After 15 Years, the Adventure Continues…

Heather Hust Rivera

by , Vice President, Consumer Products

Indiana Jones Adventure
Today, deep in the heart of Adventureland in an ancient temple, Indiana Jones Adventure celebrates 15 years of transporting guests into the Temple of the Forbidden Eye.

Approximately 29 years ago, Walt Disney Imagineers were first inspired by “The Raiders of the Lost Ark,” and in 1995 they debuted a thrill ride that brought the adventure of Dr. Indiana Jones to life. Imagineers included snakes, fire, a giant rolling ball and 1,995 skulls, and they even created their own ancient script called “Maraglyphics.”

If you’re at the Park today, celebrate the anniversary with a stop at Indiana Jones Adventure. Grab a brown fedora hat and look for these items on your journey, but beware: Do not look into the eyes of the Mara.

  • While you’re waiting for your adventure, look for Mickey Mouse’s initials in “Maraglyphics,” the language created by Imagineers.
  • In the film room, check out an original well-known publication from 1936 with Mickey Mouse on the cover. (Hint: it’s underneath a coat.)
  • Don’t miss the palm tree in Disney’s FastPass distribution area. It’s named after Ron Dominguez, who lived on the property that is now Disneyland park when he was a young boy. He later became a Disneyland vice president.

Happy 15th Indiana Jones Adventure!

Comments

  • We (daughter, son and me) were there the summer it opened. We were in a line that snaked clear down Main Street and ended near the Emporium. The ride had only been open for 2 weeks at that point. A three hour wait for a 90 second ride….but boy, was it fun! We make sure we go on this ride everytime we go!

  • Fantastic ride! 🙂

  • The effect that I miss most is the falling debris that came down after you reached the bottom of the stairs, just before turning into the mummy chamber. I think it only worked for about 5 years.

  • Don’t change it! It still is a great ride, even after 15 years! Wish they had it in Disney World Hollywood Studios park. My 68-year-old dad still has us walk “very quickly” to ride it multiple times while everyone is watching “Fantasmic”.

  • I remember a friend and I had a random Wednesday off from school and got to ride it during a soft opening. It wasn’t officially opening until the next week. We were so excited and rode it like five times in a row. The first time everyone burst out clapping at the end. An experience I’ll never forget!

  • Funny, the LIFE magazine with Mickey and Minnie is not under a coat. it’s actually under the map on the desk…

  • When the ride opened our local radio station in Albuquerque gave away a free trip to Disneyland to ride the new ride, complete with airfare, a stay at the disneyland hotel and meal vouchers for a family of four. MY MOM WON THAT TRIP!!! I still remember her waking my sister and I up before elementary school to tell us we were GOING TO DISNEYLAND! Now, I’ve graduated college and my sister is a college freshman, I can’t believe how fast time has gone. But I am so grateful for the radio station giving me one my FAVORITE Disney vacations!

  • Mary from Santa Barbara, CA
    We (my family and I) the 16 of us are going to Disneyland next week and I know Indiana Jones is one of those rides we have to go on….I cant wait!!!!

  • I rode this twice last Sunday. The voices in the well were working. I remember years ago reading the maraglyphs (many at&t ads) using the decoder card. Many of the glyphs look like the actual letters. You can pick out the word SECRET in several places. The queue was changed when fast passes were added. In order to allow the fast pass holders to get to the front of the line, most of the queue was moved outside the temple. Before Fast Passes, most of your time in the queue was spent inside the temple, and you had time more to read the maraglyphs on the wall.

  • Hey everyone! I just tried to put up my email cause I have a picture file of the decoder card I would send to anyone, but I guess that’s against the rules ha =/ But I found a ton of them on Google Images so check there if you want it!

    And yeah there’s an Eyore sign, you can ask the employee up by the screen to shine their flashlight on it. It’s back behind and above the projector 🙂

  • responding to Michael on March 3rd, 2010 at 2:15 pm
    yes I have a decoder card, they were issued by At&t.
    And i miss all the things working in the line too. Sometimes i wonder if i imagined things happening, but i know they did 🙂

  • I was there on the second day the ride was “officially” open. It was raining, and the atmosphere was awesome. It really felt as if I were in some dark, dank rainforest. I got on the ride 9 times that day. Not only do I have a bunch of the decoder cards, but I also have a matted and framed commemorative park passport. It’s #00571. Good Times!

  • …and how about Disneyland 55th b-day? Are we having a celebration this year? 🙂

  • Isn’t there also an old Eyore parking lot sign in the film room?

  • I remember the AT&T decoder cards they handed out when the ride first open too. Still one of the most popular rides in the park all these years later. I went there in December and there was almost a 2 hour wait.

  • 15 years already? Where has the time gone!? My kids and I love this ride. I wish they could keep all the mechanical things in the queue working though. And as others have posted, it does need some refurb. Either way, its always a “must ride” when we’re at the park.

  • My favorite D-land ride ever! I did notice a few things missing last time: The spikes coming out of the ceiling in the queue, also the “people” working down in the well that respond when you pull on the rope. I also miss the “key” cards that help you interpret the glyphs – even if some of them are AT&T ads! During the ride I really missed the fire effects on the bridge and the ride itself seemed “smoother”! I agree it could use an update. Right after “Star Tours”!

  • Has it really been 15 years?! Wow! I guess so since my husband & I did the babyswap thing in order to ride, and that baby has her driver’s license now! Still have my card I got at the big opening but my kids always want to FP it and never take time to interpret with me!!!

  • 15 years…wow I remember seeing 3 hour long waits that wrapped adown by jungle book ride, by the bath rooms and up to thunder mountain…..

  • I love this ride. The ride vehicle is still an amazing piece of technology!

  • I have a decoder card!!

    So funny, last weekend I was digging through some old stuff at my parents house and found the one I got during my senior trip 11 years ago. I was so excited to find it, and am definetly taking it with me when we visit in May.

  • I love this ride. It is one of my top 3 favorite rides in Disneyland. It would be wonderful if Disney would build this ride at Walt Disney World too perhaps in Disney’s Hollywood Studios! 🙂

  • I can’t believe it’s already been 15 years! I still love the ride. The only ‘non-working’ items on the ride I’ve noticed are in the queue. But I’m usually zipping through pretty fast so I barely notice.

    I remember my sister-in-law calling me from a trip to Disneyland when they were still testing the ride. My brother and nephew got to go on it and they loved it! I was so envious they got to go months before I would.

  • I was at Disneyland in ’95 with my senior class – what a blast for a senior trip!!! We were so excited to be one of the first groups to ride Indiana Jones -we waited in line for HOURS!!! It was fun though, I remember there were people at the entrance handing out cards with interpretation keys to interpret the “maraglyphs,” does anyone still have those? Is there a website or anything with the key on it? My wife never knew you could interpret them – I’d love to walk through it with her and read them together!

  • Don’t forget the other hidden gems, like the nostalgic Eeyore parking area sign in the film room? Or the hidden Mickey(s)!

  • How about a rehab to fix all the effects that haven’t worked in fifteen years?

    I love Indy, but it’s the only ride in the park that seems to have never been shut down for a MAJOR multi-month rehab. It needs it, badly.

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