The Disney World holiday decoration team that amazed us all with a Magic Kingdom transformation in just six hours has now been officially scolded. It didn’t come in the form of a written notice (as far as we’re aware), but rather in a symbolic gesture. The same crew behind the Reimagine Tomorrow and Story Matters Group initiatives — that have been checking Disney Parks for any culturally or racially insensitive material — are at it again, this time labeling spears on the Jungle Cruise ride as being offensive.
Each holiday season, The Magic Kingdom in Florida’s Disney World transforms the attraction Jungle Cruise into a Christmas-themed “Jingle Cruise”. The overlay comes with some new jokes and new facades. For one of the boats, the Christmas joke moniker was put back just like it had been last year. Only this time, the signage was just too offensive to be allowed to stay. The boat “Sleigh Ride Sadie” had featured a spear as a piece of its wood that held it together, but spears are apparently no longer appropriate despite nearly every single historical demographic having used spears throughout human development. Spears are still used in the modern world for some fishing techniques.
Image Courtesy: WDWNT.com
Well, within three days the sign had been removed from the boat and the original, non-holiday signage was fully restored. Whew, crisis averted!
The quick removal of the sign comes on the heels of a Jungle Cruise rework that saw concerned Imagineers consult zoologists because they didn’t want robotic monkey figures to be laughed at by guests. Instead, they wanted the robot monkeys to be something that guests laughed with. After all, laughing at monkey antics could be offensive to real monkeys. And no, that’s not parody… that’s real.
Almost all of this is driven by Carmen Smith, the Senior Vice President of Creative Development at Disney’s Imagineering. This is the same Imagineering group that has seemingly reached a breaking point with large numbers of resignations and retirements, as well as a petition to remove CEO Bob Chapek. Smith doesn’t really work on much in the way of creative development anymore, but instead works on a large number of social and cultural modifications to attractions and theme park experiences. While it’s never disclosed how many projects she has planned, she’s been outspoken about her desire to change Disney Parks. One of her famous quotes is that she wants everyone to feel “seen and heard” no matter their background while in the parks. A significant criticism has been that the changes won’t be seen nor heard by many groups because they’re being priced out of the experience due to runaway ticket price increases. On top of that, lower income families attending the parks are unable to enjoy the same fun as their more wealthy counterparts who can pay for line skips… a feature that was always free at Disney World.
LA Times Interviews Carmen Smith
When it comes to the Jungle Cruise, hopefully the magic isn’t being lost with holiday decor disappearing as soon as it was installed. After all, the Skippers who direct the attraction come each day with a desire to put a smile on the faces of each guest. So for at least one ride, it’s going to be hard to strip the fun away.
