Good evening, passengers, and welcome aboard the Midnight Monorail.

Tonight’s journey features a very special guest…A former Jungle Cruise skipper from Walt Disney World—Meaghan, who’s spent more time navigating the wild than most of us ever will. Our next stop is just ahead, so keep an eye out… you never quite know what you’ll find after dark.

We are now arriving at Trader Sam’s Outpost.

And as always please stand clear of the doors.
Por favor manténgase alejado de las puertas.

Do you remember the first time you went to a Disney park? What was that experience like for you?

SM: “My first trip was in 1997, and I remember absolutely loving the 25th anniversary cake castle. When I went back again, and it was a regular castle, I was a little disappointed.”

What is your favorite Disney/Pixar Movie and why?

SM: The Lion King has been my favorite since I was little. It’s been my favorite for so long, I can’t even come up with a valid reason why other than I love it. I grew up with it. The music is obviously amazing, the characters are played by amazing actors, and any time I see it on, I will watch it. Honorable mentions are Tangled and The Emperor’s New Groove.

What is your favorite Disney/Pixar character?

SM: “Oh gosh, this is the hardest question. Overall, it’s probably Winnie the Pooh; he’s always been a comfort character for me. Stitch has been a favorite since 2002, but he’s become so popular lately that it makes me not want to admit it.” Meaghan laughs, “Snow is my favorite princess because she’s so sweet and loves animals. Alice is another long-time favorite – “I give myself very good advice, but I very seldom follow it” is one of my favorite Disney quotes.

What were your feelings about the live-action Jungle Cruise movie with actor Dwayne Johnson and actress Emily Blunt?

SM: “It was cute. When I initially watched it, I ranked it 7.5/10 Dole Whips. I loved that some of the actual Jungle jokes made it into the movie, and the fact that there were so many little nods to the ride. I also really enjoyed the scenery/setting, and the costumes were amazing, but oh my goodness, why was everyone wearing white in the jungle?”

Ladies and Gentlemen, we are now approaching the world-famous Jungle Cruise… home to exotic wildlife, questionable navigation choices, and skippers who just refuse to skip a pun.

When did you know you wanted to work for Disney World?

SM: “I actually applied for the college program at the very last minute. My little sister was the one who originally was interested, and when they came to my university for the information session, I didn’t even know about it until about an hour before. Once I went and heard about it, though, I really wanted to get in.

Did you get your dream job from the get-go?

SM: “No,” Meaghan laughs, “People always say that Jungle Cruise Skipper is the most desired job at Disney, but I didn’t want it initially. I was devastated to not be a Haunted Mansion maid, but now I’m so glad I got assigned to Jungle!”

What did training involve for your job as a skipper?

SM: “The first thing is safety, always. We had to do some reading and tests that cover the operations and safety protocols before we even started learning the script.” Meaghan tells us, “Once we did the book-learning, then we worked on each land position in the rotation (greeter, loading, unloading, ADA assist, etc.) and finally got onto boats with nobody loaded on. We did lots of ride-throughs with no talking, just practicing starting/stopping the boat, holding it steady, and driving through the Jungle to practice the timing. After all of that, we had several days of practicing the spiel with no guests, and once our trainer thought we were ready, a manager would ride the boat to assess whether we were ready to be official.”

Do you remember your first shift as a Jungle Cruise skipper?

SM: “My first actual shift was one of the safety days - we had to walk through the whole park so we wore the PAC penguin suits because that’s one of the only costumes that’s allowed in all lands, and the pants I got from costuming were SO TIGHT I barely remember anything except having to lean back in the computer chair while I did my safety test because I couldn’t breathe sitting upright.”

Folks, as we cruise along, you might notice boats below narrowly escaping danger… don’t worry, that’s all part of the highly ‘planned’ itinerary.

How do you learn the famous Jungle Cruise script?

SM: “The boring answer is: lots of practice. They give you a print-out of all the approved jokes and facts broken down by section of the attraction: everything from queue jokes to unload jokes.” Meaghan explains. “You don’t have to use all of the jokes; you just pick which ones you like for each area and mic and match to make your spiel.”

Can you add your own jokes if approved by Disney?

SM: “The short, official answer is no, you’re not supposed to make your own jokes. The goal is for every guest to have a similar experience, so if you have someone who is a natural comedian and guests love their boat, and then they come to mine, and I can’t adlib to save my life, that would not be a great guest experience. Having said that, some people definitely bend that rule and just hope they don’t get caught.

What’s the best guest reaction you have ever gotten from a joke?

SM: “I had a very deadpan delivery style on my boats, and the person who told me I was like a female Ryan Reynolds was probably my favorite reaction.”

Have you ever had a joke completely flop? How did you save it?

SM: “Because I used pretty much the same spiel for every cruise, there wasn’t ever really one joke that didn’t land. But there were definitely bad boats where you had groups of people who were totally not into the puns and cheesy fun of the Jungle Cruise. I never took it personally. Some people just are not into dad jokes and that’s fine, but I did try my best to make sure that anyone coming to the Jungle Cruise for the first time knew what they were getting into and could leave if it wasn’t their jam.”

Courtesy of Skipper Meaghan || Last day of training (I still had my red ‘Earning My Ears’ training flag on my nametag)

What’s the most chaotic or unexpected moment you’ve had as skipper?

SM: “The most unexpected moment is probably one of my most-told stories, and that is the Norway perfume story. I wore (and still do sometimes wear) the Geir Ness perfume, Laila, which is sold in the Norway pavilion in EPCOT. One day when I was unloading my Skipper friend, Michael’s boat, he had a bunch of guys riding that were doing the cultural representative program and were from Norway. He told them I wore their perfume and they should sniff me – and they did. All five of them in a row as they got off the boat, gave a good long whiff of my neck.

As we drift deeper into the jungle, you may hear distant sounds echoing through the trees… those could be exotic wildlife—or guests braving Pirates of the Caribbean next door. Honestly, it’s hard to tell.

What is the best part about being a skipper, and what is the worst part?

SM: “The best part was definitely my coworkers. If Cast Members look like they’re just having so much fun, it’s because most of the time they are. My Skipper friends were and are some of my very best friends. The worst part about the Jungle was probably working in the rain. If there’s no lightning, you’re out in the rain, and if it rains for your entire 12-hour shift, you’re pretty wet.”

Do you have a favorite Jungle Cruise joke or pun?

SM: “My favorite joke of all time is the plants moment, not everyone does it, but I still think it’s hilarious when a Skipper says they want to take a moment to point out their favorite plants, and they just point and say, ‘that one, that one, and that one.’ ”

Which part of the ride is your favorite?

SM: “For guest interactions, I always loved the end of the ride from Trader Sams up to the dock because that was when you got to chat with guests and have a little more freedom in what you said while you waited to unload. For just the visuals, I really like the Indian Elephant bathing pool and the Hippo pool. And a little niche, but the soundtrack in the temple is also super nostalgic for me because that was the only part of the ride where I didn’t talk, so I could hear the sounds.”

What do you prefer, the Jungle Cruise during the day or during the night?

SM: “Night, always night. Or early in the morning, but never ever ever in the middle of the day. The lines are shorter at night, the skippers are not hot, so they’re more animated, you can see everything just as well as during the day, and it’s just more fun in my opinion.”

Would you ever go back and reprise your role as a Jungle Cruise Skipper?

SM: “Absolutely! I can be packed and ready to go in a week. Put me in coach!”

Is there a detail on the ride that no one or not many guests see or recognize? What is it?

SM: “I’m not sure how obvious it is, but I always thought it was cool that the waterfalls are used to mix dye into the river, like in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, in order to get that murky, muddy jungle water look.”

Do you develop a “persona” as a skipper, or were you yourself?

SM: “I knew people who had a specific persona, but if you got Skipper Meaghan, you pretty much had me.” Meaghan says. “I’m not naturally an over-the-top, super animated person, so that was how I delivered my spiel. The only real difference is Skippers, as a general rule are kind of sarcastic, and the job is to poke fun at people sometimes. And that part of the personality is way outside of my normal – I’m a very quiet, shy, non-confrontational person in real life.”

Do you see the ride differently now than before you worked as a skipper? How so?

SM: “Definitely. One thing that stands out to me is that, as a guest, I thought that the Skippers all had their own boat (and when I was younger, I thought the names on the boats were the Skippers’ names). I remember having Skipper Ian one time (he’s kind of a legend - you should look him up if you’ve never seen his spiel) and looked for “his boat” the next few times I went. Now I know that the boat names are just the boat names, and every Skipper gets on all boats.”

This concludes our journey through the Jungle where the rivers stretch on for niles, and niles, and niles. Please do not depart until the Monorail comes to a complete stop. Thank you for riding with us tonight and we’ll see you again next time on The Midnight Monorail.

I would like to personally thank Skipper Meaghan for hopping aboard and sharing about her time working as a Skipper on the world-famous Jungle Cruise. If you want to hear more stories from Skipper Meaghan herself, subscribe to her on YouTube HERE.

Jungle Cruise Skipper, Meaghan

The Midnight Monorail