Once upon a time, theme park lands were defined by general concepts. A collection of attractions based on ideas like “fantasy” or a medium like comic strips was all that was needed for different rides to share space. But for the past 15 years, things have been very different.
In 2010, the first Wizarding World of Harry Potter land opened at Universal Orlando Resort. This was followed by a second land at Universal’s other park, as well as new lands from Disney World, including Pandora: the World of Avatar and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. These theme park lands aren’t simply offering similar attractions, but an immersive experience that covers every moment you spend in the land.
Immersive Theme Park Lands Are The New Normal
If anybody is curious what the future of theme park lands looks like, one only needs to look at the world’s newest theme park. Universal Orlando’s Epic Universe has five new lands, and four of them use the same immersive concept. Not only do we have a third Wizarding World of Harry Potter but Super Nintendo World, How to Train Your Dragon - Isle of Berk, and Dark Universe, all attempting to make you feel like you’re in another world even when you’re not on a ride.
There’s a lot to be said for this style of theme park experience. Theme parks are, by their nature, supposed to make you feel like you’ve left the real world, and these lands arguably do that better than anything that came before. Universal Creative gets the credit for having launched the concept, and they certainly did it admirably.
However, if history had gone slightly differently, it’s possible that Disneyland could have developed the first theme park land dedicated to a specific franchise, as there were once plans to transform most, if not all, of Adventureland into an Indiana Jones adventure.
Indiana Jones Nearly Took Over Disneyland’s Adventureland
When Michael Eisner took over the Walt Disney Company in the late 1980s, he decided that one thing the parks needed more of was attractions that appealed to audiences other than small children and their parents. As part of his new initiative, he began to work with George Lucas. Through Lucas, he began projects that would result in the creation of Star Tours, the debut of Captain EO with Michael Jackson. Following that success, Eisner turned his eye toward another popular Lucas property in the early 1990s, Indiana Jones.
He tasked Walt Disney Imagineering with developing an attraction based on Harrison Ford’s action hero. They did not disappoint. Not only did they come up with an idea, but they came up with several. Concepts included a Mine Cart roller coaster inspired by the chase sequence in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, a biplane flight attraction, a temple maze, and more.
The idea grew to the point that the existing Adventureland attraction, the Jungle Cruise, and even the Disneyland Railroad would become part of the larger Indiana Jones experience. In the end, there was a concept to not simply make one attraction, but rather to do them all. The idea would have encompassed most or all of Adventureland.
In the end, it simply proved too costly to pull off everything that Imagineering wanted to do, according to Imagineer Tony Baxter in the series Behind the Attraction…
[Eisner] looked at the total to do the Mine Cart Ride and the maze, and the temple, and the obvious thing was to scale it back to the big event.
As it happened, Imagineering had recently developed a new ride vehicle with a built-in motion system, which wound up being perfect for the temple exploration attraction idea, and thus it was chosen to be the Indiana Jones attraction fans would ultimately get.
And Indiana Jones Land Today Could Be Something Special
The idea of transforming one of the original lands of Disneyland into something based on an IP, and not even one created by Disney, is the sort of thing that would give purists hives today. I’m not sure I would entirely be in favor of it myself. All of the existing theme park lands dedicated to single IPs have been part of major park expansions, which surely is part of the reason that fans don’t mind them as much.
But, as somebody who largely enjoys the immersive elements of those other lands, I still can’t help wondering what an Indiana Jones-themed land would have been like if it had actually happened. Walking into an area that looks like an archeological dig, with multiple attractions, is just the sort of thing we would expect to see if such a land were built today. While the concept was deemed too expensive at the time, if there had been any indication then that such an idea would mean such big business, one imagines Disney would have paid that bill.
It’s not hard to imagine the sorts of things we would have found in an Indiana Jones-themed land if it had been built in the style of theme park lands today. There’d be a tavern called Ravenwood’s. Maybe we’d get an Indian Restaurant that served ice cream for dessert, served in a plastic monkey skull.
Of course, considering that nobody turned out for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, it seems that the high-water mark of Indy’s fame is gone, and thus getting an Indiana Jones-themed land in the future is all but impossible.
Indy will be part of Disney Parks for a long time. Indiana Jones Adventure is still one of the most popular rides at Disneyland. The Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is still going strong, despite numerous rumors of its end over the years. We’re even getting a brand new Indy attraction at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The Mine Cart ride can even be found today at Disneyland Paris. There’s so much Indy at Disney Parks that he could fill his own land. Part of me really wishes he did.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
