Indiana Jones Land

The final installment of Indiana Jones comes out this weekend, and while reviews have been mixed for Harrison Ford’s final outing, the fandom for Dr. Henry Jones, Jr. remains strong.   Indy has maintained a presence in the Disney parks for years with Indiana Jones and the Forbidden Eye at Disneyland, the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular at Hollywood Studios, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril at Disneyland Paris.  

But couldn’t there be more?  

I was reminded of this Yesterworld video that explored Blue Sky designs to build an Indiana Jones “land” as part of a refurb of Adventureland in Disneyland.  As the video explains (and is definitely worth watching), then CEO Michael Eisner panned the proposed Adventureland refurb in favor of Splash Mountain.  Disneyland did get the Forbidden Eye ride (which remains a fan favorite) but there could have been so much more.  

Which leads us to this thought:  why can’t Disney put an Indiana Jones themed land in another park.  And you might be asking yourself “Where would it go?”  Well we have an idea….

Yes, that is Disney’s Animal Kingdom.  And before you start yelling “INDIANA JONES HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ANIMALS,” just hear us out.  Dinoland is a fun but, aside from Dinosaur, and otherwise forgettable experience within DAK.  Our proposed Indiana Jones land would be based in Egypt.  Dinosaur would be re-themed to an Indiana Jones adventure through the pyramids.  This wouldn’t be a particular difficult transition since the ride vehicle are a clone from Indiana Jones and the Forbidden Eye at Disneyland.  

 The Boneyard could also very easily be re-themed from a dinosaur dig site to an archeological dig site. 

The new land would also feature a meet-and-greet with Indiana Jones (of course) and a new restaurant that would serve a mix of Egyptian classics with other adventurous fare.  And of course, snakes - lots and lots of snakes.