| | |
| Discussion Boards | Reviews | News | Trip Planning | Shop | Travel | Site Map |
| Disneyland Information Guide Archive | |
| Our retired guide on visiting the park. For current info, see Park Updates: Disneyland |
|
|
|
INDY is Disneyland's best thrill ride. If you can imagine the STAR TOURS simulator technology built into a jeep and driving you along inside of a detailed Pirates-type of attraction at bumpy MATTERHORN speed, then you'll have a pretty good idea of what all the excitement is about. You'll even be amazed at the work they put in the line, since you will be walking through a queue with extremely detailed movie-type settings and interactive elements throughout. (There are even booby-traps that can set off by touching or grabbing things that signs tell you not to.) DL and ride sponsor AT&T no longer provides everyone with a souvenir wallet card at the entrance to keep you busy decoding all the wall writings and carvings - which was hard to do since the line moves so fast. But thanks to the fine folks at Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) you can now get the "Mara" font for your own computer. (See section BRING DL HOME for details on how to obtain it.) Below I've gone ahead and included a quick decoder graphic (which you can print out if you'd like). If you look at it long enough you'll find the letters easy enough to decipher.  [If you're serious about really learning the alphabet, JIM SWENSON swensonj@dimcom.net has created a JavaScript site to help you learn to read the messages in the queue for Indy. You can visit it at THIS NEW SITE.] When you reach the massive high-ceiling boarding area, you'll load onto a Jeep-like military Hummer-type 12 passenger "troop transport" which takes you inside an ancient jungle temple, where you are warned NOT to look into the eyes of the goddess Mara. Since of course it is impossible for anyone to avoid this due to those clever Imagineers' design, all hell breaks loose as the goddess wreaks all sorts of havoc making for a very wild, almost brutal, chase inside the temple. (Although it only supposedly travels at 12 MPH, the stunning hydraulic effects help to simulate speeds of up to 60 MPH.) BEWARE - this is one of the more turbulent rides Disney has created, it can make STAR TOURS and the MATTERHORN seem very tame. If you have back or neck problems, stay away, it can be merciless. Notably this is also the first time an amusement park ride has been programmed like a video game, with many subtle event variations. You'll drive each time through one of three different doors, and each vehicle has then also been programmed to move and react differently in where and how it delays, stalls, bucks or turns over the same track in the three-and-a-half minute ride. Even Indy himself will have one of several different things to say each time you see him. There really are some great illusions here, (if you're not just holding on for dear life) and for the first time this ride also lets you actually FEEL some of those special effects that up until now have only been seen on the big screen. This is simply an amazing new ride experience. Whatever you do at Disneyland, don't miss it. Even with a top loading speed of about 2400 people an hour (more than "Pirates"), this ride gets quickly swamped with huge lines in the mornings. It is best to AVOID this attraction first thing in the day - and go ahead and pick up a FastPass for it. If you don't want to get a FastPass, save riding Indy for the lull that comes during parade or show times, or even better yet, just before the park closes. Thankfully the lines move quickly, so you won't have time to get bored. TIP: Keep in mind even though this ride has been up and running now for awhile that you can still expect breakdowns during the day. Best advice here is to keep waiting, since they are up and running very quickly for the most part. |
|
|
-Copyright © MousePlanetô Inc. | Really Scary Legal Page & Privacy Policy |