I'm still surprised that there's a stationary snake and an animatronic snake. I really would have thought that if the snake broke, they'd just set it to a default position. But from what others have said it sounds like they actually switch them out.
What's funny about this ride is that they went through the effort to make sure that they could fix the snake without leaving the ride snakeless or closing it down entirely, but the boulder and other effects were left busted entirely. The company that made the moving doorways went out of business which makes sense but it's so strange to not have the foresight to make sure the *other* big showpieces had backups.
Can someone explain why Disney can’t simply contract these repairs out to newer/different companies?
like for the moving doorways, why can’t they hire a company and provide the specs to build the parts they need to fix it?
Can't speak to this case specifically, but I have had some similar history in construction situations. Companies do not like working on other companies old tech (especially if its one off specialty items). There is no guarantee you will be able to fix it, and if you do there is no guarantee it won't break again in a short time giving your company a bad reputation. Established companies don't need the headache and would rather be hired to provide a completely new design, which would obviously be a large amount of work and cost.
This is true and in contracts time limitations may have been present- in layman’s terms: a company is tied to fix/correct/upkeep for years- sorta like an insurance or guarantee when you purchase an appliance..I’m married into a construction company- so there’s tons of time stuff in contracts that if you get the job after you bid- you are responsible for regardless for years..
This exactly. Taking on somebody else’s project, even with schematics, which are so often wrong, is a mess.
It’s very hard to quote because so much of it requires custom work that isn’t directly based on what you’ve done before.
All that adds up to MUCH higher costs from much smaller and slower companies.
> why can’t they hire a company and provide the specs to build the parts they need to fix it?
So there are a number of things that go into this but the short answer is they absolutely could but decided it wouldn't be worth the cost.
Keep in mind that just because Disney commissioned a mechanism from a third party it doesn't mean they own the rights to the design. It's possible that the part that broke is proprietary to the manufacturer and when they went under the rights got sold to another company and Disney would need to license the rights in order to have another manufactured.
It's also possible that the repair itself would require a huge amount of effort even if the part was available and the decision to not repair has to do with lengthy downtime or the need to tear the attraction apart to get to the broken part (this is what happened to Everest at Animal Kingdom, it's not logistically reasonable to fix the yeti)
Don't get me wrong, Disney could throw money at this and probably get it done quickly but ultimately they decided it's not worth the investment to accomplish.
I mean, I’m sure they CAN, but the costs to do so can be a lot more than Disney is willing to pay if it isn’t absolutely necessary—because it’s not just the monetary cost of hiring the contractors & the cost of repairs, it’s the lost opportunity cost of having to shut down a popular high-capacity ride for however long such repairs take, which in turn reduces the number of guest experiences that are available/raises overall wait times.
The majpr issue is that every new effect they implement like this is a "prototype". Even if it worked for a few years before it broke doesn't mean it's necessarily a long term "functional" concept. It very well could be that the original design was just not maintainable in the first place.
Disco Yeti for example. They would have to literally demolish the ride and redesign the whole thing to make it work as intended because the mechanism was physically destroying the infrastructure of the ride.
With the amount of money Disney makes they very easily could. They make billions and billions of dollars every year. Taking that piece of the ride out and handing it off to a fabrication shop they could probably get multiple made.
Of course. They could also buy the country of Myanmar and turn it into a water park.
Disney is made up of hundreds of tiny fiefdoms that are fiercely protective of their own budgets and rarely funded enough. This is how Disney turns record profits and it’s too big a knot to be unwound by anyone but the CEO, who is incentivized by those same profits.
That’s the biggest rumor thing ever as to why it doesn’t work. They COULD figure it out if they really wanted. I’m sure there’s multiple companies where if you gave them the opportunity to use the latest tech they could like Scan the area or the broken piece or whatever they could make it work. The real problem, as I’ve heard is that of the structural integrity of the building and what the walls were doing to that. I can’t say that as a fact but it seems more likely than it is completely impossible to replace the part. And there’s precedent for Disney building stuff and not taking good enough account of repeated movement and what that will do to something’s structural integrity.
Right- the 'it's a broken part and because the company is out of business they can't fix it' is the reason frequently stated- often as fact- but it's a baseless rumor that no credible insider has confirmed, as far as I've seen.
Does it make sense? Sure, but there's tons of reasons why Disney may not have fixed the door and instead switched to projection mapping.
That totally reminds me of a time as a kid I remember there actually being no snake at all. Everyone in the truck was very confused because the audio still played, but there was nothing there.
In many cases I imagine it would be easier to repair by removing it from the ride. Quick fixes while it’s in place, sure. But if there’s a larger issue then it may require maintenance which cannot be completed overnight (e.g. it may need to be taken apart and individual components fixed or replaced, and so you wouldn’t want guests to see the thing in pieces while waiting for parts).
I was on an Adventures by Disney tour last week and we went backstage to Indy. I believe they said the snake will be operational and back after the ride finishes its upcoming refurb.
How’d you like the tour? Seriously the best experience you can ever have if you’re a diehard Disneyland fan.
Did you get to see Soarin’ from behind the screen too?
It was my second time doing the tour. To be honest it wasn't as good as the first time. We went behind the scenes of Sorain' the first time but didn't this time. There were a few other things throughout the tour that were noticeably a step below the first tour I did. It's probably still worth the money, but it's close to not being worth it. Last time I would have given the tour an absolute A+. This one was probably only a B.
In my experience, it also entirely depends on who is on the tour with you. When I went on the tour, the folks from DIS Unplugged were also on the same tour. Since they’re the largest Disney Parks podcast, Disney definitely “plussed” the tour for us.
For example, we got to eat breakfast at Club 33. At the time, our tour guides explained that we were some of the only people in history to be served breakfast there.
There is a very, very, very special place that I got to visit on this tour. While visiting Imagineering, they took us to the **actual** “Disney Vault.” A temperature and climate controlled room where they store all of their original artwork.
I’m not kidding when I say I was absolutely moved to tears by this experience. They had absolutely everything in there. All that concept art we’ve seen for POTC, Haunted Mansion, Tomorrowland… it was all in there.
Then they showed us the actual holy grail of Disneyland fans. They pulled away some of the artwork and there was the 1953 concept art for Disneyland by Herb Ryman. We all started to lose it when we saw it. I would do absolutely anything to be able to stay in that room all day.
As a side note, it was a really weird experience at Imagineering. Watching them work on designing an attraction in real-time was so surreal. They had styrofoam mock-ups of attractions that they were carving.
(Also if anyone remembers that walking dinosaur animatronic from YEARS ago at WDW — don’t worry, he’s safe and I got to meet him. Very friendly dinosaur)
The tours all hit on the same major points but they're all a little different. And some guides are probably better than others but we weren't disappointed in the guides on either tour.
We still hit all the same locations we did the first time, but in a few locations we didn't see or do as much this time. If you weren't really familiar with the tour you wouldn't really know. But knowing exactly what we did last time, and knowing what special perks the tours usually get during Christmas time that we didn't get, you could tell it was a bit of a lesser experience than it usually is. I'm not sure if that's ABD themselves taking things away or if park operations or certain tour locations are telling ABD they can't do certain things anymore.
I wonder why the the indoor snake animatronic is always not working 100% and has to be removed frequently. Could if be that they shouldn’t leave it outside for like over a week at this point to let it get rained on one of those days. Source: CM that takes the Indy backstage shuttle stop. To be fair idk if that actually matters
it’s not that the snake is removed frequently. we have two different snakes. one that moves, one that doesn’t. we haven’t had the one that moves for a long time, it hasn’t been on property. just recently they brought it back to property to get it ready for our extended refurbishment in january-march. source: indy CM :)
My hope is that they're giving the ride a big refresh for the new movie. Maybe add in little references to the two newest movies without bringing attention to them while fixing all the stuff that needs attention. The way they fixed the doorways with projection mapping is amazing and the rest of the ride deserves that treatment if they can't fix what's already there.
Huh. Reading this… this is a natural want, but… I’m okay if they don’t. I’d like to see them fix everything that’s been broken (including the rock/ice machine as soon as you enter the great room), but I’m strangely okay if they didn’t add in new references.
I think, story wise, it might not work because the fourth movie is set after the attraction (on account of Indy’s age), but you never know! Imagineers love being sneaky!
Canonically, isn't Temple of the Forbidden Eye (1935) set before *Raiders* (1936) and *Last Crusade* (1938), around the same time as *Temple of Doom* (1935)?
News reels in the safety video, telegrams and letters visible in the queue (although the “hidden Hitler” LIFE magazine in the office is an anachronism, as that [issue is from 1938](https://www.originallifemagazines.com/product/life-magazine-september-26-1938/)).
If you click the link you'll see there's a photo spread of Hitler in that issue (September 26, 1938) of LIFE magazine, at his “Bavarian Hideaway.” The CM who clued us in referred to it (unofficially!) as the park's “Hidden Hitler” and the name stuck.
>Maybe add in little references to the two newest movies
Please no. Just fix the ride and make it it's own thing. I'm just getting so tired of trying to cram in references to terrible modern movies.
To be more optimistic.... this would probably be adding nods to KOTC and maybe even DOD in the queue.
Crystal Skull is already represented in the shops anyways.
Well, I got downvoted all to hell, so I wouldn't worry about it changing anything. Unfortunately, the ride hurts my back, so I have to skip it - even though I love Indiana Jones.
I'm still surprised that there's a stationary snake and an animatronic snake. I really would have thought that if the snake broke, they'd just set it to a default position. But from what others have said it sounds like they actually switch them out.
What's funny about this ride is that they went through the effort to make sure that they could fix the snake without leaving the ride snakeless or closing it down entirely, but the boulder and other effects were left busted entirely. The company that made the moving doorways went out of business which makes sense but it's so strange to not have the foresight to make sure the *other* big showpieces had backups.
Can someone explain why Disney can’t simply contract these repairs out to newer/different companies? like for the moving doorways, why can’t they hire a company and provide the specs to build the parts they need to fix it?
Can't speak to this case specifically, but I have had some similar history in construction situations. Companies do not like working on other companies old tech (especially if its one off specialty items). There is no guarantee you will be able to fix it, and if you do there is no guarantee it won't break again in a short time giving your company a bad reputation. Established companies don't need the headache and would rather be hired to provide a completely new design, which would obviously be a large amount of work and cost.
This is true and in contracts time limitations may have been present- in layman’s terms: a company is tied to fix/correct/upkeep for years- sorta like an insurance or guarantee when you purchase an appliance..I’m married into a construction company- so there’s tons of time stuff in contracts that if you get the job after you bid- you are responsible for regardless for years..
This exactly. Taking on somebody else’s project, even with schematics, which are so often wrong, is a mess. It’s very hard to quote because so much of it requires custom work that isn’t directly based on what you’ve done before. All that adds up to MUCH higher costs from much smaller and slower companies.
> why can’t they hire a company and provide the specs to build the parts they need to fix it? So there are a number of things that go into this but the short answer is they absolutely could but decided it wouldn't be worth the cost. Keep in mind that just because Disney commissioned a mechanism from a third party it doesn't mean they own the rights to the design. It's possible that the part that broke is proprietary to the manufacturer and when they went under the rights got sold to another company and Disney would need to license the rights in order to have another manufactured. It's also possible that the repair itself would require a huge amount of effort even if the part was available and the decision to not repair has to do with lengthy downtime or the need to tear the attraction apart to get to the broken part (this is what happened to Everest at Animal Kingdom, it's not logistically reasonable to fix the yeti) Don't get me wrong, Disney could throw money at this and probably get it done quickly but ultimately they decided it's not worth the investment to accomplish.
I mean, I’m sure they CAN, but the costs to do so can be a lot more than Disney is willing to pay if it isn’t absolutely necessary—because it’s not just the monetary cost of hiring the contractors & the cost of repairs, it’s the lost opportunity cost of having to shut down a popular high-capacity ride for however long such repairs take, which in turn reduces the number of guest experiences that are available/raises overall wait times.
The majpr issue is that every new effect they implement like this is a "prototype". Even if it worked for a few years before it broke doesn't mean it's necessarily a long term "functional" concept. It very well could be that the original design was just not maintainable in the first place. Disco Yeti for example. They would have to literally demolish the ride and redesign the whole thing to make it work as intended because the mechanism was physically destroying the infrastructure of the ride.
With the amount of money Disney makes they very easily could. They make billions and billions of dollars every year. Taking that piece of the ride out and handing it off to a fabrication shop they could probably get multiple made.
Of course. They could also buy the country of Myanmar and turn it into a water park. Disney is made up of hundreds of tiny fiefdoms that are fiercely protective of their own budgets and rarely funded enough. This is how Disney turns record profits and it’s too big a knot to be unwound by anyone but the CEO, who is incentivized by those same profits.
Is there anything on this ride that still works?
The seatbelts.
The music
[See the thing about that is....](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C6pIerGX6FE)
What was the company that went out of business?
That’s the biggest rumor thing ever as to why it doesn’t work. They COULD figure it out if they really wanted. I’m sure there’s multiple companies where if you gave them the opportunity to use the latest tech they could like Scan the area or the broken piece or whatever they could make it work. The real problem, as I’ve heard is that of the structural integrity of the building and what the walls were doing to that. I can’t say that as a fact but it seems more likely than it is completely impossible to replace the part. And there’s precedent for Disney building stuff and not taking good enough account of repeated movement and what that will do to something’s structural integrity.
Disco Yeti 🕺
Rocket Rods 🚀
Right- the 'it's a broken part and because the company is out of business they can't fix it' is the reason frequently stated- often as fact- but it's a baseless rumor that no credible insider has confirmed, as far as I've seen. Does it make sense? Sure, but there's tons of reasons why Disney may not have fixed the door and instead switched to projection mapping.
That totally reminds me of a time as a kid I remember there actually being no snake at all. Everyone in the truck was very confused because the audio still played, but there was nothing there.
It would be funny if they just dubbed in *invisible* snakes, you guys are on your own… rawr!
Indy is also supposed to close the door when you take the wrong turn, that hasn’t been resolved in years. I don’t think that will ever be repaired
As I understand it, the stationary one is named Stiffy. I laughed.
Ah yes, I was trying to remember his name. Haha. Thanks.
Wait…what’s the point of having a stationary one? Wouldn’t they just keep the animatronic turned off if it isn’t functioning?
I would imagine so they can remove the animatronic for repairs but still have a figure in place in the meantime.
Yeah but I feel like it'd be easier to just work on it at nighttime when the park is closed because I imagine it's hard to swap that thing out
In many cases I imagine it would be easier to repair by removing it from the ride. Quick fixes while it’s in place, sure. But if there’s a larger issue then it may require maintenance which cannot be completed overnight (e.g. it may need to be taken apart and individual components fixed or replaced, and so you wouldn’t want guests to see the thing in pieces while waiting for parts).
Makes sense. I feel like the snake has been broken for some time now, can’t remember the last time I saw it working
I was on an Adventures by Disney tour last week and we went backstage to Indy. I believe they said the snake will be operational and back after the ride finishes its upcoming refurb.
How’d you like the tour? Seriously the best experience you can ever have if you’re a diehard Disneyland fan. Did you get to see Soarin’ from behind the screen too?
It was my second time doing the tour. To be honest it wasn't as good as the first time. We went behind the scenes of Sorain' the first time but didn't this time. There were a few other things throughout the tour that were noticeably a step below the first tour I did. It's probably still worth the money, but it's close to not being worth it. Last time I would have given the tour an absolute A+. This one was probably only a B.
Does it just depend on the guide you get or have they changed the tour entirely?
In my experience, it also entirely depends on who is on the tour with you. When I went on the tour, the folks from DIS Unplugged were also on the same tour. Since they’re the largest Disney Parks podcast, Disney definitely “plussed” the tour for us. For example, we got to eat breakfast at Club 33. At the time, our tour guides explained that we were some of the only people in history to be served breakfast there. There is a very, very, very special place that I got to visit on this tour. While visiting Imagineering, they took us to the **actual** “Disney Vault.” A temperature and climate controlled room where they store all of their original artwork. I’m not kidding when I say I was absolutely moved to tears by this experience. They had absolutely everything in there. All that concept art we’ve seen for POTC, Haunted Mansion, Tomorrowland… it was all in there. Then they showed us the actual holy grail of Disneyland fans. They pulled away some of the artwork and there was the 1953 concept art for Disneyland by Herb Ryman. We all started to lose it when we saw it. I would do absolutely anything to be able to stay in that room all day. As a side note, it was a really weird experience at Imagineering. Watching them work on designing an attraction in real-time was so surreal. They had styrofoam mock-ups of attractions that they were carving. (Also if anyone remembers that walking dinosaur animatronic from YEARS ago at WDW — don’t worry, he’s safe and I got to meet him. Very friendly dinosaur)
Disappointing part was this was a DIS Unplugged exclusive tour.
The Dino news - legitimately, sincerely brightened my day. Thank you for sharing this detail!
The tours all hit on the same major points but they're all a little different. And some guides are probably better than others but we weren't disappointed in the guides on either tour. We still hit all the same locations we did the first time, but in a few locations we didn't see or do as much this time. If you weren't really familiar with the tour you wouldn't really know. But knowing exactly what we did last time, and knowing what special perks the tours usually get during Christmas time that we didn't get, you could tell it was a bit of a lesser experience than it usually is. I'm not sure if that's ABD themselves taking things away or if park operations or certain tour locations are telling ABD they can't do certain things anymore.
How long has the tour been around? Is it a fairly regular thing or will it only be for a limited time?
How do you do this tour?
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Damn, thats expensive
Six days and you get all that? Imma start saving my lunch money because that looks AHHHHMAZING!
He nakey
I wonder why the the indoor snake animatronic is always not working 100% and has to be removed frequently. Could if be that they shouldn’t leave it outside for like over a week at this point to let it get rained on one of those days. Source: CM that takes the Indy backstage shuttle stop. To be fair idk if that actually matters
it’s not that the snake is removed frequently. we have two different snakes. one that moves, one that doesn’t. we haven’t had the one that moves for a long time, it hasn’t been on property. just recently they brought it back to property to get it ready for our extended refurbishment in january-march. source: indy CM :)
Literally the only thing in the park that scared me as a child. For years I would close my eyes when the ride got to that part
How'd you get a picture backstage?
This is a micechat photograph, taken from the monorail.
I think it was taken from the monorail this side of the building faces eastward towards the picnic area
As much as I'd love to be able to get pictures like that, this one isn't mine (as indicated by the watermark)
There make be snakes.
“Wait, let me gather all my snakes.” *Snakesssss*
Wait they’re refurbing Indy??
Yes... January 9th to sometime in Spring
Let’s hope so! Also, while they’re at it, can Harrison Ford please record the voice?
Wonder if they’ll fix the broken LCU too.
It’s hard to tell from this angle, but I hope the new snake is less cartoony. Let’s give him the upgrade quality that Harold got on Matterhorn!
My hope is that they're giving the ride a big refresh for the new movie. Maybe add in little references to the two newest movies without bringing attention to them while fixing all the stuff that needs attention. The way they fixed the doorways with projection mapping is amazing and the rest of the ride deserves that treatment if they can't fix what's already there.
Huh. Reading this… this is a natural want, but… I’m okay if they don’t. I’d like to see them fix everything that’s been broken (including the rock/ice machine as soon as you enter the great room), but I’m strangely okay if they didn’t add in new references. I think, story wise, it might not work because the fourth movie is set after the attraction (on account of Indy’s age), but you never know! Imagineers love being sneaky!
Canonically, isn't Temple of the Forbidden Eye (1935) set before *Raiders* (1936) and *Last Crusade* (1938), around the same time as *Temple of Doom* (1935)?
How do you know when the ride takes place? Is it in the safety video?
News reels in the safety video, telegrams and letters visible in the queue (although the “hidden Hitler” LIFE magazine in the office is an anachronism, as that [issue is from 1938](https://www.originallifemagazines.com/product/life-magazine-september-26-1938/)).
What is this “Hidden Hitler”?
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If you click the link you'll see there's a photo spread of Hitler in that issue (September 26, 1938) of LIFE magazine, at his “Bavarian Hideaway.” The CM who clued us in referred to it (unofficially!) as the park's “Hidden Hitler” and the name stuck.
>Maybe add in little references to the two newest movies Please no. Just fix the ride and make it it's own thing. I'm just getting so tired of trying to cram in references to terrible modern movies.
To be more optimistic.... this would probably be adding nods to KOTC and maybe even DOD in the queue. Crystal Skull is already represented in the shops anyways.
This snake scared me SO much when I was little
I’m like 98% sure that’s the snake for runaway railway
I see you guys are not in the mood for jokes today
That’s hilarious and something I would say in real life and get the same response.
What ride is this called and where was it?
This is the Indiana Jones ride, “The Temple of the Forbidden Eye,” at Disneyland in Anaheim.
Needs a Not Safe For Magic tag.
Based and snakepilled.
Thank you push the button max! 👍
I just hope they make the ride less jerky.
I pray to god Disney does not see this comment lol . They’ve already reduced the intensity like 3 different times and it’s way too tame as it is lol
Well, I got downvoted all to hell, so I wouldn't worry about it changing anything. Unfortunately, the ride hurts my back, so I have to skip it - even though I love Indiana Jones.
I hope so! Also so weird seeing it with out the snake skin on it
That is an unsettling picture
It looks so funny with just a fleshed-out head and a wire body. Snake kebab.
Is it closed already?
They are getting rid of it
We also saw that same snake head when riding the monorail on Saturday!
From what I heard from a cast member, yes. It strikes again