When news was breaking of a Jungle Cruise boat sinking at the Magic Kingdom, social media blew up in memes and comments regarding the incident. Given that the incident has gone viral, Disney has released an official statement regarding the sinking of a Jungle Cruise boat.
According to Laughing Place, a Disney spokesperson responded with the following statement regarding the incident:
“A boat took on some water. Reedy Creek Fire Department responded immediately to this event. Everyone got out of the boat safely. We worked with guests individually so that they could enjoy the rest of their day in the park. The attraction has reopened.”
The Bomokandi Bertha sank at approximately 12:30 PM, causing the ride to be shut down. The incident caused an interruption of 105 minutes, just enough time to unload the soaking passengers and tow away the sinking boat. The only other reported boat sinking for the Jungle Cruise was back in 2004, when the Sankuru Sadie sank after taking too much water, but was quickly returned to service.
Additional photos of the emergency unloading process were sent to us by a guest on a nearby boat. Guests had to be aided off the sinking vessel and onto dry land by Cast Members (and even other guests.) Everyone on the boat had to be evacuated onto the heavily vegetated, on-stage “jungle” part of the attraction due to their distance from the boat dock.
Do note that the boat affected is one of the two boats for the attraction that is equipped with wheelchair lifts, meaning until this boat is repaired, guests in wheelchairs looking to transfer onto the Jungle Cruise may see some longer waits.