Three Hour Cruise Meal?

Hello my fellow Utilidorians. So D23 just happened and I am not gonna speak of the obvious. I am going to speak of the most hidden in plain site construction ever. The brand-new Jungle Navigation Co., Ltd. Skipper Canteen will be coming to Adventureland. I have been hearing scuttlebutt about this since mid last year but nothing anywhere else. I listen to a lot of the Disney podcasts and read many a blog but nothing. Thus I put this jungle cruise restaurant in the rumor files.

Photo Courtesey of widenyourworld.com

On my first trip in January to the Kingdom this year we went by the old Veranda building and all was fine on the Friday, we came back by it Sunday and walls had sprouted up all around the Veranda, but still nothing. Then in the Spring with the swap of Sunshine Tree Terrace and Aloha Isle which everybody thought was a way to decongest the area for foot traffic it started fluttering again.  It was for decongestion but not for foot traffic it was a measure to alleviate traffic in front of a new restaurant’s entrances and exits. Still only chatterings but no definites on the Restaurant. Lots of speculation, a long talked about Pirates Jack Sparrow eatery, maybe a Trader Sam’s inside the park, but no real answer. By our latest trip in July still nothing but you could see the construction from the bridge to Adventureland and Liberty Square.

At this point I decided to see the incarnations of the Veranda. The Adventureland Veranda opened October 1st 1971 with no sponsor. It was sponsored by Kikkoman from 1977 to 1994 for Lunch and Dinner and as the 1975 guidebook said it served "Fried chicken, hot sandwiches and soft drinks in a Polynesian setting."  It changed food themes many times over its 23 years from burgers to Asian inspired foods but after losing sponsor it closed its doors in 1994 and sat relatively untouched since then. Depending on one's vantage point and level of interest, this building looks anything  from Carribean to African.  It is a great example of how Disney masks it buildings to look as distant locales and, in turn, make you feel like you are on an adventure.  Inside, the furniture was also a mashup, with dark wooden paneling, earth-colored tile floors, high ceilings braced by ornate rafters and flowery brass chandeliers.

After it closed the building sat dormant opening during busy seasons for sitting and an area was also set up for Captain Jack Sparrow and the Fairies and their leader Tinkerbell until she was sent off to Town Square. So at D23 they announced the new Restaurant which looks like a cross between adventurers club, the Polynesian Resort and the upcoming Jock Lindey’s. I am also wondering during their counter service Lunch and sit down Dinner what “World Famous Jungle Cuisine” is? Don’t know what it is but can’t wait to taste it. My only other thing to say in closing is, could Disney not come up with a better mock up than that? I mean we have a huge Pandora landscape model where you can see basically trees rocks and a giant blue planet, but the restaurant get a sepia colored picture of the building with a caricature of skippers and people in front. Well that’s just my opinion. Guess it’s that time again and I will talk to ya next time.