Authors: Leslie Le Mon
Even before the 1987 launch of
Star Tours
,
Lucas
had creative connections to
Disneyland
. Oscar winner
Ben Burtt
, a staff member at
Lucas
’
Skywalker Sound
and the Sound Designer for
Raiders
,
Doom
, and
Crusade
, took a team to
Disneyland
after hours in the early 1980’s to record the sounds of the
Disneyland
roller coasters without music and without sound effects or ambient noise. The raw coaster sounds became the aural foundation for the mine car chase in
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
.
The mine car chase was in fact
inspired by roller coasters like
Disneyland
’s
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
. Although planned for the first
Indy
film (
Raiders
), the mine car chase was put off until the second movie (
Doom
) because
Raiders
was already bursting at the seams with elaborate set pieces. (Another bit of
Doom
trivia: The script’s original title was
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Death
.)
Star Tours
is an exhilarating experience–especially the 3D reboot that opened in June 2011–and so is the completely immersive dark thrill ride
Indiana Jones Adventure
.
One of the reasons that the
Indiana Jones Adventure
succeeds so well is that Guests are drawn slowly and completely into another time period (1936) and place (the
Lost Temple of the Forbidden Eye
). After entering the jungle, Guests pass slowly through an archeologists’ camp, which is peppered with clues to the adventure. Period music plays with a haunting, scratchy vinyl sound. Dense foliage, old gas cans, weathered tools and ladders, rusted implements, and the crumbling exterior of the temple itself, all serve to transport you into the illusion of a pre-WWII archeological dig.
Once you enter the temple,
you and your companions find yourselves navigating literally hundreds of yards of ruins and caves. There was a time in the planning process when, as with
Haunted Mansion
and
Pirates of the Caribbean
, it was possible that the
Indiana Jones
attraction might’ve been a walk-through. This lengthy, unnerving promenade is the residue of that concept.
Guests are sent into the temple in small clusters, so you and your companions will feel relatively isolated at first.
Electricity, of a sort, has been installed, lines of bare bulbs that flicker and go out periodically, as if powered by a stuttering, unreliable generator. There’s a deafening hush, punctuated by the music of water dripping on stone and the occasional chirp of bats. Beware of bats, by the way. And descending spikes! And those diamond shaped paving stones!
Periodically you’ll see words carved into the stone, words written in what appears to be an ancient or even alien language. Called
Marabic
or
Maraglyphics
, it’s the creation of
Imagineer Chuck Ballew
and it’s closer to English than it seems at first glance. See if you can decipher it. One hint: keep in mind that old maxim about “an eye for an eye”. And look for
Mickey Mouse
’s initials—the
Maraglyphic
version of “M.M.”—near a water fountain.
As you make your way through the corridors and caverns, between the columns of misty light slanting down from root-encrusted, crumbling holes in the ceilings, be sure to touch everything. Touch the idols, the statues, the stalactites and stalagmites, step on those diamond-shaped
stones and pull that warped looking bamboo support and that rope that has a sign clearly forbidding anyone to touch it. From the imaginations of
Lucas
and the
Imagineers
sprang one of the most exciting, eerie, and unnerving
interactive
queues in the park. Enjoy it. Play!
By the time you reach the temple’s great rotunda, with its enormous painted images of
Mara
and its web of ladders and scaffolding, the incredible artistry, period detail, and sound effects will have you feeling as if you’ve truly stepped into an adventure in the world of
Indiana Jones
.
All Guests must view a safety film prior to boarding
. To keep the safety spiel from jolting Guests out of their suspension of disbelief, it’s presented as a series of period newsreels and a greeting and warning from guide
Sallah
.
John Rhys-Davies
played the loyal
Sallah
in the first and third
Indiana Jones
films. Younger Guests might recognize
Rhys-Davies
as Gimli, the dwarf from Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” Trilogy.
The
brief, flickering safety films are projected in a cavernous room via an old-time movie projector. If you look up, you’ll see the projector’s shadow—although, of course, like so much at
Disneyland
, this is an illusion. (
Disneyland
wouldn’t really rely on an ancient projector to show its safety films.) The films give Guests the back story they need:
Dr. Jones
(and a whole lot of tourists) have vanished inside
The Temple of The Forbidden Eye
, during their quests for visions, treasure, and eternal youth. Expect your ride to be bumpy, even if it’s not fatal. Stow your gear, buckle up, and for heaven’s sake, don’t look into the eyes of the
Mara
idol!
After viewing the film, knots of Guests are herded
deeper into the mysterious temple. Helpful tip: when you have a choice of ascending two parallel sets of stairs, pick the one with fewer Guests. If both stairs are open, both are fair game. Often Guests seeing an empty or sparse line don’t get into it. That’s
your
opportunity for a shorter wait! Just be sure everyone in your party ascends the
same
staircase or you’ll be boarding different jeeps in different loading zones.
You’ll cross a bridge
decorated with more of the ubiquitous treasures, casks, and tools, then descend another set of stairs into the heart of the temple, a striking four-story area with shafts of light piercing holes in the ceiling and beards of vines and tree roots. Cast Members will ask how many people are in your party, and then direct you to one of three numbered gates.
A battered transport vehicle will pull up, the occupants will exit on the opposite side of the jeep, and you will enter.
There are three rows containing four seats each, for a maximum capacity of twelve Guests. As soon as you sit down, fasten your safety belt and stow your gear in the mesh pouch in front of you, then be sure the little ones in your care do the same.
Mere moments after everyone’s seated, your transport will lurch forward and then brake suddenly. Another Cast Member will ask everyone to a) lift their hands over their heads and then b) tug on the yellow tab on the safety belt. Both actions let the Cast Member see that everyone is safely and securely restrained.
Why is it so important to stow all loose possessions and buckle up? There are no steep drops in the
Indiana Jones Adventure
, but this is a fast-paced trek with a lot of unexpected zigs and zags. The specially designed vehicles look old-school but are high-tech
Enhanced Motion Vehicles
(
EMV
s) and are programmed to provide a somewhat different but always heart-pounding ride each time. They can abruptly brake, change direction, shudder, judder, and shy away from gigantic serpents. (The same
EMV
s, with a different paint job, carry Guest through
WDW
’s
Dinosaur
.)
The
temple roads are rough, which is why pregnant Guests and those with back and heart conditions must, unfortunately, steer clear. When
Indiana Jones Adventure
was in the testing stages and when it originally opened, some found the ride
too
rough. In the nearly twenty years since then,
Disney
’s designers and engineers constantly fine-tune this premiere attraction, and have found that
magic
balance of thrill, safety, and comfort. A refurb in autumn 2012 resulted in the smoothest, least bone-rattling journey yet.
Once Cast Members are sure that everyone and everything is safely secured, Guests hear
Sallah
’s disembodied voice warning that the ride might be a little bumpy. And then ….
You’re
whisked into the temple’s depths!
The weathered, rusted
1930’s style transport vehicle sweeps you through one of three entrances, and
Mara
’s rich, deeply menacing voice announces whether you’re being given a chance to obtain visions of the future, a fortune in gold, or eternal youth. The color of the lights and the décor vary based on which treasure you’re pursuing, and a floating eye, added in 2012, gazes down at you from high above.
Any
of the three paths sounds very nice, thank you very much, but it quickly becomes a moot point. Your wildly jolting transport pauses in front of a massive carved face of
Mara
–and someone
always
looks into
Mara
’s eyes! That tears it!
Mara
’s angry. Forget the visions, gold, or youth–you’ll be lucky to make it out of the temple alive!
The encounter with
Mara
received an amazing makeover in August 2013.
Annual passholders
were treated to sneak previews of the new effects on the weekend of August 16
th
– 18
th
. Now when your transport pauses in front of
Mara
’s carved visage, and someone (ostensibly) looks into the idol’s eyes, the face illuminates with projected images that make it appear that
Mara
has come to life—and
Mara
is
not
happy with the Guests! The moment is dramatic and fun, and adds a shot of nitro to kick off your adventure—it’s good old
Disney magic
with a high-tech twist.
Your transport swerves away from
Mara
’s face, and the first of several
Audio-Animatronic Indiana Jones
figures appears, manfully holding a giant door closed against menacing,
magical
lights while giving you advice about how to escape from the temple in one piece.
The transport
then whirls you on a wild journey through confusing, sometime pitch black and sometimes torch-lit ruins and caverns, past giant idols, mummies, rats, and snakes, across a rickety bridge over a pool of bubbling lava, through a shrine of hundreds of skulls, until you finally meet up with a certain gargantuan boulder (yes,
that
boulder!).
The 2012
and 2013 refurbishments made the ride smoother and gave the scenes an unparelled visual richness. Colors are brighter, fresher–especially glowing darklight colors; the bones of the mummies and skeletons really pop!–and the crawling insects are projected more vividly. The towering cobra seems to have moved closer to the track (sorry, Guests sitting on the right!) and gleams with a pallid white-green light that makes it look less cartoonish, more supernaturally menacing. The lava seems hotter and the rats look more distinct–all in all, this already-amazing attraction has never looked better than it does now!
Cliff
hangers are a staple of the old-time serial thrillers that inspired the
Indy
films. The hero or heroine is confronted time and again with what appears to be their doom, only to escape at the last possible second. That’s how
Indiana Jones Adventure
is paced, that’s its rhythm. Time and again your transport lurches toward certain doom, whether a giant cobra or poisoned darts, and time and again you miraculously escape, all to the soundtrack of
John Williams
’ rousing
Indiana Jones
scores.
The mother of all cliff
hangers is the boulder sequence, and that’s your final challenge of the
Indiana Jones Adventure
. An
Audio-Animatronic
(
AA
)
Indy
appears, hanging from a vine, and shouts encouragement and advice as the thundering boulder bears down on you! As in the best of the old serials, you’re saved in the nick of time when your jeep plunges down a dip in the road just before the boulder can crush you all to powder!