The West Side of the Kingdom
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Part of the Indiana Jones queue and exit area

For those that have not yet experienced the Indiana Jones Adventure (it’s hard to imagine, but more people on Earth have not been on Indy than have), the basic premise is that you’re part of a "tourist" group that has come to the Lost Delta Region of Adventureland’s steaming jungles to behold the mysterious Temple of the Forbidden Eye first-hand. Thanks to a small company, set up by Sallah (John Rhys-Davies) of the Indiana Jones films, guests are able to board huge military troop transports and venture in to the temple. Once inside, visitors reportedly are granted either eternal youth, visions of the future or worldly riches beyond their wildest dreams. However, there is a catch; if anyone dares to look into the eyes of the temple’s stone guardian, Mara, all bets are off and the excursion becomes nothing short of a real nightmare. Famed archaeologist, Dr. Indiana Jones, has also traveled to the region to explore the temple. Unfortunately, trouble seems to be brewing; it’s been quite some time since anyone has heard from the adventurous Indiana Jones. Perhaps your journey into the temple will help find him.

In elaborate Disney fashion, guests are sent bouncing and swerving through the Temple of the Forbidden eye as an angry Mara tries to seal their fates. Along the way, riders are "coached" by Indiana Jones and are also in communication with Sallah as they avoid a slithering snake temple, crowded mummy chamber and a massive lava pit belching flame and gas. By all means, this is a true "E" Ticket attraction.

In its first six years however, there have been some disappointing set-backs. The ride system is very complex, and was designed to give riders a "random" experience each time they traveled through the show building. However, the software had several bugs to be worked out that Disneyland management felt were unnecessary to be fixed completely. Thus, the random elements of Indy aren’t quite as vast as Imagineers had intended.

One of the most visually exciting elements along the route was a group of "rocks" that were "blasted" from the temple ceiling by a laser firing from Mara’s eye in the main chamber. These rocks would come crashing down just feet away from the seemingly-out-of-control transport vehicle and into the fiery lava pool below. This was achieved with the use of a giant "ice machine." Every 18 seconds or so, roughly 60 pounds of ice would come crashing through the ceiling, free-falling past guests into the Chamber of Bubbling Death. Soon after the attraction opened, the massive ice machine began having technical problems, leading to its very premature demise. According to those in charge of the attraction, Disneyland has decided that this high-maintenance effect is not worth keeping up, so it’s sadly gone the way of the Ark of the Covenant.

Other technical difficulties persist in the attraction, including the infamous Rat Room. Known to most Indy adventurers as the great black nothing between the Chamber of Bubbling Death and the Dart Corridor toward the end of the ride, this rather large area originally hosted a wonderful effect that hasn’t operated properly since the attraction’s opening ceremonies. Projected on a very thin layer of mist, rats would scurry along a branch of a subterranean tree, directly in the path of the transport. Guests would come speeding into the darkness, only to see the obstruction coming head-on. The ride vehicles would drive directly into the mist screen, causing guests to scream and duck to avoid bodily harm. The "thud, thud, thud" of "falling rats" on the hood of the transports can still be heard in the on-board soundtrack and once the vehicle comes to a brief stand-still before entering the Dart Corridor, the sound of squeaking rats in the vehicle can also still be heard. It was a great effect that was loused up by the Anaheim Fire Department inspecting the attraction shortly after it opened and insisting that a very critical scene separator be left open between the Rat Room and the Dart Corridor. This causes a "vacuum" of sorts, never allowing the mist to re-generate properly; thus, the projection almost never works and most Disneyland guests today have no clue as to what that sequence is all about.