Kilimanjaro Safaris: The Jungle Cruise Unplugged

Posted February 23rd, 2008 By: Jackie Steele

“I don’t like formal gardens. I like wild nature. It’s just the wilderness instinct in me, I guess.” -Walt Disney

They say Walt was always fascinated with animals. Apparently, his audience was, as well. The “True Life Adventure” episodes of his famed “Disneyland” television series were well received by audiences, and consistently among the most popular in the series. The entire television series was designed to serve as a primer of sorts to audiences whom Walt hoped would soon be visiting the Disneyland Theme Park once it opened in July of 1955. The series premiered on the fledgling ABC network in October of 1954, about a year before the park would open. Each week, an episode of the show would focus on one of four different lands – Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Frontierland, and Adventureland. The “True Life Adventures” episodes were part of the Adventureland segments, which promised adventures in the world of nature’s own realm.

When guests arrived at Disneyland on opening day, there was only one “ride” inside Adventureland. That was the Jungle Cruise. On the Jungle Cruise, guests would be taken on a boat ride through the rivers of the world, spying in on wildlife along the way. Walt’s original plans were, as usual, a lot bigger than could be accomplished at the time. He had wanted guests to float by live hippopotami, elephants, and other real, live, eating, breathing, furry, leathery, creatures. Unfortunately, there were too many variables. All of those desirable traits were accompanied by undesirable ones. Animals that ate became animals that… well… left a trail behind them. But more importantly, animals that were breathing were also thinking. They were thinking about how they’d rather be anywhere than right in view of thousands of loud humans. They were also thinking about how much cooler it would be over in the shady bushes, rather than on a hot rock in open view of the afore-mentioned noisy humans. In short, they would be uncontrollable. That is not to say that they would go AWOL and be running rampant through Fantasyland (although, admittedly, such scenarios were probably considered) — but it meant that Imagineers could not guarantee that guest aboard the Jungle Cruise would see any animals at all. So, they instead opted for Audioanimatronic (AA) animals which couldn’t care less about the heat or noise, wouldn’t need to eat and consequently leave those undesirable trails behind, and, most importantly, would stay right where they were bolted. They also offered the added bonus of being able to consistently perform a desired action such as raising and lowering, squirting water, poking an explorer in the rear end, disassembling a jeep, and the like. So AA’s were the way to go for the Jungle Cruise at both Disneyland and later at Walt Disney World.

But a good idea is NEVER thrown away at WDI. Sure, it may be sidetracked for, say, 43 years, but it is never completely discarded. Fast forward to 1998. A brand new type of Disney Theme Park is opened. This new park, although “Nahtazu,” focused almost exclusively on animals. The idea emerged early on to have a ride-through safari style ride in the Africa/Harambe section of the park. But how to get the animals to stay put? Imagineers found themselves grappling with the same issues as their predecessors at WED had four decades earlier. Only this time, there was no AA option – the animals had to be living, breathing, and yes, even pooping. And, like before, Imagineers had to figure out a way to keep the critters in view of thousands of visitors. They came up with plans ranging from the obvious (hide food in false rocks near the roadside) to the ingenious (climate-controlled rocks to keep the lions content with sitting in the hot sun). Also, to keep them from feasting upon one another (and guests) considerations had to be made on hidden ways to keep the animals in the appropriate areas. There would be shallow pools for wading, but a deep underwater trough to keep the animals on their side of the non-existent fence. Tiny little prickly-looking metal fingers look like a spiny plant, but are instead electrically charged prongs to keep the critters away.

Luckily, there was plenty of space to make these barriers seem natural. In the original jungle cruise, the tiny area prevented any kind of vast extravagance. With Animal Kingdom, there was plenty of room to recreate and African safari – the Imagineers took an old cow pasture and essentially groomed it to their liking, from a flat barren area to a rolling African savannah. Imagineers were able to triumph over challenges that were insurmountable four decades prior due to space and funding constraints at the Jungle Cruise. Kilimanjaro Safaris was born. Decades later, Walt’s vision of allowing guests to come face-to-face with nature’s most beautiful creatures had come true.

Filed under: Uncategorized, Tapestry, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom