As it stands right now, a stunt show and a flight simulator are not the type of attractions that are going to make Guests specifically want to come to the park. However, if you were to design a whole new land to immerse Guests into these stories then you would have a real recipe for success. My goal for this area of the park is to create the same type of immersive atmosphere found in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Islands of Adventure or the new Carsland at Disney California Adventure, areas that bring these movies to life and put you right in the middle of the action.
As popular as the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular is, the theater take up an incredible amount of space (enough to fit two good-sized rides). Hollywood Studios is already show-heavy, so I would therefore remove the stunt show. The first attraction I would place in this area would be along similar lines to the incredibly popular Indiana Jones Adventure found in both Disneyland in California and Tokyo Disney Sea. Disney World already has Dinosaur at Animal Kingdom which uses the same ride system, so my vision for this new Indiana Jones ride is somewhat different. The ride would still utilize the Enhanced Motion Vehicle found in the other Indiana Jones Adventures and Dinosaur.
Up until this point, however, the vehicles have always been trucks/jeeps. With this new attraction I would take all the aspects of the Enhanced Motion Vehicle and put it with a boat. The Indiana Jones River Adventure would be a state-of-the-art experience for guests the likes of which have never been seen before.
The storyline of the attraction would be similar to that of Disneyland where Indiana Jones has reunited missing fragments of a map scroll of parchment documenting the precise location of an ancient temple. The Temple of the Forbidden Eye, containing countless intriguing artifacts, is undergoing excavation for archeological research. To raise money so the excavation can continue, Sallah has begun conducting guided tours. Good fortune has come to many of the tourists who survive, but others have not returned. Promising to find the missing tourists, Jones ventured inside the temple approximately one week ago, and has not yet reappeared. Marcus Brody has asked Sallah to continue conducting the tours, in the hope they may locate Dr. Jones. With this new version of the ride, the only way for tourists to reach the temple is by river and even the temple itself is still partially submerged in the water.
Guests would enter a queue themed to be an archaeological museum displaying a variety of exotic artifacts. After winding among the museum’s treasures, Guests would view a grainy black-and-white video documenting the discovery of a partially submerged temple deep in the jungle and its mysterious origins and curious symbols and writings found inside. Next, guests exit the museum and into another building that appears to be a rundown travel agency which is offering river tours to the temple. From here guests board their boats and begin their journey.
The first portion of the ride is all outside and begins peacefully with the boats travelling through the beautiful jungle environment encountering various wildlife (almost like the Jungle Cruise). The boat then begins to have engine trouble and, at a split in the river, is forced down the wrong side. We then encounter a series of wild rapids, with the boat getting tossed and spun around. After making it through the rapids we approach a massive temple and here the boat enters for the indoor portion of the ride. We pass through several rooms of the temple full of various treasures and eventually come upon Indiana Jones who warns us that we should not be here and to get out of the temple right away. Looking for a way out, the boat next enters a room with three passageways.
At this point, the ride would actually have three different variations. The first option, the passageway to the far left, leads to a room filled with animatronic Tigers who begin growling and swiping at the passing boat. The boat again has engine trouble and all the lights go out. Here the motion of the vehicle makes it feel as though a tiger actually has jumped onto the front of the boat. Gunshots are then fired, we hear a roar from the tiger, and the lights are restored as Indiana Jones enters to save the day. In the second option, the center passageway, the boat enters a room that has been booby-trapped and the spiked walls and ceiling begin closing around us. Again, Indiana Jones arrives in the nick of time to save the guests. With the third option, the passageway on the far right, the boat enters into a darkened cave. Here the boat strikes a rock and begins to feel as though it is sinking. We then see a couple of animatronic crocodiles swimming toward the boat. Like in the previous two versions, Indiana Jones again arrives to save the day. From here, the boat leaves the temple and Guests make their way back through the jungle to the load/unload boat dock.
The second attraction would be a mine train rollercoaster inspired by this scene in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom:
This attraction would be more of a dark-ride/rollercoaster hybrid, combining various show scenes and animatronic figures with the high speed thrills of a coaster; picture something along the lines of The Mummy at Universal Studios Orlando or the new Grizzly Mountain coaster that just opened at Hong Kong Disneyland. Guests would ride past waterfalls and over rivers of lava, be chased and shot at from other mine cars, and have the illusion that their mine car is ever in danger of tipping off the tracks. All the while, the ride would be set to John Williams’s dramatic musical score from the movies.
The overall look of the land would be very similar to the Lost River Delta at Tokyo Disney Sea. Guests would navigate winding pathways through the dense jungle past various archaeological digs and ancient artifact.
Appealing to a younger demographic there would also be an interactive adventure akin to Sorcerer’s of the Magic Kingdom and the Agent P World Showcase Adventure where Guests would be helping Indiana Jones looking for various artifact scattered around the land.
This area of the park would also be home to a new restaurant, a reimagined version of the Adventurers Club which closed at Pleasure Island. The restaurant would be the newest branch for the Society of Explorers and Adventurers and throughout the course of their meal Guests would be treated to comedic skits by some of the club’s resident adventurers (and maybe Indiana Jones might make an appearance every once in a while). The restaurant would be littered with curious and wacky artifacts that would help pay homage to the original Pleasure Island version and would also help link this location to both Tokyo Disney Sea (where club member Harrison Hightower III is the main character in their version of the Tower of Terror) as well as Hong Kong Disneyland (where club member Lord Henry Mystic is the main character in the park’s version of the Haunted Mansion known as Mystic Manor).
The transition from an Indiana Jones-themed area to a Star Wars-themed area might seem difficult, but the transition would be smoothed by having Guests leave from the lush jungle environment surrounding the Indiana Jones attractions and emerging into an area resembling the Forest Moon of Endor. I envision the Star Wars land as being divided into a series of smaller areas highlighting various planets from the films. Guests could explore the streets of Mos Eisley on the planet Tatooine or the City Plaent of Coruscant. There would even be an area for kids to run, climb, and play amongst the Ewok village on the Forest Moon of Endor.
Star Tours would, of course, remain but with a whole new exterior giving it an apperance more along the lines of the spaceport featured in Star Wars Episode II.
The theater that was formerly the home of Sounds Dangerous starring Drew Carey would be converted into a permanent indoor home for the Jedi Training Academy. The exterior of the building would be redesigned to resemble a Jedi Temple and the show itself would be tweaked from its current format. Right now, the only real allure of the show is the opportunity to see Darth Vader on stage. Other than that, most of the people who watch the show are the families of the children participants. The show needs more to it to broaden its appeal. Having an indoor location would allow more lighting effects and various other effects like smoke and fog. The show would still feature the children learning from the Jedi Master and fighting Vader, but there would also be an epic light saber duel between the Jedi Master and Darth Maul as well as an interactive Yoda who would speak with the young Padawans (something akin to Turtle Talk with Crush). All this would help make the Jedi Training Academy more of a real show.
Next, I would remove the restrooms located across from the entrance to Star Tours and construct a meet-and-greet area where Guests would be able to take photos and get autographs from some of their favorite Star Wars characters. With this new Star Wars area every day would be like a Star Wars Weekend and there would be much more streetmosphere with Stormtroopers, Jawas, and other creatures walking around and interacting with Guests.
The Backlot Express would be converted into the Mos Eisley Cantina.
The restaurant would remain counter service, but would also include a bar serving strange intergalactic beverages, such as blue milk.
As Guests enjoy their meal they would encounter various alien creatures walking around the restaurant. The main attraction, however, would be performances by the Cantina Band. These Audio Animatronic figures would be akin to Sunny Eclipse at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café at the Magic Kingdom.
The major new attraction in this Star Wars area would be a brand new type of rollercoaster the likes of which has never been seen before and the result would be one of the most immersive and exciting Star Wars experiences ever created. I wish I could take credit for this attraction, but I actually found these blueprints circulating online. I was so amazed when seeing them that I needed to include this attraction in my plans for the park. In order to fit this attraction into the park, however, it would require some expansion into areas that are now backstage and a possible rerouting of the entrance to the parking lot from the main Auto Plaza.
The ride is described as a Warring Coaster, “a concept that takes an armed conflict from a film or a story and allows riders to live it. Through the use of multiple trains on multiple tracks, giant themed arenas, animatronics, interactive laser gun systems, and much, much more, the Battle of the Death Star from Star Wars roars to life! This is the ultimate in themed rides and roller coasters combined."
The coaster could have up to six different tracks with six vehicles moving simultaneously. The vehicles would have the capability of reaching 50 miles per hour in a few seconds and would be themed to look like X-Wing fighters and Tie Fighters. Each vehicle would have six seats and each guest would use a mounted laser gun to shoot at the "enemy". Each hit will be counted and appear on the fighter’s screen.
The entire interior of the ride building would be fully themed so that this battle between X-Wings and Tie Fighters would take place over the surface of the Death Star and Guests waiting in the queue would also be involved. Guests will be divided when entering to join either the rebels and board an X-Wing fighter or the Empire and board a Tie Fighter. They would be directed down two different paths and in each of them they would have access to Death Star or Rebel Fleet ship turrets. Each turret would be equipped with laser guns and, using these laser guns, Guests in the queue would be able to fire at the roller coaster vehicles as they soar over the Death Star.
Each hit from the turret guns to the vehicles would tally additional points which would be counted in the final count. At the end of each ride, depending who is the winner (based on the number of points), either the Death Star would explode, using lighting and pyrotechnic effects, or if the Empire wins it would be the rebel planet base which would explode with projection effects.
This new attraction, combined with more immersive theming throughout Star Wars area would make Guests feel as though they have stepped right into the middle of one of the Star Wars movies. It would be for Hollywood Studios what the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is for Islands of Adventure. Lucasland, with its Indiana Jones and Star Wars themed areas, would be the crown jewel of the reimagined Hollywood Studios. Not only would Guests be able to experience state of the art E-ticket attractions, but they would be surrounded by some of the most immersive atmospheres found in any of the Disney parks around the world.
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