Nicholas DiBernardo, the area manager for Attractions Engineering Services, said Disneyland Indiana Jones ride reopened Friday after a six-week refurbishment that changed how the attraction loads, unloads and runs. The overhaul also added more large spiders and other creepy critters to one foreboding tunnel.
DiBernardo on throughput
The ride can now move about 125 more people per hour, which works out to about 1,000 more guests per day. DiBernardo said the project was aimed at both show quality and maintenance reliability, and the capacity gain came from a mix of behind-the-scenes engineering work and a loading process that now lets the vehicles park more accurately.
That kind of gain matters on a ride this large. Indiana Jones Adventure is one of the resort's most complex attractions, and it typically gets a refurbishment every year because of the amount of work required to keep it operating.
Mara's electric doors
One major change was mechanical, not cosmetic. The doors that lead guests face-to-face with Mara were previously controlled by hydraulic actuators; they are now fully electric, which makes them easier to maintain and removes the risk of a hydraulic spill.
DiBernardo put the old problem plainly: “In the past, when the old actuators would fail, the doors would have to remain open, ruining the guest’s show experience.” He also said the new doors should open and close with significantly more dependability, which means fewer dispatch slowdowns when the attraction is busy.
2023 to Friday
The attraction had already received temple-shattering projections in 2023, and the latest work continued the year-to-year maintenance pattern that keeps a complicated ride moving. DiBernardo, who works Disneyland's third shift from 2 a.m. to 11 a.m., said, “Every attraction is different,” and added, “Indiana Jones typically has a refurbishment every year just because of the size of the attraction and the amount of work that goes into keeping this attraction up.”
For guests, the practical result is simple: the ride is back, it should run with fewer stoppages, and the hourly capacity bump should shorten the pressure point that builds around one of Disneyland's most maintenance-heavy experiences.
