Radio Disney Cruise

The Radio Disney Cruise replaces the Discovery River Boats attraction at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Location: Disney's Animal Kingdom (now closed)
Height requirement: None
Ride: 20 minutes
Note: Guests may find the Radio Disney "broadcast" too commercial.

8/7/99 UPDATE: Readers report that the Radio Disney Cruise is now CLOSED and is not expected to re-open, due to unpopularity.

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PassPorter Travel Press, an imprint of MediaMarx, Inc.
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Radio Disney Cruise is currently circling the Animal Kingdom. What is it? First, a little history -- within a few months of the park's opening, Animal Kingdom had shut down the Discovery River Boats cruise attraction for re-theming. The near-universal consensus among park visitors was, "Bor-ring!" Well, the River Cruise is back, but not better than ever. It's still a simple cruise around Safari Village in large, covered river boats. Only now, instead of a lackluster narration by the boat's skipper, Radio Disney now "broadcasts" from atop the Tree of Life and blares loudly from the boats' speakers. DJs "Just Plain Mark" and Zippy deliver an upbeat patter with commerical overtones describing some of the sights seen along the way, interspersed with appropriate tunes from the Rock and Disney repertoires. Gone are the descriptions of the "dangers" of the river, probably because they could never measure-up to the Jungle Cruise over at the Magic Kingdom. Depending upon your feelings about the soundtrack, the ride may not seem quite as slow as it did before. But you still exit regretting that your boat didn't sink before you boarded it.

Reader Review

From Gene on 7/26/99
I was completely shocked that in the middle of what is likely the best zoo/theme park in the entire world, I was bombarded with a long winded commercial for Radio Disney.  We love Disney's Animal Kingdom and we like Radio Disney but they missed on the marriage big time. I suggested having Radio Disney playing in the queue line instead of blasting on the boat ride. I can't believe that Imagineers couldn't come up with a theme for a boat ride that circles amazing animals in the middle of a billion dollar ($750 million at opening) theme park. They attempted to create a party atmosphere but they missed the boat.  I sat next to a family and an older couple. The parents of the family were sick of the commercial hype of Disney and the boat ride pushed them to the limits. The older couple held their ears.  The entire experience was shameful. I'm concerned that people will wait in a long line (like we did) unaware that it might be a long Radio Disney commercial. Radio Disney plays loud and long during the entire voyage that most would compare to a commercial.