular elements from the Disneyland and Walt Disney World attraction.
There were some indication that the Jungle Cruise attraction might get some sort of an update in conjunction with the film, so maybe this is a sign that it's time to give the ride a good polish, as if the movie is a hit, it will only make the Jungle Cruise more world famous.
