Indiana Jones Adventure

Indiana Jones Adventure

Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye is a dark ride attraction at Disneyland. It opened on March 3, 1995. Based on the Indiana Jones films, guests are taken on an adventure in modified military transport vehicle through a lost temple with Indiana Jones.

A similar ride entitled Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull is located at Tokyo DisneySea theme park in Tokyo.

History

Temple of the Forbidden Eye

Entrance sign to the attraction.

Because of the success of Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular! at Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida, George Lucas decided to join forces with Disney in creating a new attraction for Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California. Unlike the previous collaboration, this attraction was created with a backstory "set in the Lost Delta of India, circa 1935."

Indiana Jones Adventure is the third collaboration between WDI and Lucasfilm, after the Disneyland attractions Captain EO and Star Tours.

Several early concepts were considered including a walk-through adventure and a high-speed mine car adventure within a temple. To avoid a long queue, Imagineers considered using Jungle Cruise launches to shuttle guest to the loading area.

Groundbreaking began for Forbidden Eye in August of 1993. More than 400 imagineers worked on its design and construction, with a core team of nearly 100. It entailed rerouting the Jungle Cruise attraction, the creation of 0.5 mile of queue area, demolishing an area of the former "Eeyore" parking lot and building a 50,000 square foot structure to house the ride itself.

Forbidden Eye debuted on March 3, 1995. Among the celebrated guests were George Lucas, Michael Eisner, Dan Ayckroyd, and Carrie Fisher.

To promote the opening of the ride the Disney Channel produced an-hour TV program entitled Indiana Jones Adventure featuring Karen Allen and John Rhys-Davies reprising their roles from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Artist Drew Struzan produced a one-sheet poster in the same theme as the films.

The attraction was sponsored by AT&T. "It’s great to have AT&T as presenting sponsor," said Disneyland President Paul Pressler. "With Disneyland celebrating its 40th Anniversary and preparing to open its most exciting attraction, we welcome the opportunities this relationship is sure to create."

The Legend

According to the storyline given in a newsreel shown before you board the attraction, a new shrine has been discovered, full of artifacts and treasures as well as an ancient curse. The curse of Mara, it is told, will offer all who came to the hallowed site one of three magical gifts: Earthly Riches, Eternal Youth or Future Knowledge. Good fortune has come to those who survive, but for those who look into the eye of Mara, a gruesome demise is eminant.

The vehicle

Diagrams showing the range of motion of an enhanced motion vehicle.

Guests board a dark ride type vehicle, designed to look like a World War II troop transport, running along a single central track. There are three rows of seats, with each row accommodating up to four guests, the left-most seat in the front row having access to a non-operational steering wheel.

Each troop transport is basically a miniature motion simulator known as an enhanced motion vehicle that travels along a track. The transport "shell" sits on top of a chassis that moves along the track at about 12 miles per hour. Hydraulics built into the chassis cause the shell to shudder, bank, and twist, creating a physically intense experience.

This ride system was invented for the Indiana Jones Adventure, and has only been implemented in two other rides—DINOSAUR, located at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Orlando, Florida, and its Tokyo DisneySea counterpart, Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull.

In addition to dialogue and sound effects, an orchestral soundtrack plays through the speakers built into the troop transports. This medley contains segments of John Williams' original scores for the first two Indiana Jones movies, rescored and re-recorded to sync up with the perils of the ride. The "Raiders's March" and "Ark theme" both feature prominently at various points.

The Ride

At the Disneyland attraction, guests play the role of tourists in 1937, who visit the Temple of the Forbidden Eye, which is reportedly located somewhere in India. This incredible archaeological discovery presents life-changing prospects—eternal youth, wealth, or future knowledge—if one can only avoid the gaze of Mara, the guardian of the temple.

The queue

The lengthy queue's immersive atmosphere and carefully duplicated details turns a pontentially tedious wait into an entertaining addition to the ride. The queue leads guests through dimly lit caverns and eerie passageways before finally entering the temple itself. These passageways contain sections reminisecent of the Indiana Jones movies, including a floor of diamond-shaped tiles that resembles the booby-trapped hall from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Guests also pass Indiana Jones' office, complete with his hat and whip.

The queue begins outside where guests walk past a 2.5 ton (2,267 kg) Mercedes-Benz troop transport truck, Disneyland's version is the actual vehicle used in the famous desert chase scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark.. A small mining car near the truck is a movie prop as well, used in the mine scene in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

File:IndianaJonesDecoder wb.jpg

Marabic decoder card handed out in 1995 and occasionally after that

Much of the queue is inside the temple itself. Throughout the bowels of the temple, messages and warnings written as "Mara-glyphics" tell visitors to the excavation site the rewards and perils that can be found further within. These can be translated into English using a simple code. In the early months of the attraction's existence at Disneyland, guests were given decoder cards; while these cards are no longer distributed, the code is easily solvable. Each ancient symbol bears a strong resemblance to its corresponding letter in the English alphabet. The sole exception is the letter I, which, appropriately, resembles an eye.

There are a few interactive props in the queue. In the spike room, there are diamond shaped tiles, and a warning sign that says to avoid stepping on the diamonds. Several bamboo poles hold the collapsing ceiling in place. When one of these poles is pushed, sounds simulating the ceiling dropping will play along with the spiked ceiling dropping about an inch or two. Similarly, there is a pit with a rope and a sign warning not to pull on rope as an archiological dig is in progress. Tugging on the rope triggers one of several pre-recorded mishaps to be heard from the pit.

When the ride was built, the building took up most of the Eeyore section of the pre-existing parking lot. As a tribute, one of the Eeyore signs was hidden in the queue area.

Chamber of Destiny

At the loading area, guests board a Jeep-like troop transport, complete with hydraulics that simulate rugged terrain. After a quick seatbelt check, the jeep moves forward and turns a corner into the Chamber of Destiny. Here guests are presented with three doors which will lead to either the Fountain of Eternal Youth, the Chamber of Earthly Riches, or the Observatory of the Future. The specific door through which the jeep drives will determine small details present in the rest of the ride, such as the appearance of the Hall of Promise and Indy's warnings throughout the ride.

The Chamber of Destiny actually has only one working door, with only one corridor behind it. A set of five facades rotate, so that any three of them can be visible at a given time, with the central door leading into the actual chamber. The facades and the corridor behind the working door are lighted differently based on which particular "chamber" has been chosen.

Hall of Promise

The troop transport randomly enters one of the doors into the Hall of Promise, and ascends along a sloped tunnel.

If guests have entered the Fountain of Eternal Youth, the tunnel is filled with blue light and scrims along the walls, lit from the front, depict people drink magical water and becoming younger.

If the riders enter Chamber of Earthly Riches, the tunnel is filled with yellow light, and the same scrims are lit from behind, making large amounts of gold visible.

If riders enter the Observatory of the Future, the tunnel is dimly lit with purple light, and the ceiling above is filled with a vast fiber optic star field. The ride vehicles are also tilted upward, directing passengers’ eyes away from the unlit scrims, and towards the dazzling star field.

The eyes of a large carving of the face of Mara begin to glow as he states, "No! Foolish mortals. You looked into my eyes. Your path now leads to the Gates of Doom!"

Tunnel of Torment

The transport careens through a large tunnel, with Lighting flashes illuminating cobra statues lining the walls.

Gates of Doom

The Gates of Doom pulsate with violet mist, but an animatronic Indiana Jones struggles to keep the doors closed. The guests then hear Indiana Jones say, "Tourists! You had to look, didn't you? Quick, swerve left - up to the left; it's the only way out! And watch it, there's big steps up there." The triumphant musical theme from Raiders of the Lost Ark is heard as the transport accelerates up a flight of stairs.

Cavern of Bubbling Death

The transport emerges from the passage and teeters on the edge of a vast magma pit. A larger stone Mara shoots a ray of fire from its eyes, toward a rickity wooden bridge, and another transport can be seen driving across the bridge.

Mummy Chamber

The transport turns left and enters another chamber, decorated with skulls and skeletons where several mummies pop out toward the guests. One of the skeletons usually has a set of Mickey ears on backwards with the name "Bones" spelled out. This skeleton is nicknamed Bones and often changes. There is sometimes a set of sunglasses on one of the skeletons as well.

Bug Room

Suddenly, all is dark; the music tinkles with chaotic violin pizzicatos. The transport's headlights flicker back on, illuminating walls swarming with thousands of beetles and spiders. Hissing sounds are heard.

Snake Temple

The transport finally heads out of the darkness onto the bridge which spans a magma pit. The transport stalls for a moment as another transport can be seen across the bridge heading toward the guests, but it turns out of the way before getting to the bridge. The transport then accelerates across the bridge which sways and jostles with the weight of the transport. The transport drives across the bridge and into a room called Snake Temple. Thousands of snakes line the walls and ground and a gigantic animatronic cobra appears to the right of the vehicle, which strikes at the jeep. At this point, the tourists will hear Indiana Jones say either, "Watch out for anything that slithers," or "Snakes! You guys are on your own."

The transport heads back toward the bridge as another transport is in position on the other side of the bridge ready to cross. The transport takes a sharp turn to the right and passes through the giant stone carving of the head of Mara. Hundreds of human skulls decorate the walls, and the spirit of Mara looms from above. There are 1,992 skulls in order to represent the year construction began in 1992. Also there is often a skull with sunglasses on it.

The Jeep continues downward, driving beside the glowing magma. The ride darkens, and with a final blare of horns, the music goes silent.

Rat Cave

The vehicle shudders and stalls and is heard being restarted before continuing towards a hanging tree root. As the transport nears the root, many rats are seen climbing across it and falling off when another burst of speed sends the car through the tree root, which vaporizes like mist. (Contrary to popular belief, this effect is not achieved through holography, but through a simple video projection on a smoke screen though this particular effect doesn't often work.)

Dart Corridor

The transport arrives in a lit tunnel with paintings of skeletal warriors which adorn the walls. The transport slowly gains speed as the air is filled with the whooshing and twanging of the warriors' weapons as though the car has set off booby traps. Gusts of air and sounds of darts hitting the transport are felt and heard as the transport passes between the skeletal warriors.

Rolling Boulder

The transport then approaches a dark area and stops. Indiana Jones suddenly appears above the vehicle hanging on a rope in a shaft of sunlight. He shouts to the guests, "Back up. Back up. Let me in." Seconds later, the light illuminates a massive boulder rolling toward the car. The transport seems to back up a bit as the boulder threatens to crush the tourists. At the last possible second, the transport dives into a hole beneath the approaching boulder. The transport makes a sharp turn in a dark tunnel and comes out to see Indiana Jones standing in front of the crushed boulder. He wipes his forehead and says, "Not bad... for tourists," or "Tourists, why'd it have to be tourists?" (a reference to his line from Raiders: "Snakes, why'd it have to be snakes?") or rarely he says "Next time you're on your own!" A final triumphant refrain of the music ushers the guests back into the station, where they disembark and follow a long tunnel back into the Adventureland area.

The rolling boulder effect is implemented with the boulder in a fixed position illuminated with lighting effects to simulate movement. The troop transport slowly moves forward to create the illusion that the boulder is gaining on the riders, while the walls of the tunnel move forward, faster than the transport. This gives the impression that the transport is moving backwards, and that the boulder is rolling down the corridor towards the transport. Template:Spoilerend

Attraction facts

• Grand Opening: March 3, 1995
• Building Size: 57,400 feet² (5,332 m²)
• Track Lengh: 2,500 feet (762 m)
• Queue Lengh: 1,500 feet (457 m)
• Total Vehicles: 17 (Max 15 on track)
  • Vehicle: World War II Troop Transport (Enhanced-Motion Vehicle/E.M.V.)
• Height Requirement: 46 inches (1.1 m)
• Groundbreaking: August 1993
• Extra options: File:FASTPASSAvailability.png

See also

• Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular!
• Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril
• George Lucas' Super Live Adventure
• Indiana Jones
• Raiders of the Lost Ark
• Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
• List of current Disneyland attractions

External links

• "Fun Facts of Disneyland's Indiana Jones' Temple of the Forbidden Eye". hiddenmickeys.org. Retrieved November 17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
• "Dynamic ride vehicle - Patent #5,623,878". US Patent & Trademark Office. Retrieved November 17. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help) - Patent for the Enhanced Motion Vehicle used in this attraction.
• http://www.theraider.net/information/attractions/crystalskull.php