Ride Chambers
The chamber of Purity is the first
to visit. Mara and the warnings not too look in
her eyes are gone. Instead there is a large crystal
skull sitting ahead on a platform made up of a
coiled snake statue. Nothing in this entire attraction
is flat or simply painted on; rather it is all
constructed out of three dimensional sets and
textures. Of course visitors are not successful
in their efforts to sneak past the skull. Rather
the skull before them starts to glow brightly
and intense rays beam from its eyes. The Jeep
accelerates to avoid the peril.
Cresting an embankment, the guests
come face to face with the fabled Crystal Skull.
If the vehicle can move slowly and stealthily,
it can go past the Crystal Skull undetected and
the secrets of the temple will be within reach.
But a surprise backfire from the ill-maintained
vehicle breaks the reverential silence, alerting
and angering the Crystal Skull and unleashing
its supernatural powers.
Lightning effects. |
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Through the cavern you continue
as very nice electrical and lightning effects
fill the area all around. These bolts of electricity
cling to the cavern walls in shades of blues.
Up ahead Indy himself makes his appearance. As
in the American version he is trying to keep a
huge set of doors closed. He appears to be angry
with visitors and speaks entirely in Japanese
as he turns them away. At this part the track
layout is identical to the Disneyland
counterpart so the jeeps turn left and head in
towards the main chamber.
Entering the massive central chamber
visitors notice a few differences from what they
are used to seeing in the states. First of all
the giant face of Mara has been replaced, again,
by a large stone skull. The color scheme of the
lighting and the effects have moved from the hot
red and oranges of the original attraction to
cool hues of blue and green, more fitting for
the fountain of youth theme. Finally, directly
in front of and between visitors and the giant
skull is a whirling vortex smoke effect that looks
like a blue whirling tornado!
Jeeps veer to the left and rumble
through the chamber filled with skeletons and
skulls. Then on to the bug chamber. As we are
used to, our headlights flicker on and illuminate
the walls full of creepy crawling bugs. However
the effect here is much better than back home.
I am not sure what they have done differently
but these bugs look three dimensional and much
more convincing. While they still are a projected
effect they do not look artificial or flat like
they sometimes do on the original ride.
As the jeeps depart this cavern
and head across the central bridge a burst of
smoke hits visitors, still there is no flame or
fire. Instead there is a spinning vortex, now
to our right, and to the left we have the massive
skull. Beams of blue and green light shoot from
the skull's eyes; the music is in full swing and
the bridge rocks and sways from beneath. We gun
it and cross the bridge before hurling to the
left and around the back of the skull.
The ride continues with a series
of stone dragon sculptures similar to those seen
in the queue. In place of the oversized and fake
looking snake seen in the U.S. Indy ride there
is a fully animated dragon about the same size
as the snake. The dragon lunges at visitors as
the jeeps pitch down, going lower and curving
around the back edge of the skull. There they
find yet another crystal skull. A smaller one
is perched to their left and still glows angrily.
The rest of the chamber is filled with catacombs
brimming with skeletal remains.
Through some more mostly dark chambers
the jeeps creep up onto one of the nicest new
additions to the adventure. In Anaheim this would
be the rat room.
There before visitors is a long
hallway and the jeeps come to a complete stop.
At the far end is a large stone face carved into
the wall. His mouth is agape. The engine rumbles
back to life and the jeeps start accelerating
towards the carving. Suddenly and with a deep
sound a huge smoke ring emerges from the carving's
mouth. The jeeps head straight towards and then
through the smoke hooking to the right before
hitting the wall.
Next up is the dart run. The jeep
comes to another full stop as we contemplate crossing
another long hallway. Unlike the simply painted
flat walls at Disneyland, in Tokyo there are fully
three dimensional figures lining the room. Visitors
make their run as jets of air blast us, the sound
of darts whirling over our heads.
The climax to the ride is identical
to the U.S. version. We see Indy hanging above
wildly yelling for help (again, in Japanese).
Soon the giant stone ball roars forward and jeeps
roll back a bit, then the vehicle plows straight
ahead towards it. Only at what then seems the
very last second, they drop down under the giant
ball to safety. Indy is then seen one last time,
safe and sound, and he bids us goodbye as we enter
the unload station.
Also at the end of each ride you
get a chance to buy a photo from the fast drop
at the end of the ride. It is very funny to see
the scared faces, even if you don't buy the photo.
The attraction is almost a virtual
copy of the original Disneyland
version. The setting and queue are wholly unique
to this park but the actual ride is more or less
the same. But in DisneySea
it has a more polished feel to it. The upgraded
bugs effect as well as the new smoke ring trick
are great. The tornado vortex is also a great
new addition. However the improvements come at
a cost. They removed the pyro and the flame effects
which were some of the most effective elements
from the original ride. The hot red and orange
color scheme of the original was more effective
since it reminded the Temple
of Doom mine chase, as somehow the cool
colors seem too calming and not as alarming as
the original pallet. Finally the actual jeep's
movements, while still wild and extreme, seem
somehow more in control and less random than the
American counterpart.
Once off the show visitors can pay
a visit to the Outfitters,
the Indy merchandise shop, for nice Indy wear,
toys and merchandise to take the Indy feeling
home. |