We’ve been warning you that Walt Disney World is likely going to accelerate several simultaneous ride refurbishments and reimaginings, and now there’s another major project on the calendar for the post-summer season in Magic Kingdom. This share dates & details of the Jungle Cruise closure, plus what else to expect around the same timeframe in Magic Kingdom. (Updated July 12, 2024.)
Let’s start with the pertinent details. Walt Disney World has quietly added a closure of Jungle Cruise to the refurbishment calendar that’s slated to start on August 26, 2024. Although that’s technically still summer per the Farmer’s Almanac or season scientists or whatever, Walt Disney World’s summer essentially ends once the calendar turns to August. (I’d say the second week of August, if we want to get technical. Some point to Labor Day, but summer is long over by then–that’s Halloween season!)
At present, there is no reopening date for Jungle Cruise. If you look at the calendar on DisneyWorld.com, it’s still closed as of September 7, 2024. If you look at the calendar on My Disney Experience, Jungle Cruise is still closed as of September 17, 2024. Both dates are as far out as the respective calendars go (no clue why MDX goes further into the future, but whatever), which means that Jungle Cruise could be closed longer.
July 12, 2024 Update: A few days after the calendar was quietly updated, Walt Disney World has issued the following statement: “Beginning August 26, 2024, Jungle Cruise will temporarily close for refurbishment. The attraction is scheduled to reopen for Guests before the winter holidays begin at Walt Disney World.”
This is interesting since Jungle Cruise has been removed from both the Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party attraction lists. We don’t normally put too much stock into inclusions and omissions from these lists, as they’re notorious for “one hand not knowing what the other is doing” syndrome.
Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning. This could be the special events team erring on the side of caution until they have an official end date for the refurbishment. It could also be a matter of them having additional info that indicates Jungle Cruise won’t reopen in time for Party Season.
Walt Disney World’s announcement doesn’t bring complete clarity. Do the “winter holidays begin” with the first Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party, with the actual arrival of a holiday (Thanksgiving?), or somewhere in between. The bottom line is that we don’t know, but we wouldn’t be surprised if Jungle Cruise reopens around November 8, 2024. Maybe a few days before, maybe a few after. Jingle Cruise is still mentioned as a Magic Kingdom holiday offering, so I fully expect the attraction to reopen sometime before mid-November.
As you might recall, Jungle Cruise was reimagined a few years ago. In case not, the attraction remained open at Magic Kingdom during the reimagining, as Imagineering utilized a “phased approach” to the project. Basically, they removed and installed a bunch of stuff overnight–mostly monkeys.
The way the Jungle Cruise’s scenes are staged makes it more conducive to changes that can be accomplished overnight or in the span of a day or two. This is exactly how the annual Jingle Cruise overlay for Christmas works. It also helped, I guess, that a lot of “changes” to the Jungle Cruise were copious amounts of backstory and lore that were added for no particular purpose. Doesn’t take much doing to “install” backstory.
From my perspective, the end result with Jungle Cruise reimagining was a positive one. Those backstory details are peppered around the queue, and there for the discovery of guests. That’s an asset, as it gives guests something to engage in that previously basic and sometimes very long standby line.
You can uncover nuggets of information that illuminate and connect to other adventurous experiences, but are not the least bit necessary to enjoying the attraction. Or not. You can ignore them and don’t lose anything from the ride-through experience. The jokes are still funny (or not) and the animals are still there. Enjoyment doesn’t hinge on the backstory.
As for the ride itself, the big change to Jungle Cruise is that they added a plethora of primates. It might as well be called Jungle Cruise: Monkey Madness. I’m sorry, but if you dislike that, you’re distinctly unpatriotic. Monkeys doing ape antics are awesome, and that’s just a fact. For all of the hand-wringing about changing Jungle Cruise, the end result is basically just that–more monkeys. Other stuff did change for ‘contemporary audiences,’ but the big discernible thing is the monkeys. It was a big win for lovers of simian shenanigans, which should be everyone.
Given all of the changes that already occurred, I wouldn’t expect much to change with the show scenes in Jungle Cruise. They might be spruced up or enhanced in small ways with the addition of Easter Eggs and that sorta thing, but we probably aren’t getting project mapping or special night lighting a la the reimaging at Tokyo Disneyland from several years ago.
It’s our understanding that this is a routine refurbishment rather than a reimagining, with work needing to be done on underwater infrastructure as well as some of the facades and other elements of the attraction. I know that’s not as sexy or exciting as reimaginings, but this type of work is also very necessary to ensure reliability and longevity. (And who knows–maybe they’ll install a nicer lighting package–Jungle Cruise could use one!)
Now let’s turn to the other projects in Magic Kingdom and how these pieces of the puzzle fit together. As covered in our latest update to Magic Kingdom Ride Refurbishment Rumors Realities, Peter Pan’s Flight is now closed for refurbishment through August 20, 2024. The attraction is currently expected to reopen on August 21, 2024.
That was a very last-minute addition to the closure calendar by Walt Disney World standards, but construction permits for the work were filed two months before the closure was added to the calendar. Our suspicion was and is that Walt Disney World was waiting for other pieces of the puzzle–the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad closure timeline as well as Tiana’s Bayou Adventure opening and operating reliability–and was backed into this corner by those timeframes.
Speaking of which, there’s also a Big Thunder Mountain Railroad closure on the horizon. This has not been acknowledged by the company–meaning it’s neither announced nor added to the official calendar–but it is happening. Permits have been filed and it’s an open secret that the roller coaster is closing for roughly one-year.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad needs a significant refurbishment involving major work on the ride system and retracking. This long-planned project is viewed as preventative work that’s crucial to extend the useful life of the roller coaster, ensuring the ride’s longevity and operational status for decades to come. But unlike Jungle Cruise, we also expect some big “plussings” to occur to Big Thunder.
With the Jungle Cruise closure, we start seeing how these pieces of the puzzle fit together. Peter Pan’s Flight reopens, Jungle Cruise closes. Jungle Cruise reopens and, presumably, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad goes down for its long closure. As mentioned before, I wouldn’t be surprised if Walt Disney World tries to squeeze as many necessary closures in front of the the BTMRR closure as possible to avoid having other key attractions down during peak dates of the Big Thunder project.
I also wouldn’t rule out the possibility of overlap between the Jungle Cruise and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad refurbishments. September is historically the off-season, although the last couple of weeks will probably see spikes because of the ticket deals ending. (The thing is, whoever is doing Magic Kingdom scheduling probably is oblivious to that.)
Given all of this, I think it’s possible that BTMRR closes around mid-September and Jungle Cruise does not reopen until after that. It really depends upon how long each project is expected to take, and when Walt Disney World wants both operational.
This also explains Walt Disney World’s approach with Lightning Lane Multi Passes. I thought it was kind of weird that Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was a top tier selection, but now that kind of makes sense. There’s always going to be one tier 1 ride out of commission for the next year.
Regardless, this makes testing Lightning Lane Multi Pass in Magic Kingdom kind of a lost cause until Jungle Cruise reopens, as ‘results’ in late July through August won’t be representative of the following year when BTMRR is down. (Not only that, but Party Season throws a monkey wrench into things, anyway, so whatever you see for the remainder of this year won’t apply to 2025, anyway.)
Ultimately, it’s interesting that Peter Pan’s Flight, Jungle Cruise, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will all go down for extended closures (of varying degrees) in the coming months. As we’ve been saying for months now, we’d expect more reimaginings and refurbishments of this nature for a couple of reasons.
The first is that there was a lot of deferred maintenance and proportionately fewer closures in the last few years due to pent-up demand and budget cuts. So several attractions are overdue for refurbishments and will probably get them later this year or in 2025.
Second, the money spigot is about to be turned on for Parks & Resorts, allowing for more projects of this nature to (finally!) happen. Sure, it’s not as exciting as brand-new attractions–and many of you may lament more rides being closed during your vacation–but refurbishments are very much a necessity for maintaining appropriate attraction standards and ensuring that breakdowns don’t continue to happen at a more frequent rate. So here’s hoping we see more on this front!
From my perspective, it was the deferred maintenance that was bad–not the current and upcoming closures. Walt Disney World has extensive downtime and reliability woes in the last couple of years, and this is precisely why. That absolutely needs to be addressed, and this is the way that happens.
I’m somewhat sympathetic to Walt Disney World fan complaints about ride closures. It sucks when it happens on your trip, especially these closures that aren’t added to the schedule until the last minute. If you ask me, the announcement protocol is what needs to change, so people can plan accordingly, not the number of closures. (If anything, there need to be even more simultaneous refurbishments!)
I also know that Walt Disney World fans envy Tokyo Disney Resort and often ask why our parks can’t be like those, or why Disney doesn’t do things like OLC. Well, this is how OLC does things–here’s the current Tokyo Disney Resort refurbishment calendar. Spoiler: there are many, many more attraction closures on that list than at Walt Disney World. American fans cannot have it both ways–we can’t expect maintenance standards of Tokyo Disney Resort…without the closure calendar of Tokyo Disney Resort. That’s how maintenance gets done!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think about the ride refurbishments/reimaginings of Peter Pan’s Flight, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and now Jungle Cruise? Hope these classics are updated to ensure their longevity for decades to come? Do any attractions at Walt Disney World strike you as being prime candidates for ride reimaginings? Do you agree or disagree with our choices? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
