Jungle Cruise Skippers Fired

Re “Disney Not Amused by Jungle Skippers’ Unscripted Jokes,” Oct. 13: This summer our 11-year-old grandson from Pennsylvania visited us and of course we went to Disneyland with his two California cousins and their mother. One of the highlights of the day was supposed to be the Jungle Cruise ride, which our out-of-town grandson was anxious to experience because his father had been a tour guide during the late ‘70s. (It was a plum job, much sought after at the time.)

Our guide not only did not stick to the script, but was obnoxious and rude. His remarks were snide and “bit the hand that fed him,” Disneyland, complaining about his hours, pay and benefits as part of a supposedly funny dialogue. If the other ride operators on this beloved cruise are as nasty as he was, they should all be fired. As you can tell, I was mad!

BETTY CONNELLY

Santa Ana

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I captained the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland, 30 years ago, at the very cusp of the Age of Aquarius. And I, too, was fired from the job for departing from the official script. In April 1967 I was suspended from my freshman year at the University of Redlands for being part of a student group that challenged a long-standing university policy prohibiting communists from speaking on campus: We invited Bettina Aptheker to address our student body.

Suddenly without classes to attend, I did what any native Southern California kid would do: I went to work for the Magic Kingdom. And I was a natural. I was Congo Chris. I took to the rudder like a hippo to the mud baths. But the officially sanctioned spiel needed doctoring. Everyone did it, and none more gleefully than I. We all knew this was frowned upon by management, but we felt safe: We knew that the management spies were the only passengers on our boat wearing suits. Nonetheless, after four months I got fired.

My offense? At the end of the ride we had to advise our passengers on how to depart from the boat. “Those on the left, please exit through the front,” we would say. “Those on the right, exit through the rear.” Then I would add, “And those on LSD, just float right out the windows.”

CHRIS GRIFFIN

Palm Springs