DIY: Make Your Own Jungle Cruise Playhouse

I’m not a big fan of the Jungle Cruise. I get so irritated by the “native” stereotypes that I can’t sit back and enjoy the cheezy audio-animatronics or the hokey patter from the tour guide.

Nonetheless, my hat is off to madhatter1138, who not only made this super-nifty playhouse for his daughters, but documented the whole process on Instructables! How cool is that? Now that‘s dedication. And hey, is it just me or does his name make you think he’s not only a Disney fan, but also a student of early George Lucas’ films?

Hat tip: BoingBoing.

Chow Yun Fat Visits Hong Kong Disneyland for Pirate Takeover

PRN Newswire just sent out a press release about Chow Yun Fat’s recent trip to Hong Kong Disneyland (all pictures and quoted text here copyright PRN Newswire).

Chow Yun Fat, who plays the pirate Sao Feng in the upcoming movie Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World’s End, visited Hong Kong Disneyland to experience the totally new Pirate Takeover. Chow and his wife took photos with Pirate Mickey, Goofy and Pluto. From May 4 to June 30, 2007, Adventureland will be transformed into Pirateland and guests will have a totally immersive and interactive fresh new experience at Pirate Takeover!

Oh. My. God. Pirate Takeover! And, um, is it just me or does that sound just a tad more adult than they might have intended?

How badly do I want replicas of the flags they’re flying over the bridge? (Come to think of it, how badly do I want to visit Hong Kong Disneyland? Well, apparently not badly enough to have booked flights or anything, but give a girl a break, there’s only so many frequent flier miles in my account!)

In Adventureland, now Pirateland, flanked by two rowdy pirates, Chow Yun Fat and his wife prepared to hop on board the Jungle River Cruise, Pirate Takeover! to discover the traces left by pirates along the exciting journey. From May 4 to June 30, 2007, Adventureland will be transformed into Pirateland and guests will have a totally immersive and interactive fresh new experience at Pirate Takeover!

Okay, I’m not much of a Jungle Cruise fan to begin with. Racist stereotypes, anyone? Poorly updated animatronics? But a good Skipper can make the ride more than worthwhile. Dress that skipper up in pirate garb and you might just get me to ride again.

Chow Yun Fat smiled delightfully as he discovered the movie props he had used from the blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World’s End, which Captain Jack Sparrow had nicely agreed to showcase at Professor Porter’s Trading Post. From May 4 to June 30, 2007, Adventureland will be transformed into Pirateland and guests will have a totally immersive and interactive fresh new experience at Pirate Takeover!

Captain Jack Sparrow nicely agreeing to anything? Hold your tongue, mister. Nobody talks about Captain Jack that way.

Since filming Pirates of the Caribbean 3 : At World’s End, it was the first time that Chow Yun Fat met up again with Captain Jack Sparrow at Pirateland, Hong Kong Disneyland! From May 4 to June 30, 2007, Adventureland will be transformed into Pirateland and guests will have a totally immersive and interactive fresh new experience at Pirate Takeover!.

Jungle Cruise Skippers Gone Wild

This just in from Mr Broke Hoedown . . . Round 4 of the Maverick Stand Up Jungle Cruise Skipper night will be held March 18, in Fullerton California.

We caught the story on BoingBoing, and full details are available at Maverick Standup.

Of course I’m immediately tempted to book a quick trip to Fullerton. If it were baseball season I might just give in, as long as the Fullerton Flyers had a home game that weekend.