Indiana Jones Ride at Disney’s Animal Kingdom: New Concept Art and Hints

I went to a Maya archaeology conference last week. I know what you’re thinking – they let JUST ANYBODY into those? Yes, for only a modest registration fee. I’m just as surprised as you.

In between updates on Ek Balam’s new tourism program and workshops on deciphering Maya glyphs, Walt Disney Imagineering was on hand to present its current sources of inspiration and direction for their upcoming Indiana Jones attraction in the new Tropical Americas land at Animal Kingdom.

It looks incredible.

In the next section I’ll show and discuss some of their slides. These images give clues as to the size, color, and theming of the Indiana Jones temple structure. Also, the specific Maya gods that are shown on the temple may be hints as to the story we’ll follow inside the ride.

If you’re interested in the other new attractions coming to Animal Kingdom, check out our in-depth breakdown of the Encanto ride and the rest of Tropical Americas.

Disney’s presentation here was also to the public, albeit to the less than 90 people who attended the conference. I checked with the conference organizers and with Disney’s team to ensure the presentation was vetted internally for public display. So sharing and discussing these slides was permitted.

Having said that, let me be clear:

• This is obviously very early thinking within Disney.
• All of this can change, and it’s possible that none of this will make it into the park.
• I know almost nothing about Maya archaeology, so everything I say below could be wrong.

It’s also important to give Imagineering (and Disney management) a ton of credit for doing this. Presenting your ideas for a Maya-themed ride to a group of Maya experts, live and in public, is about as scary as research and public speaking get.

There were just under 40 slides in WDI’s presentation. I won’t go through all of them, such as those that give background on Imagineering itself, or past Animal Kingdom projects such as Pandora. Instead, I’ll focus on the key design, story, and architectural elements. Unless otherwise noted, all of the slides are Disney’s intellectual property.

Tropical Americas Overview

The first attraction-related slide was an overhead concept drawing of Tropical Americas. The land’s entrance from Discovery Island is in the lower right corner. Going clockwise, we have a carousel, the massive Encanto ride show building in the upper left, a character greeting area, and a playground in the top middle.

The Indiana Jones ride is shown in the upper right corner. This shows the Indiana Jones ride is replacing the Dinosaur ride. Just below the Indy ride is the existing Restaurantosaurus dining area, which will also be rethemed.

Temple Entrance Concept Art

One of the next slides showed the new ride entrance from the perspective of a guest walking up to its front side. (The ride’s entrance will be where it is now – to the far right of this drawing.)

I think this is the first time we’ve seen this specific concept art. It gives us a sense of scale for the entrance itself. Beyond that, it continues one of the Animal Kingdom’s recurring themes: nature re-claiming the land. In this case, plants and trees are growing on what was once a well-maintained Maya temple. That tells us that this Maya temple is very old indeed.

In fact, Disney says that as of now, the temple’s timeline is set at the height of the Maya civilization – the Classic Period, which ran from around 200 to 900 C.E.

Also, the use of color here is important. Red was used extensively on Maya buildings – the Rosalila Temple in Honduras is an example. And it contrasts well with the green of the landscape, a point that Joe Rohde emphasized in his opening-night address.

Note also the running water fountain out front. That’s a story hint that we’ll talk about soon.

How Indiana Jones Fits Into Animal Kingdom’s New Ride

One of the next slides was another piece of concept art that showed archaeologists working on the site of this Maya temple. We’re not yet sure why they’re there or what they’re looking for.

The clothing and Jeep suggest this timeline is during Indiana Jones’ heyday. And all of this work is being done with primitive technology, which indicates this temple is too difficult to reach with large, heavy machinery. We’re in the deep jungle here.

Maya-Inspired Temple Carvings, Color, and Story in the Indiana Jones Ride

Next was an overview of the decorative elements on the temple exterior. The sources for these elements are found throughout Maya carvings.

On the left side of the slide you’ll see blood, breath, serpents, and feathers. In Maya culture, images of snakes were often used to convey the idea of transformation or change. Disney didn’t say it in its presentation, but I think the Maya god Kukulkan takes the form of a feathered serpent.

I’m just spitballing here, so just assume I don’t know what I’m talking about. Kukulkan is a companion of Chaac (also spelled Chaak, Chaahk, or Chac), the Maya rain god in the Yucatan. Kukulkan’s sweeping tail creates wind, which warns of oncoming rains. And we also see storms, clouds, and tornados listed as decorative elements. So this could be a hint around what kind of story will be presented inside the ride.

One of the next slides showed an example of the temple’s exterior color treatment. I found this especially interesting because I always think of these buildings as being white.

A few years ago my brother rented a house in Mérida in the Yucatán for a month. I spent a while with him, checking out the town (it’s lovely – you should go) and definitely not looking for signs of alien technology in the Chicxulub Crater. Because let me tell you, the immigration authorities start asking a lot more questions when you say that. And my Spanish is not good enough to talk my way out of that.

We also made trips out to Chichen Itza. And it never occurred to me that these buildings were painted. They were painted, of course, with a layer of plaster or stucco covering the stone foundations. Over time, the humid climate of the Yucatán wore away the colorful plaster, leaving just the white rock.

But occasionally, overhanging rock, sediment, and just plain luck combined to preserve some of this painted stucco. Those few preserved examples are one direct way we know about the Maya color palette.

In Disney’s slide above, we see the deep red of the temple accented with green, white, and blue. Again, because the temple is very old, some of that stucco has worn away leaving just exposed stone. It’s a great weathering effect. Added landscaping on the side of the temple steps furthers this narrative.

The Temple Carvings Tell a Story!

The first few pieces of concept art emphasised the size, proportion, theme, and color of the temple. This next slide shows the incredible amount of detail that’s going into its carvings.

We know from one of the previous slides that these carvings take the form of plants, animals, and natural phenomena. You can see them clearly here with the black and white contrast. But they’re not just decorations. These carvings are meant to be read, because they tell the story of the temple.

Disney didn’t go into too much detail about the specifics of the story. But they did offer some hints, which we’ll talk about below.

The Temple Colors Have Meaning!

I loved the detail in this next slide and learned something from it. The Maya assigned specific colors to the basic compass directions of north (white), south (yellow), east (red), and west (black). And they used green/blue to represent the earth and sky. In the artwork above, figures in white and black represent something coming or happening in the north and west, respectively.

Temple Iconography: the God Chaac and the Tree of Life

A few slides later, Disney showed the sources for some of the temple’s iconography.

The Dresden Codex is shown in the upper left corner. This document dates back to the 11th or 12th century C.E. and survived being bombed in World War II with significant damage.

I think this was the first indication that the Maya god Chaac plays a role in the Indiana Jones ride. Maya farmers would pray to Chaac, since he’s the god of rain. And he has some pretty cool accessories: an axe made of lightning. You can see how this would fit in well into an Indiana Jones story.

Chaac is referred to in multiple places around the temple.

Fun Fact: Chaac was referenced in Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in Namor’s origin story:

Another notable feature in the iconography is the reference to the Maya “world tree”. I think this is the cieba tree, which holds special significance in Maya culture. I don’t think it’s wrong to say it’s considered the “tree of life”, which is not coincidentally the Animal Kingdom park’s icon. You have to love when Imagineering ties things together like that.

The Upper, Middle, and Under Worlds of the Maya

Imagineering’s next slide showed that the top three levels of the temple represent the Maya’s Upper, Middle, and Under Worlds.

The Upper World is the home of the gods. The Middle World represents earth and is where man lives. And then there’s the Under World, known as Xibalba in Maya.

Imagineering didn’t elaborate on the significance of representing the Under World here. But this is a thrill ride, and the reference to Xibalba could be a sort of Chekhov’s Gun – something that is shown now but whose significance will become clear later. Or it could be nothing. We’ll have to wait for the ride to see it.

The Witz Monster!

Imagineering has included reference here to the Maya Witz Monster. They didn’t go into detail here so I’m going to explain this – badly. Let me know in the comments what I’ve missed.

The Witz Monster is supposed to represent either the earth or a mountain. Its mouth is a cave that provides access to and from the Under World. The references to snakes with Witz might be a reference to the Maya god Kukulkan, the serpent companion of Chaac, which I described above.

And the position of Witz in the bottom level of the temple might mean that the Indiana Jones story here references water that flows from the Under World.

The Indiana Jones Maya Temple at Night

One of the last slides that Imagineering presented looked to be a lighting study on an unpainted model at dusk and at night.

On the right you can see how the setting sun throws into relief all of the spectacular carvings on the temple exterior. And on the right, the dramatic interior lighting from the Witz Monster’s mouth indicates something’s going on inside the temple.

Imagineering stressed that they’re still in the very early stages of design here. But wow – this looks great.

Indiana Jones Ride Exterior With Queue Entrances

The last slide I’m going to show here is the unpainted rendering of the temple with all of its carvings, rubble, and landscaping.

This is an amazing level of detail. And it’s going to fit in really well with the attractions and theming we see nearby in Asia, which continue the idea of nature reclaiming the land.

You can see the reference to Dinosaur’s existing entrance in the lower right corner of this image. If you were taking this picture yourself, I think you’d be standing in the shallow pool outside of the Dinosaur ride. As we saw in one of the first images Disney presented, there’s going to be a new fountain, with flowing water, here.

Wrapping Up – Indy, Gods & Monsters

I came away from Imagineering’s presentation overwhelmingly impressed with the amount of research they’ve done, and with their strong commitment to fidelity, preservation, and presentation of Maya culture. When management gets out of their way, WDI is the gold standard for themed entertainment around the world. Disney’s parks need more things like this.

Let me know in the comments below if I’ve missed anything. If you’ve got details about alien technology in the Chicxulub Crater, keep quiet until the next secret club meeting.