Mekong Maiden

**The Mekong Maiden** is a boat from the *Jungle Cruise*.

## Description

The Mekong Maiden was a 1930s riverboat steamer. In the mid 1930s, the boat was wrecked in a Primate refuge along the Nile River in North Africa.

## History

### Background

#### Origins

The Mekong Maiden was a steamboat used by the Jungle Navigation Company in the 1930s and which docked at its boathouse in the Lost Delta of India. The boat was piloted by a skipper named Jack who around 1936, lost a shipment of Earl Grey tea when attacked by hippos in the Hippo Pool along the African veldt. Because of this, Jack was contacted by JNC client Sir Reginald before returning to the boathouse to play rummy with another skipper.

#### Disappearance

Around 1935/1936, the boat vanished alongside a JNC boat called the *Magdalena Maiden*. The skipper of the boat had departed with a map of the supernatural *Rivers of Adventure* originally made by skipper Frank Wolff and later altered by Alberta Falls for skipper usage. This disappearance coincided with a disastrous accident at the boathouse caused by skipper Skip Dockmonkey who denied responsibility. Due to how close the disappearance was to Jack's adventures along the African veldt, it is likely (though not known for sure) that Jack never made it back to base and was the skipper who was piloting the Mekong Maiden at the time.

The Mekong maiden turned up along primate refuge in the Nile river, somewhere in North Africa (likely Sudan or Egypt). The disappearances were a mystery to the public with one Skip Dockmonkey having written an article on the event for the Daily Gnus newspaper. By 1938, the wreck was taken over by a group of chimpanzees. This crew of primates was encountered by a JNC, "Jungle Cruise" tour after passing by the lost skipper and passengers of the *Kwango Kate* that was wrecked in a hippo pool nearby.

### Development history

The Magdalena Maiden was a boat at Disneyland's Jungle Cruise which was decommissioned in 1997 along with the Magdalena Maiden as part of a refurbishment. In 2021, the racist headhunter territory scene was replaced with the wrecked Magdalena Maiden. Here, the boat was taken over by several chimpanzees. In concept-art, the boat overtaken by the chimps would have been the Kwango Kate.

## Appearances

### Adventure Trading Company

In the Daily Gnus newspaper was an article by Skip Dockmonkey on the disappearances of the Mekong Maiden and Magdalena Maiden.

### Jungle Cruise

The Magdalena Maiden is encountered on the Nile river. In the queue, the boat is labelled as lost. Removed radio transmissions in the queue involved a skipper named Jack who piloted the boat. The updated Jungle Cruise poster features the Mekong Maiden being piloted by an unknown skipper.

#### Jungle River Cruise

The Mekong Maiden is still a functioning boat in this version of the attraction.

### Other connections

#### Jungle Cruise (film)

The map seen aboard the Mekong Maiden was originally made by Frank Wolff for the Jungle Navigation Company and Dr. Albert Falls.

## In other media

### Skipper Survival Guide

In this retconned story, the Mekong Maiden is said to have been wrecked on rocks on the August 16 of 1935 while going over Schweitzer Falls. A skipper named Lance died in the wreckage of the boat. This story erroneously refers to the Mekong Maiden as the, "**Mekong Miss**".

## Trivia

1. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=871455071077&set=oa.1903682069948046
2. ↑ https://dlnewstoday.com/2021/07/photos-new-jungle-cruise-poster-pays-homage-to-original-features-new-characters-at-disneyland/