Disney plucks 'Jungle Cruise' out of theme park

Posted Tuesday, May 18, 2004 at 5:02 PM Central

by John Couture

Once upon a time, major amusement parks (many of them owned by movie studios) created rides based on movies, now the opposite is gaining in popularity. With the huge success of Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion, it's no wonder that Michael Eisner is scouring Walt Disney World for his next big theatrical hit.

That next "theatrical hit" is said to Jungle Cruise, a campy guided boat ride through a jungle encountering wild animatronic beasts. Details on this new attraction-to-movie offering are slim at best, but Disney did confirm that it will be a period piece harkening back to their adventure films of yesteryear.

In other attraction-turned-movie news, Disney confirmed that they were moving ahead with two sequels to Pirates of the Caribbean. The Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and The Pirates of the Caribbean 3 will film back-to-back next Summer ala The Matrix sequels and will release 6 months apart in 2006.