Reader Submitted Story
Jungle Cruise Escapades

Kevin, reading your recent stories reminded me of something that happened occasionally on the Jungle Cruise, and probably still does.

I was working the summer of 1991 evening closing shifts on "JC". On warm evenings the canopies on the boats would be rolled up to allow better circulation and afford the guests a better view of the attraction. Now this particular year we had a lead who was a really laid back kind of guy, who would allow us to have fun as long as it did not get too out of hand. 

 
Canopies rolled back on the present-day Jungle Cruise boats

Well one evening, We sent a boat out at about 11:30 pm. Things had slowed down quite a bit in the park, and this boat had only about 12 guests in it. They were a cheerleading squad from some local high school, and were a pretty good looking bunch. We had this one guy we worked with that was always hitting on girls. He saw the girls in line and came to me to try and talk me into letting him take my place in the rotation. (I was next up to take the boat out). Well, after a quick negotiation (involving a shift trade so I could have the next Saturday off) I agreed. 

It was then that I had a great idea. I told the other guy that was loading guests to place the girls toward the back of the boat. I felt a little guilty about what I was about to do, that is until I saw his cocky smile as he took off from the dock. As soon as he was out of sight I had another Cast Member cover my load position. I talked to my lead about my idea, and he gave the go ahead, in fact he lead the way! 

We walked around to boat storage, next to what was then Tahitian Terrace, and up a path that lead to Schweitzer Falls. On the way we picked up a 5 gallon bucket from the custodial storage room behind the west side of Main Street. Now behind West Main Street, there is a location where the JC boats are stored when not in use. There is also a way into the jungle and up to the top of Schweitzer Falls.

Well we got to the top of the falls, filled the bucket, and waited. It took longer than usual for the boat to come around (he was really taking his time with these "special" guests)! Finally he headed into the hippo pool. We could hear his spiel and the girls laughter, he was really on a roll, or so he thought. As he entered the native village we prepared ourselves. He then took the boat under the falls, said some corny joke about the backside of water, and upon exiting the falls was drenched from head to foot as 5 gallons of water rained down from above. 

 
Schweitzer Falls: The Back Side of Water

The girls erupted into laughter, and the look on his face was priceless! I'm sure as he looked up at our faces, he would have killed us right then and there if he could have gotten to us. Once the other guys heard the story it took a matter of hours before the whole West Side knew what happened. The next day we worked together, and he was actually pretty cool about the whole thing, which increased my respect for him. If I were him I could not have waited until the opportunity to get revenge. Well as it turned out, he did not have to wait long for the chance.

Now for a person reading this who has never been a Cast Member, I must digress, and explain the problems with costuming. When you turn in your costume to get a clean one, it is usually at the beginning of your shift. Now those days I was always running late and this day was no exception. There is never any guarantee that the costume you get from the person at the window will be the right size, or in good working order. Well this particular day I was really pushing the clock, and had just a few minutes to dress. As I was zipping my pants I noticed that the pants seemed a little tight. They turned out to be a size 30 waist and I was a 32. Well I just sucked in and zipped up and ran out the door. 

I some how made it to the attraction on time and was immediately put into rotation. I worked for about 4 hours, and saw this guy a couple of times during that time. He gave no hint that he was mad about what had happened the night before. Well it was when I was in the unload position that he had his opportunity. I was standing at the dock, waiting for the next boat to come back from the jungle to unload, when I noticed his boat coming around the bend. As he approached the dock, he looked at me, suddenly his eyes lit up and he said loudly over the boats intercom, "Hey everybody, look at that!" He was pointing at my crotch. It was then that I looked down and notice my broken zipper, the gaping opening, and my white boxer shorts showing thru! The boat filled with laughter and I had to unload 30 laughing guests in that condition. He had gotten even after all. We both laughed later about both instances, and were good friends after that. But we still looked for chances to "get" each other whenever we could.

Adventureland Dave