The jokes extend far beyond the Skipper script . The queue is full of funny signs and other visual gags . TOP AND RIGHT PHOTOS BY JUDD HELMS , BOTTOM PHOTO BY LAURIE SAPP
“ The Skippers , they make me laugh ,” Imagineer Carmen Smith shared on Behind the Attraction . “ They are great storytellers . It ’ s the magic of the Jungle Cruise experience .”
SO YOU WANNA BE A JUNGLE CRUISE SKIPPER ? As a lifelong visitor to Walt Disney World ( and a seasoned amusement park employee from his time at Kennywood just south of Pittsburgh ), Janosko felt he was up to the task of becoming a Jungle Cruise Skipper .
He secured a phone interview for the Disney College Program and , following Disney ’ s sage advice to take the call “ in a quiet area ,” Janosko climbed to the roof of a theater at his college . “ As I awaited the phone call from the Walt Disney Company , I noticed that it was a relatively nice day , and the reflective surface of the roof might give me a bit of color …” Janosko said . And with that , Janosko interviewed for his dream role while shirtless and grabbing some sun atop Thiel College ’ s Roth Hall .
“ Ever since I was a kid , one of my favorite WDW attractions was Jungle Cruise , and many ’ s the time I would think about what my spiel would be if I were a Skipper ,” Janosko told me . “ So I expressed my interest in the attractions department to my interviewer … I told her I really wanted to go to Jungle Cruise , Haunted Mansion , or the Great Movie Ride . She agreed that I would be perfect for any of those three , and weeks later , as I checked into the College Program at Vista Way , I learned that indeed I was to go to … Innoventions .”
But fear not , current and future Cast Members dreaming of becoming a Jungle Cruise Skipper ! There ’ s always hope . Janosko continued to push the issue , putting in for an extension when his program was about to end , and eventually he earned his khaki uniform and place on the river of adventure .
STICK TO THE SCRIPT Janosko ’ s Jungle Cruise training lasted five days . They focused a little on learning the land positions and controlling the boat (“ yes , we are actually driving them … to a degree !”), but the bulk of the training was on the sacred tome of Jungle Cruise : the joke book .
During Janosko ’ s time as a Skipper in the late 2000s , the approved spiel was called the SOP ( Standard Operating Procedures ), but Disney now calls it the OG ( Operating Guidelines ). The OG is “ quite a thick document , containing multiple jokes approved for each scene .”
And while Behind the Attraction promises there ’ s no ad-libbing on deck , “ real Skippers react to their crew in the moment , and unsanctioned jokes still occur ,” Janosko admitted . That said , “ Management asks that any new jokes be run by them first .”
But old habits die hard . Janosko grew up hearing jokes from Skippers past that he probably was not supposed to . “ My trainer had quite a challenge on his hands with me ,” Janosko remembered . “ During our training cruises around the river , I would tell jokes that I had picked up on