Indiana Jones Adventure

Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye is a dark ride motion simulator attraction based on the Indiana Jones films. Guests accompany intrepid archeologist Dr. Indiana Jones on a quest for the Jewel of Power through a dangerous lost temple, then board military troop transport vehicles for a turbulent high speed adventure.

Enter the legendary Temple of the Forbidden Eye on a daring journey in search of unimaginable rewards. Deep inside the temple, you embark on a fast-paced thrill ride aboard a rugged troop transport. There are ominous signs of danger ahead, but, with famous archaeologist Indiana Jones on your side, what could possibly go wrong?

Step with trepidation into a newly uncovered archeological dig site hidden in India's Lost Delta. Follow in Indy's footsteps and uncover evidence that the overgrown temple is not entirely benign. Venture past deadly booby traps that have been hastily disabled. Study carvings and frescos that tell the story of Mara - a powerful ancient deity who promised great treasures to the pure of heart and death to those foolish enough to gaze into its all-seeing eyes.

Join a tour set up by Indy's friend Sallah and see how he's ingeniously arranged mirrors to avoid looking into the cursed eyes of Mara. But something is amiss, as tourists have started to mysteriously disappear. Indiana Jones went into the temple to investigate. He never came out. Do you dare to discover the truth behind these alarming stories? Will you really be pulled into eternal torment through the Gates of Doom? Could legends about caverns of bubbling death, screaming undead mummies, erupting lava, evil wraiths and giant snakes really be true? As your expedition careens around precarious precipices and narrowly escapes collapsing bridges, you'll wish you never dared to test the wrath of Mara! Only one man can save you now…Indiana Jones.

Story

The story, set in 1935, is told through twelve letters and telegrams scattered throughout the queue as well as three newsreels shown before guests board the attraction. Indiana Jones has reunited missing fragments of a map scroll of parchment documenting the precise location of an ancient Bengalese temple. The Temple of the Forbidden Eye, containing countless intriguing artifacts buried beneath silt by a flood of the Lost River Delta over two thousand years ago, is undergoing excavation for archeological research. The temple deity Mara seems to conditionally offer one of three gifts to all who come to the hallowed site: earthly riches, eternal youth, or visions of the future. The only condition is that one may never gaze into the eyes of Mara. Although Jones' discovery, dubbed the "Temple of the Forbidden Eye" by the media, has set the archaeological community abuzz, his funding has run out. To raise money so the excavation can continue, Sallah has begun conducting guided tours. Good fortune has come to many of the tourists who survive, but others have not returned. Promising to find the missing tourists, Jones ventured inside the temple approximately one week ago, and has not yet reappeared. Jones also hoped to find the temple's power source: the mysterious "Jewel of Power", which Abner Ravenwood believed to be within an immense cavern, beyond the Gates of Doom. Marcus Brody has asked Sallah to continue conducting the tours, in the hope they may locate Dr. Jones.

Ride Experience

The Queue is fairly long and very well-themed - it appears to go underground and passes by tree roots, bats, stalactites/stalagmites, cryptic inscriptions on the walls, and even booby traps! In the "Spike" room, there's a very startling effect - push on the bamboo pole that appears to be supporting the roof and the entire roof, spikes and all, crashes down about a foot, complete with sound effects. (This effect takes several minutes to reset once it's been tripped.)

Eventually the queue passes by a well where tapping noises can be heard - pull on the rope to hear some choice comments from the "archeologist" below.

The Pre-show features old movie newsreels describing Dr. Jones' latest discovery, as well as a demonstration from Salah on the safety features of the jeep.

Finally you reach the loading area where your 12-passenger "jeep" awaits and start your tour of the Temple of the Forbidden Eye. You'll see three doors in front of you - the doors of youth, riches, or knowledge, and your vehicle will go through one of them. Of course then something goes wrong (you HAD to look!), and you experience a much more... er... *extensive* tour of the temple. In your efforts to escape the temple the jeep bounces, skids, careens around sharp turns, and may even stop completely. You'll encounter all sorts of obstacles, including rickety bridges, mummies with poison darts, and an angry god shooting laser beams, not to mention a large rock. There's also a few brushes with Indy himself, in the form of several very sophisticated audio animatronic figures, before your safe return to the loading area. "The Temple's chambers include: Chamber of Destiny, Hall of Promise, Tunnel of Torment, Gates of Doom, Cavern of Bubbling Death, Mummy Chamber, Bug Room, Snake Temple, Rat Cave, Dart Corridor and Rolling Boulder Finale."

Touring Tips

• Indiana Jones Adventure is neither a roller coaster nor a typical slow-speed attraction like the Haunted Mansion. You'll board a 12-person troop transport for a fast-paced thrill ride that realistically simulates driving fast over rough terrain. The experience is truly unique...and truly exciting.
• This is a fast, rough, and dark ride. Pregnant women and those with other medical considerations, such as back and neck problems, are advised against riding. It's also not for those who might be disturbed by dark places, skeletons, spiders, rats, snakes (snakes, why did it have to be snakes?), and other creepy crawlies.
• This ride can be scary and overwhelming for kids. It is completely dark in places and can be an intense experience.
• There are several tricks to look for while walking through the line queue area. Keep your eye out for a slightly limp bamboo pole. Give it a hard pull and watch as the roof starts caving in on you. When you come upon a well with a rope hanging out and a sign reading, "Ancient Artifacts" make sure to give the rope a tug and listen to what you hear.
• This attraction is busy throughout the day, though the standby line will be shortest at park opening.
• FASTPASS in an option on this ride, but is really only helpful if the line extends outside the entrance.
• This is a must see! If you have limited time in the park make sure to ride Indiana Jones at least once. Understand there is a height requirement of 46? (117 cm) or taller. Those in your party not meeting the height requirement will have to pass this one by for their own safety.
• You can request to sit either at the front or back of the jeep. The front gives you a better visual experience while the back gets a bit more height.
• Cargo nets are provided in front of every seat to store your loose possessions. You're in for a bumpy ride, so be sure to use them!

Facts

• It premiered at Disneyland to invitation-only celebrities on March 3, 1995, and opened to the general public on March 4, 1995.
• Tokyo DisneySea hosts Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull, a nearly identical adventure, in Chiba, Japan. (This attraction is not to be confused with the film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which was developed and released after the attraction's opening.)
• The ride building is actually outside of the original Disneyland boundaries - it was built in what used to be an employee parking lot. This is why the queue seems so long - it really *is*! It passes under the Disneyland Railroad's train tracks right about the Spike Room.
• Each ride vehicle is a motion simulator capable of a variety of movements. There are almost 160,000 possible combinations - virtually guaranteeing that every adventure will be unique.
• Listen to the Indy figure at the end of the ride - he has several different comments. Likewise, as you approach the unloading area, you'll hear Salah make a comment appropriate to which door of the Temple you went through.
• Over 600 strobes simulate lighting inside the Tunnel of Torment. The Cavern of Bubbling Death measures 50 feet high. Mara's power can cause nearly 60 pounds of rubble to tumble every 18 seconds. Wind speeds inside the Mummy Chamber can gust up to 60 mph. The Rolling Boulder in the attraction's finale is 16 feet in diameter.
• Building size: 57,400 square feet
• Track length: 2,500 feet
• Queue length: 1,500 feet
• Total vehicles: 17 (maximum 15 on track)
• Vehicle: Military troop transport with 12 seats (Enhanced-Motion Vehicle/E.M.V.)

History

Because of the success of Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular! at Disney's Hollywood 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 fourth collaboration between Disney and Lucasfilm, after the Disneyland attractions Captain EO, Star Tours, and Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular!.

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 guests to the loading area. Imagineers literally had to wait for technology to catch up to their technique of story telling. Many may think the star of the show is Indy himself, but the key element used in telling this story is the troop transport vehicle. The team tested key show elements in a Burbank warehouse on a full sized elevated track that resembled a freeway. This enabled the team to test set work, lighting, effects, transport clearances and motion profiles. George Lucas was amazed by the team's ability to figure out such an ingenious way to put guests into the Indiana Jones films.

Groundbreaking for the Temple of the Forbidden Eye occurred in August 1993. More than 400 Imagineers worked on its design and construction. Tony Baxter led a core project team of nearly 100 Imagineers. To create space for the 0.5-mile (0.80 km) queue area and the 50,000-square-foot (4,600 m2) show building, an area of the former "Eeyore" parking lot was demolished, in addition to the rerouting of the Monorail and Jungle Cruise attractions.

Disney filed for patent on the ride-system on November 16, 1995.

The Temple of the Forbidden Eye premiered on March 3, 1995. Among the invited celebrity guests were George Lucas, Michael Eisner (Disney CEO at the time), Dan Aykroyd, and Carrie Fisher. To promote the opening of the attraction the Disney Channel produced an hour-long TV program entitled Indiana Jones Adventure featuring Karen Allen and John Rhys-Davies reprising their roles from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Forty days prior to the attraction's opening, a "Forty Years of Adventure" promotion giveaway of 40 unique annual trading cards began. Guests with valid paid admission received a voucher at the main gate turnstile to exchange for the card of the day, each in a series featuring the landmark attraction of the year starting with 1955. The last card was distributed on March 2, 1995. A special "41st" card of larger issue featured the Indiana Jones Adventure on March 3. Artist Drew Struzan produced a one-sheet poster in the same theme as the films. The adventure opened to general admission on March 4.

AT&T sponsored construction of the attraction and the first seven years of operation, from 1995 to 2002. One of three styles of Marabic decoder cards was distributed to each guest, advertising their promotional campaign on the back. "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." Currently the attraction has no sponsor.

Vehicle

Guests board an Enhanced Motion Vehicle (EMV) intended to appear as a battered military troop transport. EMVs ride on neoprene filled tires (for operational precision) driven by brushless DC motors in the wheel hub atop the surface of a slotted roadbed. The track has only three switches: a left/right split switch just before loading/unloading, a left/right combine switch just after safety check station/dispatch and a compound switch to swap vehicles in/out of the maintenance bay, behind the mirrors. Beneath the slot a tubular guideway guides the front wheelset and a damper for the rear wheelset, and three electrical buss bars provide the EMV 480 volts AC. The power is divided among the two motion systems, control, safety and audio systems. Each transport can accommodate twelve guests with three rows of seats, four across, with the front left seat behind a non-operational steering wheel. Each troop transport is a motion simulator which travels at a maximum speed of just over 14 miles per hour (23 km/h) atop a slotted roadbed / guiderail track. The transport carbody is attached by three hydraulic rams to the frame of the chassis, and allow the shell to articulate independently. A guest's physically intense experience is programed to achieve the illusion of greater speed and catastrophic mechanical failure using the enhanced-motion vehicle's ability to add several feet of lift then rapidly descend, shudder and tremble, and intensify cornering with counterbank and twist.

This ride system was invented for the Indiana Jones Adventure, and has only been implemented in two other attractions – DINOSAUR, located at Disney's Animal Kingdom (opened as CTX: Countdown to Extinction) in Orlando, Florida, and its Tokyo DisneySea counterpart, Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull. However, the Japanese version uses linear-inductive actuators instead of three hydraulic rams. The 35 gallons of hydraulic fluid used on the Disneyland version takes two hours to clean up the track when a hose splits. Because of Japan's environmental codes regarding oil spills, the design team elected to substitute electromagnetic actuators on the ride vehicle. Three of these actuators are used to create a 3-D (pitch, roll, and elevation) motion platform chassis on which the carbody sits.

Hidden Mickeys

• Mummy Chamber: A skeleton is wearing a Mickey Ears skull cap backwards; "Bones" is embroidered on it.
• Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye: There are hundreds of glyphs scattered inside the temple. Carved into the temple's stone walls are odd messages and warnings. Found on the walls along the main queue, there are two hidden glyphs that spell MM - which stand for Mickey Mouse.
• A Classic Hidden Mickey is concealed within the hieroglyphs that decorate the large stone well cover.
• Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye: In the projection room that plays the 1940's style newsreel, there is a Mickey shadow hidden on the wall. If you are walking through the room towards Indy's office, the Hidden Mickey can be found on the right hand side.
• Mickey Mouse graces the cover of a vintage Life magazine. Mickey's magazine is hidden along with the clutter on Indy's desk, in the caged artifact room/office (found along the queue).
• Indy warns riders not to stare at the Idol of Mara, but if you can get a good look out of the corner of your eye - you might see that the cleft in Mara's upper lip, along with the nostrils, create the illusion of a Classic Hidden Mickey.
• Hidden along the tracks in the "bone" room is Bones, a skeleton wearing personalized Mickey Mouse ears.
• Hieroglyphic messages are scattered throughout Mara's Temple of the Forbidden Eye. A coiled snake is one of the symbols that accompanies these messages. The unnaturally positioned cobra creates a Hidden Mickey with its three coils.