Solitary Elephant on the Jungle Cruise Ride in Disneyland, 2003

The Jungle Cruise was one of the twenty-two attractions operating at Disneyland on its opening day (July 17, 1955). In celebration of Disneyland's 50th anniversary, the Disneyland version of the attraction features one gold-painted riverboat, which is the Congo Queen.

The attraction is a riverboat journey through the jungles of Asia, Africa and South America. The boat's Skipper provides humorous narration featuring puns relating to the various scenes viewed during the ride. The seemingly ad-libbed comments individual skippers now often include during their recitations make each ride on the Jungle Cruise a substantially different experience. The original spiel, however, is legendary among Disney fans. Competitions in which they compete to say the seven-minute spiel the fastest have been held.

Disneyland's version includes a piranha attack scene as well as some explosive effects in a scene where gorillas are ransacking a camp and throwing dynamite into the river.

Disneyland
Grand opening: July 17, 1955 (Opened with Disneyland Park)
Designer: WED Enterprises
Size: 5 acres
Major refurbishments: 6
1962 - Indian Elephant pool
1964 - African Veldt and Lost Safari scenes
1993 - Additions to the attraction
1994 - Boathouse queue
1995 - Rerouting of river to make room for The Indiana Jones Adventure
2005 - Rebuilding of areas of the attraction and addition of Piranhas and updates to Trashed Camp
Boats: 12
Amazon Belle
Congo Queen (Painted gold for Disneyland's 50th anniversary)
Ganges Gal
Hondo Hattie
Irrawaddy Woman
Kissimmee Kate
Nile Princess
Orinoco Adventuress
Swannee Lady
Ucayali Una
Yangtze Lotus
Zambezi Miss
Boat Names Decommissioned in 1999: 2
Magdalena Maiden
Mekong Maiden
Required ticket:
"C" (1955-1956)
"D" (1956-1959)
"E" (1959-1982)
Ride system: Boat Ride

Text from: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jungle_Cruise