Credit: DisneyA popular Disney ride looked a little bit different this week, with guests reporting Disneyland Resort cast members in hazmat suits and red waters flooding through Jungle Cruise.
Jungle Cruise is one of Disneyland’s most iconic attractions, opening with the park on July 17, 1955. Inspired by the adventure films of the early 20th century and the True-Life Adventure documentaries produced by Walt Disney himself, the ride – which was previously known as Jungle River Cruise takes guests on a guided river expedition through the jungles of Asia, Africa, and South America.
Originally designed as a more serious exploration of exotic wildlife, the attraction evolved into a lighthearted experience pack with Audio-Animatronic animals, plus skippers delivering scripted jokes and puns. The latter has become a defining feature of the ride. Nowadays, it’s truly the skippers who make (or break) the ride, with the right cast member elevating its decades-old script.
Over the years, updates have modernized the ride while keeping its classic charm intact. In 2021, Disney reimagined certain elements to remove outdated cultural depictions, introducing a more inclusive storyline while retaining the beloved humor and adventure that have made Jungle Cruise a fan favorite for decades.
Additional versions of Jungle Cruise have also opened at other Disney parks across the globe, including Magic Kingdom Park, Tokyo Disneyland (where it was reworked and renamed Jungle Cruise: Wildlife Expeditions in 2014), and Hong Kong Disneyland (where it features its own unique storyline).
In the eyes of many Disney purists, the version at Disneyland Park is far superior. However, this week it looked a little different than usual.
Jungle Cruise Goes Red
One guest shared an image of the attraction’s suspicious state on Reddit.
As one parkgoer noted, the water of Jungle Cruise looked concerningly more red than usual this week. “Something is going on at Jungle Cruise,” they wrote. “Skippers dressed in Hazmat suits and the water is purple/pink.”
The Real Reason Jungle Cruise Changes Color
While it may look a bit like one diehard Disneyland fan took their gender reveal too far or the ride’s leaping piranha managed to get their jaws on an unsuspecting guest, we can confirm that the reality is much more boring. The same thing happened back in 2022 when Disney told The Orange County Register that it was the result of a standard water treatment process and that no guests were aboard the ride at the time.
Jungle Cruise reportedly wasn’t the only body of water to go pink at the time, with Disney seemingly treating multiple areas of the park at once. As per Disney, the process only lasts a few hours, with water soon returning to its normal hue, and guests are once again allowed to board water-based attractions.
As per one Reddit user, Jungle Cruise is cleaned once every three years. The guest who shared the image claimed to have been told that the cleaning was unscheduled and was instead due to a sewage leak, but this is unconfirmed.
Have you ever spotted the Jungle Cruise change color?