Advice from the Adventurers Club

Daily Dose of Disney with Ray Keating – Episode #59: The Adventurers Club, Bears and Howe to Dress – A quote courtesy of the defunct Adventurer’s Club offers a way to handle good and bad times.

The “Daily Dose of Disney with Ray Keating” podcast serves up a Disney or Disney-related quote each day, with DisneyBizJournal’s Ray Keating offering brief, additional thoughts on how each dose ties in to life, career, business, entrepreneurship, creativity, storytelling, work, or just plain fun.

Jungle Cruise to Get Enhanced Storylines and Updates

 by Beth Keating

News/Commentary

DisneyBizJournal.com

January 25, 2021

 

Kungaloosh, Adventurers!  Have we got some news for you today! 

 

I’m sure you’ve all been on the Jungle Cruise when one of your fellow travelers was kindly sharing the punchlines to the Skipper’s jokes before the Skipper got there. As one of Disney’s classic Opening Day attractions on both coasts, and one of the parks’ most beloved attractions, the Jungle Cruise has spawned a legion of devoted fans. They have memorized the script, and know exactly when they will be stunned by the appearance of “the BACKSIDE of WATER!”

Today, Disney has a surprise for all the wanna-be Skippers in the audience.  The Jungle Cruise will be getting some updates, as well as enhanced storylines. As an added perk, the changes will have the input of the Skippers themselves during the process. While there will be new scenes along the way, the quips and their Skippers will still be guiding visitors along. 

 

The Disney Parks Blog announced, “Today, we’re excited to share that we are building on the story of the Jungle Cruise at both Disneyland park at Disneyland Resort and Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World Resort to include new adventures that stay true to the experience we know and love – more humor, wildlife and skipper heart – and also reflect and value the diversity of the world around us.”

 

In today’s blog, they’ve also posted a “transmission” from Imagineer and former Jungle Cruise skipper Kevin Lively, who shares a few of the details guests can expect to see during the refurb. His remarks are followed by reactions from some current Skippers who got a sneak peek at the upcoming changes.

 

In his message to viewers, Lively explains, “As part of this story update, we’ll get to follow a skipper and his passengers as their journey goes awry. That’s right, for the first time ever, the skipper role will not only be that of a live, experienced and witty guide, but also represented by a show figure within the attraction itself.” 

 

The changes to the show are expected to take place later this year, and will be reflected at both Disney World and Disneyland California. Long time Disney guests who remember the boats Mekong Maiden and Kwango Kate will see these defunct vessels reappear in new show scenes. 

 

The much-loved Jungle Cruise is one of those attractions whose devotion has generated a Christmas version – the Jingle Cruise – and also birthed its own restaurant filled with off-duty Skippers who bring their special brand of cornball humor to the dining establishment.  (See our dining review here.)

 

The Jungle Navigation Co. Ltd. Skipper Canteen is a really big name for an off-shoot of the puns and backstories that populate the Jungle Cruise, and was opened by Alberta Falls, the granddaughter of famed Jungle Cruise persona, Dr. Albert…Falls. But it is so much more for Disney fans in the know, because, as is the case with the Jungle Cruise itself, there are a multitude of tie-ins to the original Adventurers Club at Pleasure Island, founded by Merriweather Adam Pleasure. The secret meeting room at the Skipper Canteen is known as the S.E.A. Room—the meeting place for the Society of Explorers and Adventurers. Even the bookcase in the Skipper Canteen is filled with little nods to Disney’s history, the Jungle Cruise, and the Adventurers Club backstory. (Sadly, the Adventurers Club closed in 2008, but its mythos lives on in the hearts of its fans, and in Disney lore.) The live-action Jungle Cruise movie starring Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson is also due out this coming summer.  (Hmmm, could that be when the changes will debut?)

 

As a Jungle Cruise fan, I’m excited to see what the new storyline will bring. The Disney Imagineers who are writing the script are no slouches when it comes to hiding Easter Eggs in their storylines and attractions, and Jungle Cruise will hopefully continue to enchant us with its off-beat and witty humor.

 

__________

 

Beth Keating is a regular contributor to DisneyBizJournal.

 

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Anyone Remember the Neon Armadillo?

by Beth Keating

Feature Story

DisneyBizJournal.com

April 3, 2020

My husband and I are fans of country music, so perhaps it is no surprise that we have an odd assortment of boot shaped glasses in our cabinet. Last week, as I was weeding out the overflowing drinkware cabinet (coronavirus quarantine will force you to do things like that), I came across a glass tucked away in the back that I had forgotten about.  The logo was for the Neon Armadillo. Anybody remember that particular hot spot? I’m dating myself again, aren’t I?

Back when Disney Springs was still the rocking place known as Pleasure Island, with its nightly New Year’s Eve fireworks celebration and countdown to midnight, the terrain was lined with clubs and unique shopping venues of differing genres. According to the Imagineers’ elaborate lore, Pleasure Island was once the home to explorer Merriweather Pleasure. Historical markers throughout the complex attributed the various buildings to uses for Merriweather’s former canvas manufacturing and sail making industry. Merriweather disappeared, presumed dead, during a sea adventure, and the property passed to his inept sons, who led the business into bankruptcy. After years in ruin, the site was rescued as “Pleasure Island,” a “living monument” to Merriweather, who was known for his love of fun times. 

A Comedy Warehouse; the multi-level Mannequins with its revolving, light up dance floor; the Rock n Roll Beach Club (formerly a roller rink dance club – who knew such a thing was possible, right?); and restaurants like the Empress Lilly, housed on a “steamboat,” brought the reclaimed island to life. By far our favorite Pleasure Island hangout, though, was The Adventurers Club, with its cast of quirky actors who embodied the Society of Explorers and Adventurers (S.E.A).  The Neon Armadillo Music Saloon was the neighbor to The Adventurers Club, and it opened on May 1, 1989, and closed in 1998. It then became the BET Soundstage Club, which itself eventually closed in 2008. You wouldn’t recognize the spot now with its transformation to The Landing section of Disney Springs.

The Neon Armadillo’s backstory was that it had originally been built in 1927 to serve as the greenhouse for Merriweather Pleasure’s exotic plants collection, and in the down years after Merriweather’s death and the destruction of the island by Hurricane Connie, the place had been overrun by a family of armadillos. Now brought back to use as a country-western music venue, it was decorated in southwestern style and populated by denizens in scuffed boots, spangled fringe jackets, and black cowboy hats. Line dancing was the activity du jour, featuring live bands. On the nights we were there, it was often standing room only, as the music was good and the dancers fun to watch. (Hubby wouldn’t be caught dead on the dance floor, however.)  Mullet hair was prevalent (“Business in the front and party in the back”), and I’m pretty sure we heard more than a few renditions of “Achy Breaky Heart,” “Boot Scootin’ Boogie,” and “God Blessed Texas.” 

The club also hosted a variety of dance contests, and even taped a Countdown at the Neon Armadillo TV show featuring big name and up-and-coming country music stars performing live as they showcased Billboard’s Top 10 hits each week.

I’m glad I dropped the $8.95 on this kitschy mug back in the day (the price tag was still on the bottom of the glass). It was a fun reminder of the high energy vibe at Pleasure Island.  Kind of miss that ole place.

Beth Keating is a regular contributor to DisneyBizJournal.