Indiana Jones: Exiting the Temple

A few weeks ago, we took a trip through the amazing entry queue of Disneyland's Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye. Today, we're finally dropping the other shoe and hiking along the equally lengthy (but far less creepy) exit passage.

We're still giddy from the thrill of the ride, but it's about here that everyone suddenly realizes that, yes, it is a long way back to Adventureland. Love the off-kilter lamps provided by the archeological team--a subtle sign that we're safe and returning to a more familiar form of civilization.

The journey's not without a few creepy touches. Listen for the sound of bats squealing and flapping about inside these caverns.

Indiana Jones and the Long...Long...Long Entry

Today's post is rated PG-13, because we're heading into the wondrous, occasionally gruesome, amazing--and amazingly long--entry to Disneyland's Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye.

The ride is a huge, sprawling, multi-level Adventureland attraction -- which Disneyland's Adventureland has absolutely no space for. The clever solution involved building the ride's entrance and exit (set in a ramshackle base camp) on a modest strip of Adventureland real estate, while locating the ride itself far, far away on the other side of the park's railroad tracks.

The journey to the ride thus becomes an adventure in itself and an important part of the story. Darn good exercise, too.

The base camp setting and "recently discovered" temple entry immediately cast us as the main characters in this story. It's our decision to enter this temple.

Indiana Jones Fastpass

Today we take a look at the Fastpass waiting time display tower for the Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye -- and what a wild, goofball, ramshackle-looking construction it is. Disneyland's Adventureland is more or less themed around the idea of Western civilization sticking its nose into places and situations where it doesn't belong, and that goes double for the Indy ride's entry area.

What a gloriously intentional mess this thing is. By all rights, it should look awful, but its crazy angles and mismatched materials make it all the more fun to look at. It's also a great foreshadowing of the chaos that awaits ahead, and a clue that the archeological camp you're about to enter is not run by the best-funded or most well-organized explorers on Earth. Call me paranoid, but if you put your trust in those guys, there's a very good chance something is going to go horribly wrong...