Check out Part 1 of Lucasfilm in the Disney Parks before reading Part 2!
Indiana Jones et le Temple du Péril
Indiana Jones et le Temple du Péril was one of the most abrupt yet most intense roller coasters I have ever been on. Set in the very back corner of Adventureland in Disneyland Paris, this Indiana Jones themed attraction opened just over a year after park opening. Originally there were ideas to have an entire Indiana Jones sub-land in Adventureland but due to budgeting, only a single attraction was built in the form of a stock roller coaster. Indiana Jones et le Temple du Péril was the very first Disney roller coaster to have an inversion and still has the tallest height restriction measurement at 1.4 metres (55 inches) for any Disney Park around the world. The attraction is themed around an evacuation of the ancient Temple du Péril but the archeologists have seemed to have disappeared. The ride experience is centred around guests being invited to investigate this mystery. As you approach the queue for the attraction, you will walk through an abandoned base camp. There are empty vehicles, tents, and campsites around but no sign of the archeologists. The queue also has a large staircase up into the temple and down to where you board the vehicles, though the “inside” of the attraction is not actually completing enclosed. The vehicles are runaway mine cars that look very similar to the ones in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984). The ride has many sharp turns and dips and concludes with a thrilling inversion. An additional thrill was temporarily added to the attraction from April 1, 2000 to December 3, 2004 as the mine cars went backwards the entire duration of the ride.
Disneyland Paris: Adventureland, July 30, 1993 – Present
Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye
Indiana Jones Adventure is my absolute favourite attraction at any Disney Park! A few years ago, my family and I were able to experience this attraction in such a unique way. A fantastic Cast Member asked us if we wanted to ride it before rope drop but it ended up being so much more than a simple ride. We were given a full tour of the intricate queue with history of both the attraction itself and the backstory of Indy’s adventures. The story takes place in the Lost River Delta of India in 1935. Indiana Jones has found an ancient Bengalese Temple and had started an archaeological evacuation. The temple deity, Mara, offers one of three gifts to anyone who enters: earthly riches, eternal youth, or visions of the future. However, these gifts will only be given as long as one does not gaze into the eye of Mara. Indy’s friend Sallah begins to host tours into the Temple of the Forbidden Eye in order to raise funds for the dig. Unfortunately, some tourists have started to disappear inside the temple so Indy enters to find them but does not return himself. Sallah continues to host the tours in hopes of finding Indiana Jones. The queue of Indiana Jones Adventure is one of the most immersive and detailed queues on Disney property. At the very beginning, guests walk right past a Mercedes-Benz diesel truck that was actually used in the desert vehicle chase scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). The queue goes on to contain many other hidden details such as the maraglyphics carved into the temple’s walls. Guests use to be given decoder cards to figure out the story but unfortunately that is a thing of the past. The letters do look similar to English so the messages are fairly easy to decipher. Just know that the letter “I” is shaped like an actual eye. Some sections seemed to contain a bunch of random letters that do not make up actual words, but these are actually the initials of the Imagineers who built this ride. There is also a large hidden Mickey in the queue in the form of the letters “M.M.” in maraglyphics. There are many other hidden gems throughout the queue such as an Eeyore Parking Lot sign, as homage to the fact that this attraction was built where the Eeyore Lot use to be, and Dr. Jones’ office contains many details such as a map of the entire attraction layout. Once guests board the ride, Mara opens up one of the three doors into in the Hall of Promise. The Hall then glows with different coloured lighting depending on the gift from Mara: blue represents eternal youth, gold represents earthly riches, and purple represents visions of the future. Though it may seem like there are three separate halls, the walls around the track will actually shift to make it look like your jeep is entering either the left, middle, or right door when really it is always the same door.
Indiana Jones Adventure was heavily promoted by Disney before its opening. There was a TV special on the Disney Channel about the making of the attraction and it featured John Rhys-Davies and Karen Allen who both starred in Raiders of the Lost Ark. The 1995 Super Bowl half time show was an entire Indiana Jones show which featured Indy parachuting down onto the field, while on fire, to rescue the Super Bowl trophy all to the tunes of singers Patti LaBelle and Tony Bennett.
Disneyland: Adventureland, March 3, 1995 – Present
Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull
To date, the only Lucasfilm attraction to be a part of a Disney Park opening is the Indiana Jones Adventure in Tokyo DisneySea. This version opened with the rest of the park in September of 2001 and has been very popular ever since. The layout of the ride track is almost identical to the one in California though the storyline is quite different. Indiana Jones has discovered a large Aztec temple in the jungles of Central America which is rumoured to hold the Fountain of Youth and is guarded by a Crystal Skull which defends the Fountain of Youth by shooting plasma beams out of its eyes, yikes! Similar to Sallah hosting tours of the Temple of the Forbidden Eye, Indy’s friend Paco hosts tour groups through the Temple of the Crystal Skull. The queue for this attraction is also very detailed and elaborate with many Mesoamerican-like murals which hint towards the story to come. Guests are introduced to Paco in a safety video which plays in the queue before boarding the jeeps. This ride starts out with only one chamber instead of the three options like in the original version and at the end of the hall is the feared Crystal Skull. Some other differences from the Disneyland version are the large fireball which is shot towards the tour groups in place of the mist screen with the rats and in place of the large snake, there is actually an audio-animatronic of a Quetzalcoatl, which is an Aztec deity. There is also an onboard photo for guests to purchase. Oh, and Indy speaks fluent Japanese.
Despite the similar sounding subtitle, this attraction is actually not at all related to the fourth Indiana Jones film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which was released seven years after Tokyo DisneySea opened.
Tokyo DisneySea: Lost River Delta, September 4, 2001 – Present
Star Wars Land
The much anticipated Star Wars Land, coming to both Disneyland and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, is slated to open in both parks in 2019. This project was announced at the D23 Expo in 2015 and the name was released at this past D23 Expo as Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Guests will be completely immersed in all things Star Wars! The land itself will be the planet of Batuu which we have not yet visited in any film, show, or book from the Star Wars galaxy. Batuu has been described as a remote outpost at the edge of the galaxy. It is a port for rogues, smugglers, and those wishing to avoid the First Order.
This brand new land will open with two attractions as well as a few shops and restaurants. And near to Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be an entire Star Wars themed resort! So there are many future Lucasfilm attractions to look forward.
Since the acquisition of Lucasfilm in October of 2012, Disney has had an abundance of Star Wars representation throughout the parks such as Season of the Force, Path of the Jedi, Hyperspace Mountain layover at Disneyland, Hong Kong Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris, Tomorrowland Takeover at Hong Kong Disneyland, and Star Wars Weekends at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
So thank you to Lucasfilm and Disney for teaming up to create some amazing attractions! And now off I go to watch Star Wars: The Last Jedi!
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