Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye.
Written: Oct 02 '05 (Updated Feb 04 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Unique and a whole lot of fun. Some events differ each time you ride it.
Cons: 48 inches to ride.
The Bottom Line: A great ride, one I can go on again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again….
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| yakkowarner's Full Review: Indiana Jones Adventure - Disneyland |
This is an intense thrill ride at Disneyland. It is not a roller coaster but rather a simulator. And the imaginers did a great job with this ride.
The queue line.
Except for Roger Rabbit, this is the best queue line in the park. On the outside you have the option of making fun of people on the jungle cruise or just enjoying the view. Once you get inside (which is where fast pass meets up) you will notice that there is lettering on the walls. Originally you got cards that would tell you want they meant. But they don’t do that any more sadly. You can a copy of the card online if you look, I’ll also post one on my personal website after I get a hold of a scanner (about a week.) Someone online said that a shop attendant would make a photocopy of one but I do not think that is true.
There are also a couple of tactile attractions in the queue line. When you get to a room with spikes on it feel free to pull, very hard, on the one bent stick that seems to be holding the roof up. It is pretty cool and maybe you’ll freak someone out (but probably not.) Just a little further there is a well with a rope sticking out. Pull on that hard and you will hear something comical. The actual script for this event changes every time you pull it.
The next room is the film room that gives you a brief fictitious history of the temple as well as ride safety. In addition there are a number of artifacts all over. The artifacts look real, the imaginers do a good job weathering them. Look back at the projectors. You will see two projectors, one mock and the other is the LCD (I think) projector. I thought it was pathetic they couldn’t build a fake projector body around the modern projector.
After the film room, you wind up in the loading room. You take stairs up like in screaming California and then take them down again. Then you get on the ride.
The queue line is pretty long. Much longer than any other ride because you are leaving the traditional boundaries of the park. In fact you are a stone’s throw from the trams themselves on top of what was the old parking lot. When you are on the tram you can see the ride building on your left when you disembark. It was originally a big block when it first opened but they quickly painted it over with a plant/jungle theme.
How it works and the ride itself.
I will have spoilers in this section. Skip if you want the ride to be a surprise.
The key to the ride is the car itself. It is not a car on a rough track; it is a car body on hydraulic mechanisms that are on a stable “car” frame. This means that the actual wheels are on the road at all times but the body can be moved in all sorts of directions to give you the feel of motion when it actually does not exist. It is basically a simulator. So when you go around a turn, the wheels on the side are not lifting up, just the car body itself. The track/road itself is very flat. To get the effect of having your tires lift off the road, hitting a bump, moving backwards, etc are all simulated by the hydraulic programming. It is an awesome effect.
One of the other cool effects is motion added to some structures. For example, when you cross the bridge it feels as if the bridge is moving. That is just the motion of the car combined with the ropes moving giving you the effect that the bridge is unstable. Just take a look at the bridge and a car when you first enter the main room. You will see exactly what is going on before you cross it.
When the ride starts you will see three doors. Each door corresponds to a different theme. There are also three tracks that go to the three doors. So each time you go into the room you see different lighting effects and different pictures. One looks very dark and night like, another is very tranquil, and another I would describe as eloquent. When you first ride the ride you will probably think they are different rooms. They are actually the same room. If you don’t believe me then take a look back at the shutting doors and you will see part of the room moving. The scrims on the side are not visible in one scene, in the second scene the scrims look like paintings, and the other one you can see behind the scrim. Just a simple effect. Lighting is the main difference between the three themes.
Next you go around a turn very fast and see Indy holding a door closed. He gives you a random phrase and you go on to the main room. Here is the best place you can see the other cars and see how their hydraulic system works. It’s pretty cool. Next you go through a skeleton room, a bug room, then cross a lake of lava, then you see a giant snake. All this time the statue is shooting light and wrecking all kinds of havoc. At the end of this room is a web like thing projected onto a wall of smoke. I remember the effects years ago and it was cool. But it hasn’t worked for several years so don’t look for it.
Your truck then has a few starting problems. It sputters a little. It really isn’t the engine, just an effect. Then you run through a bunch of darts. After that you find yourself in front of a big boulder with Indy dangling above. When you first get there you see a dead end. There is no way to go and the boulder is coming toward you. The truck appears to back up then you drive under the boulder somehow. You end with a scene of Indy in front of the boulder making some random comment.
The last effect is the neatest. Not only is the boulder coming towards you but it also appears that there is no way out. Well while you are looking at the boulder, the ramp in front of you is lowering. I think the walls are closing in a little (not 100 percent sure on that) and the truck makes jerking motions that appears as if you are going in reverse. Look behind you, you will notice that you are not going in reverse. Cool effect.
A lot of the effects they originally planned just did not work well. Like in the beginning it was supposed to be a storm with lots of clouds. Their ice machine also rusted out. The cobweb at the bottom of the main room no longer works. And I’m sure there are many more that I do not know about. This of course is typical for a ride this unique and currently Disney is pinching dollars instead of fixing some of these issues.
The randomness
The entire ride is one random number generator. There are a lot of vocal phrases, lighting, and physical structures that do different things throughout the ride. The first example is the start of the ride. You have the option of going through 3 doors. Each door has a different theme even though you go through the same room. The phrases Indy says are random. Supposedly some are less common than others. Some of the lighting changes for example in the bug room the projectors sometimes turn on and sometimes they do not. The vehicle itself also has minor variations in when it stalls, how it bumps, etc. It sort of creates a new ride each time you go on it.
The cars
They can hold 12 people in 3 rows.
Roughness of the track
As I mentioned, the track is perfectly smooth. But the car itself really jurks you. It is enough that if you have a back problem, then you will feel worse. It is very similar to the Matterhorn because that also has a jerky nature to it. The other roller coasters have more G forces, but I feel they are smoother.
Theme.
The theme is awesome. As you enter the queue line you start to progress through unfamiliar surrounding but halfway through they start to get familiar. The excavation sites really start to look like the world of Indiana Jones in 1936. They did a really good job with this.
The ride itself is also very familiar to any fan of the movies. It really draws you in.
The music
The music is the same music you will find in the movies. No surprises just good music.
My experience with the line and wait time.
The best time to ride this is at closing or get a fast pass. You should only have to wait 10-20 minutes on a busy day if you follow that advice. Otherwise on a busy day the wait will be 30-60 minutes.
Fast pass.
There is a fast pass. It is located next to the Jungle Cruise. Get these early. The standby line queues around the outside. The standby entrance is the temple entrance itself and that is where fast pass participants mix with stand-by.
About breakdowns
When breakdowns occurs the light brighten and most people leave.
It also takes them at least half an hour to get the ride up and running again. I was in the car once when a breakdown occurred and that is what the ride operator mentioned. Sure enough I noticed that it was open about half an hour later.
Single rider pass
There used to be a single rider pass. Last time I was there they did not have this. So I wonder if they are phasing it out. In my opinion it is still needed. Single riders would walk down the exit, go around an elevator system at the loading area, then get placed when they needed an extra rider.
Height limit and kid friendly.
48 inches. It is slightly scary and very intense, so be mindful of that when encouraging your children to ride this.
Who is this for?
Older families and anyone that likes exciting E ticket rides.
Trivia
In the film room there is an Eeyore sign because the ride was built on part of the old parking lot.
In the film room there are 2 projectors.
It is believed that the truck in the front is one of the actual props in the first movie.
This ride is only found at Disneyland, Ca.
About the Indiana Jones Adventure decoder card and the symbols on the walls.
When this ride first opened they gave out decoder cards to the guests in line. You were supposed to decipher the symbols on the walls. The problem was that the line went to fast for you to solve it unless you had the code memorized. But they stopped giving away cards a while ago and there is no way of getting a hold of one. So I have scanned a copy of one and posted it on my web page. You can find a link to Disneyland's Indiana Jones Adventure decoder card here.
http://webpages.charter.net/lakeville1/
Hidden Mickey's
The only one I know of is that a skeleton is wearing a Mickey Mouse hat.
Location.
Disneyland at the Disneyland resort. Anaheim, California. It is located in adventure land between the jungle cruise, the tree house, and pirates.
Summary
This is a fun and intense ride at Disneyland. It is not for the faint of heart. It is unique in how if gives the illusion of motion and the lighting effects only heighten that effect. A ride like no other. This is a must hit ride for anyone that craves excitement.
Disneyland Attractions.
Space Mountain.
The Haunted Mansion
Roger Rabbit Cartoon Spin.
Shootin Exhibition.
Main street cinema
Main street horse drawn carriage
Goofys Bounce House.
Tarzans Treehouse
California Adventure attractions
Tower of Terror.
Soar’in over California.
Redwood Creek Challenge Trail.
Boudin Bakery.
Mission Tortilla Factory.
Golden Dreams
Recommended:
Yes
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