Cruise of the Week (vol. 1)

I wonder if the line about the cute and cuddly jungle creatures that latch on for 25 years and slowly bleed you dry ("wouldn't want that, would we") is official spiel. I'd guess not.

"Wave to the hippos"

As I'm sure is true of every Jungle Cruise fan, I have a couple of favorite spiel lines (like the "ancient Cambodian shrine" built by "ancient Cambodian shriners"). But I have to say that my favorite off-the-cuff skipper comment (I doubt it was in the official spiel) comes from a summer trip in 2001.

My friend and I, both Cast Members at the time, had come to the park for the day to celebrate her birthday. Naturally, we took a ride on the Jungle Cruise. Per usual on a summer day, it was busy, and chock-full of tourists. As we entered the hippo pool, our skipper instructed us to "wave to the hippos, wave to the hippos [sigh] . . . 'cause all we're allowed to do is wave to the hippos . . ." The tourists bemusedly wavied, and watched with mild curiosity as my friend and I dissolved into snickers. After all, the line's only funny if you know that the skippers had their guns siezed in the late 1990s, and didn't get them back until just a few years ago. In 2001, all a skipper could do was "wave to the hippos" - no shooting allowed.

Glad to know those days are over.