Passage to India

So far in Adventureland at Disneyland Paris, we've visited the Middle East and Africa. Further around the bend, a deeply forested path leads into the heart of India, the next geographic region embodied entirely by the attraction Indiana Jones et le Temple du Péril (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril).

Opened in 1993 as the largest element of the park's early added capacity program, Indiana Jones et le Temple du Péril became the first roller coaster attraction in a Disney Park to feature a complete inversion. On the ride, Guests board ore cars for a rollicking tour of the archaeological site surrounding a Dravidian-style stone temple, similar to those found near Mahabalipuram in Southern India.

Approaching the site, the queue winds past the base camp, where artifacts from the excavation are being collected, cleaned, catalogued and prepared for shipment to museums in the west.

Look closely into one of the tents in the camp, and apart from the bunk with mosquito netting and the collection of postcards and photographs from around the world, you may also notice a familiar whip and fedora. They're sitting on a crate addressed to none other than Dr. Henry Jones, Jr.

Turn the corner, and the stone steps of the temple rise before you, flanked on either side by enormous carved cobras. That's right... snakes. Why did there have to be snakes?!

The steps carry you up toward the site, where you then descend into a tented area where the ore cars are offloaded. This is our embarkation point for the journey up and around the monument. Hang on, though. It promises to be a wild ride!

A casual start turns frantic, as the temple gods are disturbed, sending our ore cars careening wildly around the temple spires and into a 360° loop. As part of an effort to relaunch interest in the coaster in spring 2000, Disney's Imagineers turned things around... literally. The attraction became Indiana Jones et le Temple du Péril - Backwards!, with the cars covering the entire route in reverse. Everything was put back on the right track, though, in 2004, and the ride continues to thrill Disneyland Paris Guests year after year.