Last week, Disneyland held two Annual Passholder event nights celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Indiana Jones Adventure. We were fortunate enough to attend the second night and it did not disappoint.
The check-in process was way swift and hassle-free. At the end of getting passes scanned and getting a wrist band, cast members were handing out great commemorative fliers with decoder cards. You can still get these cards by asking Cast Members at the attraction, FYI.
Walking in, the park had already closed for the regular operating day with Main St. remaining open for guests, so it was straight to Adventureland. For this event, Adventureland, Frontierland, and New Orleans Square were accessible to attendees. All of the attractions between them were operational as well.
The Rivers of America played Indy queue music and had an 11:30pm showing of Fantasmic. It was really nice seeing it all lit up in blue, purple and green lighting playing 1920-1940’s music through an “old radio”. From there, a majority of the Indy related events took place directly in front of the attraction with an awesome Tony Baxter hosted panel over in Frontierland.
In Adventureland, an awesome live band played. Poking around, I found out they all had the last name “Jones” and they wore fez hats! Unfortunately, I only heard them playing “Putting on the Ritz” while Indy had a ball around them (pun intended) but never got a chance to watch them play. Indy could be found conquering the infamous rolling boulder and interacted with guests. Mostly thorough pun. Walking around the area was a gypsy woman named Mara who tested our ability to avoid the eye of Mara. She was awesome.
Tarzan’s treehouse was used as a backdrop for “spontaneous” stunt shows which we missed every time. Heard it, ran over and missed it. Thank you internet for filling in that blank!
Towards the end of the night, we caught the awesome Tony Baxter panel. Tons of opening day footage, concept art, and unused media for the attraction were shown and talked about. Tony really conveys enthusiasm and love for this attraction and it was pretty awesome hearing him speak. We found out that they do not call the transports “Jeeps” and the writings on the walls are called Maraglyphis. The obelisk room has the initials of the all the imagineers that worked on the attraction with the last pair belonging to the Frank Wells, Disneyland president who died shortly before the attraction was completed.
After the panel, Fantasmic! started and I found myself alone as my group went to see the showing. So I walked around Adventureland. I found CMs handing out Safari style hats and grabbed one for myself. I then spent the rest of my night taking in the sights and sounds of one of my favorite spots in the parks. This is also where I ran into Mara. I had a blast talking to her.
I enjoyed this AP event so much! It was perfect and I have to agree with some twitter chat that it adds a little more value to being an AP holder.
Did you attend? If so, tell us about your experience! Would you like to see more events like this? I know I would.
Cheers!
*i
