Disneyland: One Man's Dream- The Indiana Jones Adventure

The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Specatcular! was a hit in MGM Studios, so Disney decided to bring an attraction like that to Disneyland. They didn't want the same exact thing, so they decided to try something new. They already had a setting in mind: the Lost Delta in India, 1935.

Early concepts for the ride included a walk through and a mine ride, similar to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (my favorite Indy movie, I might add!). Imagineers then decided to do a jeep ride through an achient temple.

There was only one problem: the technology for this ride was not yet available! The Imagineers wanted to make it incredibly realistic that you were going through an anchient tample ready to colapse around you. But they also wanted the ride to be safe. That's when they developed EMVs- Enhanced Motion Vehicle. The car it self would move, simulating going over rough and rugged terrain. It was a cobination of a simulator and a dark ride, with over 160,000 possible ride combinations. No two rides would be alike!

The ride itself started construction in 1993. Because of the massive building that would hose the ride, the Jungle Cruise queue was moved into a two story building. The monorial tracks outside the berm also had to be moved. To get back to the ride itself, the Indy queue would be 1/2 a mile long.


This also called for a retheme of Adventureland itself. Now, Adventureland was a trading outpost that sprung up around the temple excavation. A few years later, The Swiss Family Treehouse became Tarzan's Treehouse, mathcing the theme better and tieing in with the new movie Tarzan.

The basic story of Indiana Jones was this: the long lost Temple of the Forbidden Eye was found by Indy. The temple was excavated and opened up to tourists. They could either be granted Enternal Youth, Earhtly Rices, or Future Knowledge. However, if you looked into the eyes of the diety Mara, you found your doom.

Soon, some tourists began to not come out of the temple. Indy returned and tried to find them, but never came out. Now, it's your turn to try to find him!

I could describe the ride, but I think this video I made explains it better then I can.


Indiana Jones is truly one of the best rides at any theme park. It is my second favorite (after Pirates, of course!) and is truly remarkable- and fun!