jungle cruise

A True-Life Jungle Cruise with National Geographic: The Nile River

By Justin Arthur and the National Geographic Image Collection

In celebration of the “gnu” excitement coming to the Jungle Cruise attractions at Disneyland Park and Walt Disney World Resort’s Magic Kingdom this summer, along with the Disney’s Jungle Cruise, in theaters and on Disney+ Premier Access on July 30, D23 is teaming up with the National Geographic Image Collection to explore some of the real-life rivers that have inspired Adventureland over the years! If you missed our adventures on the Mekong River or Congo River, be sure to check them out!

jungle cruise
Can you believe how tall those…trees are? A pair of giraffes peer over Walt Disney World’s Jungle Cruise, 1976.
Photo from the Walt Disney Archives Collection.

Our next photo safari takes us to the Nile River, which flows Niles and Niles and Niles from northeastern Africa into the Mediterranean Sea. In Adventureland, this river that snakes through jungles and deserts lends itself to “dry humor” and provides the perfect home to bellowing hippos, vast savannahs, and snapping crocodiles!

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Speak! Louder! A boat passes a mighty African elephant at Disneyland’s Jungle Cruise, August 1960.
Photo from the Walt Disney Archives Collection.
jungle cruise
Walt Disney and engineer Louis Francuz inspect the newly refurbished African Veldt portion of Disneyland’s Jungle Cruise, 1964.
Photo from the Walt Disney Archives Collection.

The National Geographic Image Collection archives began in 1919 as an illustration library and contains over 64.5 million still images dating back to the 1860s. The Image Collection is carefully preserved, curated, and digitized, with amazing photos from the pages of National Geographic magazine constantly added, making it one of the most significant photo collections in the world. D23 is pleased to partner with the expert team at the Image Collection to offer a glimpse into this vast archive and celebrate the Jungle Cruise!

jungle cruise
Feluccas, or traditional wooden sailing boats of the eastern Mediterranean, skim across the still waters of the upper Nile River, Egypt. Published in the November 1955 issue of National Geographic Magazine.
Photo by David Boyer/National Geographic Image Collection.

The real-world Nile is the longest river in the world, flowing about 4,132 miles from south to north. If you don’t believe that, you’re in de-Nile. Critical to the development of ancient Egypt, the river flows through ten other African countries, with its roots in the regions around Lake Victoria. People in the region have depended on it for water, agriculture, and transportation for millennia. Along with the ruins of ancient civilizations, a rich array of wildlife also calls this area home, including hippos, snakes, turtles, and, of course, the Nile crocodile. Explorers and adventurers alike have been inspired by this region for centuries, and remain so today, making it the perfect true-life Adventureland.

jungle cruise
A few miles west of the Nile River, silhouetted Bedouin camel riders pass before the Great Pyramids, Giza Egypt, 1980.
Photo by Gordon Gahan/National Geographic Image Collection.
jungle cruise
Never too full for desert, Americans sail along a byway of the Nile river, Egypt, c. 1964.
Photo by Winfield Parks/National Geographic Image Collection.
jungle cruise
The Great Sphinx at Giza, built nearly 4,500 years ago, along the west bank of the Nile, Egypt. Published in the May 1923 issue of National Geographic Magazine.
Photo by Kodak Ltd/National Geographic Image Collection.
jungle cruise
The ancient Egyptian Temple of Isis rises above the island of Philae, surrounded by the Nile River, Egypt. Published in the May 1906 issue of National Geographic Magazine. National Geographic Image Collection.
jungle cruise
Animals and people gather in an area near the meeting point of the Nile’s two main tributaries: the Blue Nile and White Nile, Khartoum, Sudan. Published in the May 1906 issue of National Geographic Magazine. National Geographic Image Collection.
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A pair of hippopotami show no regrets (but some egrets!) as they bathe in the Victoria Nile River, Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda, c. 1964.
Photo by Frank and Helen Schreider/National Geographic Image Collection.
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The upper section of the Nile River, the Victoria Nile thunders through 20-foot-wide rift and crashes into Murchison Falls, Uganda. Published in the November 1971 issue of National Geographic Magazine.
Photo by George F. Mobley/National Geographic Image Collection.
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A real stork in the mud. Wood storks stand along the shore of the Victoria Nile River, Uganda, c. 1971.
Photo by Joe Scherschel/National Geographic Image Collection.
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A silhouetted traveler rides a donkey past a minaret and palm trees at dawn, Nile Delta, Egypt. Published in the December 1966 issue of National Geographic Magazine.
Photo by Dean Conger/National Geographic Image Collection.
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Some familiar stripes appear as sailboat passes the colossi of Ramses II, Abu Simbel, Egypt. Published on the cover of the May 1965 issue of National Geographic Magazine.
Photo by Winfield Parks/National Geographic Image Collection.

Thanks for joining our true-life Jungle Cruise on the Nile River, and be sure to join us next week as we explore one final destination with National Geographic. As you exit, please don’t be confused by the dock on the left and dock on the right as you unload the boat—we call that a pair-a-dox!