Tales From The Jungle Crews

Skipper Greg Reilly means a lot to me. I mean, a lot a lot. He was my training buddy on the first time I started at the Jungle Cruise. (and your Training buddy is a really special thing.) Bonds are forged, brotherhood (and sisterhood) is cemented, and the experiences you have together are unique to the two of you. When I stub my toe, Greg feels it in Chicago, that's how close we are. This episode was a lot of fun, the first of two parts with Greg, and a great time catching up.

The rerun fun continues with the second half of our interview with Skipper Timothy Bernardi, as we discuss more about WDW and his roles in the past and present. (Yeah, there's not much of an exciting blurb for this... it's just more of a chat with a great guy.) Skipper Kyle

Early on in the podcast, we had a lot of trouble finding WDW Skips to interview. Part of that was my lack of technical knowledge in recording from Skype, but it was also just a network of people we had not been able to get in touch with. Skipper Timothy Bernardi, however, was a fan of the show, and he dropped in to Skype and shared his experiences in Orlando.  This was one of the episodes we nearly lost because of audio quality, but we had some great support and were able to figure out how to mix balance properly. I know that we had a lot of email feedback at the time for how bad it was, but I think the episode sounds great now...   

The first 2 years of our podcast had 39 episodes, and in that time we stretched our legs a lot to work on figuring out what we wanted to be about. This week's episode is one of my 2 favorite episodes from the first 2 years. (Outside of the Radio Plays, of course..)  My trip to the Walt Disney Family Museum was one of my first road trips with my lovely wife, and it was my first chance to experience this amazing place. I really didn't know what to expect going into this, but it was a total perception shifting experience for my feelings about Walt and the entire Disney company. As an enthusiast of the history of Disneyland, for the very special place that Walt Disney had in my life, and as a former Cast Member and Skipper... Well, this place just hit me on all levels. I was really proud to put together this "review" of my experience. It is one of the first times that I feel like the mature voice of the podcast emerged, but I also feel like it is an episode that I would not change a single word of...  I hope you guys are enjoying the recaps... Skipper Kyle

Hey Adventurers! This week we have the second half of our podcast interview with Skipper Jonathan Rushing, who infamously rang up an expensive parking ticket while we recorded his appearance. If you are both stylish and love the Jungle, we have a lot of new products available in our Skipper Store. Take a peek, if you have a moment. Even if you don't find anything that you want to buy right now, please feel free to give a "like" to any of the styles that interest you, so we can make sure we are putting up stuff that interests you. https://www.redbubble.com/people/junglecrews

Lots to say about this episode... This is the first part of an interview with Skipper Jonathan Rushing, who was one of a recent batch of Skips who had left the company after the podcast had just started. It was an interesting chance for me to catch up on what had happened in the Jungle in the 4 years since I had left, but it was also one of the first episodes where I was interviewing someone cold, with no prep or really knowing them. On top of that, the episode got it's name because Rushing had overstayed his parking meter, and it ended up costing him $55 for doing the episode. I enjoyed this one, and it sort of marked a shift in my interview style and tone of the episodes... 

Hey there, Adventurers! The parade of reruns continues. This week we revisit our chat with WDW Skips Alan Shankle and Johnny V. One of our very first Skype episodes, we loved having these chaps on the show. While we never were able to get as many WDW Skips as we liked on the show, these guys definitely shared the personality that they were known for, and we were thrilled to chat with so many of their co-workers on our last WDW trip in Feb 2017. Thanks for continuing down memory lane with us, and sorry about the late posting this week.

The one big take away from this episode is simple: Do not attempt to record podcasts in an outside location when a Harley Davidson convention decides to drive up the street. (We made it all sound amazing, but it was still a huge distraction.) Skipper Adam Tyler is a true gentleman. A sharp wit, and a great personality made him both great to work with and also an amazing Jungle Skip interview...

There are so many reasons I love this interview. First of all, Skippers Brittany and Jer met and fell in love on the Jungle Cruise. Secondly, they are both incredibly wonderful people and great friends. They were in town in December 2011, and we were able to catch up with them for a very special Valentine's Day episode of the podcast. Things are going well at the International offices of SkipCast Productions. Lots of behind the scenes stuff, including a LOT of new product over at our web-store at RedBubble. Swing over to http://Redbubble.com/people/JungleCrews to see all the goodies...  More big announcements soon!

The Reruns continue, as we go through our entire catalog of podcasts while we are on hiatus. This week is the second half of our time with Skipper Kipp, and Skipper Rex. We chat about holidays, Jungle Cruise, and we play a game that is one of our most famous moments of the entire podcast, where we ask random people "Prescription Drug, or Cirque Du Soleil Show"... Contestants have to identify whether the name we give them is a prescription drug, or one of those wacky French-Canadian circus shows. (I have seen this ripped off a couple of times after, so we must have done something right...)

So, it's a Holiday episode? In August? Well, we are running them in order, so these strange things were bound to happen. Skipper Kipp was, at the time of this taping, still a Skipper. Skipper Rex was not. So we had to pretend like Kipp wasn't Kipp... Of course, Kipp proved himself to be a true Skipper, and was late until 30 minutes into the episode.  Still, it is Kipp, so it's worth waiting for. Part 2 next week.

Once again we travel back 5 years, to the winter of 2012. It was a damn wet one, and I was still working out the kinks in the recording equipment. This episode was recorded in the rain, and it shows, But, still, I had a great time chatting with Skipper Ron Robledo, and going over his experiences in the Jungle and in Imagineering.  Also, just as a note; We discuss a lot of "Theoretical" projects, and general information regarding Imagineering and park plans and such. This is, on my part, pure speculation and just things I had heard over the years. It's not meant to be fact. Actually, if you've listened for all these episodes and think that I know what I am talking about in general, we're in trouble...

Wow, somehow I've not revisited this episode in 5 years. This is the second half of Joey and Trevor's last apparance on the Podcast, and it was the very first episode that my fiancee (at the time, now my wife) went along with me while I was recording. (Hence the title of the episode). It's so strange going back through and listening to Joey and Trevor now, after so long. Such great cats, I really miss the wild banter we had. For people who are new-er to the show, the first season and episodes like this were definitely before we found "Our voice" about what the podcast was about. It is an entertaining listen, but we don't delve into the depths of the Jungle Cruise experience the way we do in seasons 3 and on. Still, it's a fun bunch of guys, and a fun episode.

So, early on there were these episodes where we talked with people from the Jungle Cruise, but they didn't necessarily talk *about* the Jungle Cruise. Joey and Trevor are two of the most wonderful guys I know, and this episode was part of a crossover-ish thing with their Podcast (now dead) "Joey and Trevor Talk to Each Other". Still one of the more enjoyable podcasts to go back to listen to, and these guys are always a pleasure to hang out with.  Speakng of which, if you are around Anaheim on August 12th, 2017, we'll be at the Anaheim Brewing Company at 7pm for another round of "Skipper Standup". Come support our own Skipperette Jen Chavez, and a bunch of other great comedians and Skips. Kungaloosh!

This episode was recorded at our 1 year anniversary SkipGather in August, 2012. Now, the SkipGather was this thing where we'd hang out at Trader Sam's, and any skippers who showed up would just randomly record episodes with us. It was a lot of fun, and one of my fondest memories of the early days of the podcast. This episode, as about half of our episodes are, is not suited for the little skips in the audience. We may hit on a few adult tones, so, be warned. THis one has the explicit tag on it, but it's a lot of fun. I got to hang out with a few of my favorite people that night, and had a great time reminiscing about how I first reminisced about doing the podcast.