The Indiana Jones Adventure is now nearly 25 years old. The Once Hightech Enhanced Motion Vehicle ride utilizes old-school special effects to take you on an adventure ride through underground caverns past boiling Lava and dodging poison arrows and Giant Boulders. But with an Aging Franchise and Ride Tech can Indy still cut it? Find out with our Indiana Jones Adventure Review.
- Location – Disneyland Park – Adventure Land
- Type – EMV Dark Ride
- Duration – 3:25 Mins
- Height Restriction – 46 In
- Average Queue time – 10mins – 60 Mins
- Genie+ – YES
- Single Rider – NO
- Additional Info – Fantastic Queue, old-school Special effects, and great fun.
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Thrill Rating
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Fun
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Smoothness and Comfort
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Uniqueness and Theming
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Value For Time
What is Indiana Jones Adventure
The Indiana Jones Ride is an Enhanced Motion Vehicle Dark Ride. So it’s indoors in the Dark, on a track-mounted car that drives slowly around the track. The top part of the vehicle is able to tilt forward and backward and side to side to simulate a wide variety of actions. This is matched with old-school special effects such as lighting fog and air blasts to immerse you in the adventure.
Obviously, the ride is themed on the Indiana Jones Film Franchise, despite this being an aging franchise it’s still very popular with all ages…Who doesn’t love Indiana right? The Back Story is a bit tenuous and not really necessary, all you need to know is you are headed on a raucous adventure through a supernatural temple with predictable results.
Queue
The In-depth theming begins in the queue area where you enter an incredibly well-planted jungle setting. The Imagineers have done a fantastic job of the queue line and you quickly forget you are in Los Angeles and are transported to a dense jungle, the temple entrance peeking from behind the dense vegetation. Inside the great theming continues as the back story is revealed by hidden telegrams and Newsreel footage.
The queue theming is excellent with interactive elements such as falling roof spikes and a trapped scientist, there are many hidden and encoded elements and easter eggs to look out for, while the whole temple is just incredibly well-detailed and immersive. It is a great queue line.
The Story is you are on an expedition with Jones who has uncovered a temple inhabited by a deity who has been known to grant gifts to some plucky entrants but others go missing, Dr. Jones has gone ahead into the temple but gone missing so now it’s your turn to go look for him and other missing guests. Eventually, you get to the loading dock where you board the Ride Vehicle, a Large Military truck to continue the adventure on wheels.
Single Rider
The Single rider line has been removed from Indiana Jones, you may still see references to it online but it is no longer on the official list.
Genie+
You can skip the queue with the Genie+ service. We found it quite hard to get early on, but later on, in the day, it was pretty much available as an instant selection.
Ride Experience
The Ride starts out with you choosing a door, well it is chosen for you, and you receive a gift of either gold, eternal youth, or future-seeing ability as you enter the room beyond the door. Clever light shows depict the randomly chosen prize as the face of the Deity Mara appears. All you need to do, to leave the temple, both alive and with the said gift, is not to look into his eye. Naturally, someone does and off we go on our rollercoaster adventure to the Gates of Doom!
Luckily these gates are being held shut by the man himself, Indy, and you are spared this fate. Instead, the ride navigates Lave Pools, Snake Pits, Rats, Poison Darts, and finally, a giant boulder threatens to crush the ride vehicle and a dangling Indiana. After a miraculous escape, you are back at the loading bay greeted by a random phrase from the good Dr.
Overall
Overall the ride was a complete triumph back in its day. Today, however, with such stiff competition from ever-increasingly technological masterpieces, it struggles to live up to the competition. But It still manages to compete and does so by sheer attention to detail and immersion.
The Ride mechanics are dated and dull, but the tricks and special effects catapult it into a fully immersive and exciting experience. The first time we rode it we were genuinely amazed this was first built in 1995 and it’s stood the test of time incredibly well. The Ride is in pristine condition and the theming is so comprehensive it is a real joy to experience.
We seriously love Indys Adventure and while it is no white-knuckle thrill ride it is a fantastically fun experience and enjoyable from the entrance right through to the exit gate. An absolute must-ride at Disneyland.
Have Your Say
Have you ridden Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland California? What did you think? can it mix it with the high-tech rides of today or is it an outdated dinosaur? We love it but some just feel it’s not got it anymore. Which camp are you in? Maybe you rode it years ago when it was new and groundbreaking? how do you feel it’s aged? Let us know in the comments if you have anything to say!