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View Full Version : All Indy's Almost Made Equal?



JoeCanadian
02-07-2002, 06:07 PM
Is the Indy ride at Tokyo the same as Anaheim's? I seen a video and from what little I could make out, it's nearly identical...except for that wicked vortex and the color of the environments...

Nigel2
02-08-2002, 12:31 AM
From what we were told it isn't the same, they have different plot, rooms, and so forth and the cars use a different technology.

BiggJakeMoney
02-08-2002, 06:52 PM
I'll lay it dahn for ya one time........

The differences are pretty basic. One door at the beginning of the ride, rather than three. A large, crystal skull in place of Mara in the Chamber of Destiny. The Tunnel of Torment, and the Gates of Doom are the same, except that Indy speaks in rapid-fire Japanese. Hehe.

Upon entering the Cavern of Bubbling Death, as you mentioned, the vortex takes place of the lava pit. Rotting Mara skull has been replaced with the Crystal Skull, which apparently has some sort of electricity effect that courses through it's one eye, as it shoots out the big green laser beam.

The mummy room is identical, as is the bug room, and the bridge, as you cross over the vortex area. The snake room is identical, except that the snake is no longer a cobra, but more of an anaconda-type snake. The room behind the large skull is the same, but upon entering the tunnel underneath the bug room, things change a bit.

The "falling rat" effect with the mist has been replaced with another, smaller rendering of the crystal skull. You stop in front of it, he yells something out in a booming, deep Japanese voice, and then fires a large, open circle of smoke at you, kind of like would it would be like to stand in front of a tank, if it shot at you.

The dart room is the same, except that the skeleton warriors on the wall are fully sculpted in 3-D out of the wall, instead of being painted on. The boulder sequence is the same, as well as Indy at the end. Then it's back to the loading dock.

Hope that helps. :)


-BJM


Oh yeah, one more thing. The jeeps no longer bounce around courtesy of hydraulic rams. They have been replaced with pneumatic rams, which are more reliable, and don't have the danger of spilling fluid all over the place, as they're air-based.

Kuzcotopia
02-08-2002, 10:58 PM
Big Jake has got it right.

This ride is VERY much the same, with a few cosmetic and lighting changes. It's more of a light re-theming than a complete makeover. The path is the same, exactly. You still see indy holding back those big doors as you go up the ramp to the left, and down the stairs while you see the big room with the lava, the big idol and the suspension bridge. Then mummys, then bugs, then bridge then around to the snake, then into the back of the idol to the skull room. Then under the bridge and into the dark. There instead of rats you get a smoke ring. Then the hallway with spears shooting out of the walls, then indy hanging on a rope with the big ball. Then the floor gives way and you see indy all worn out with the cracked ball behind him... the end.


The difference is that some of the artwork isn't Indian looking, it's Aztec looking. It seems less random too. Only one door, cars didn't stall, etc.

The que didn't have any interactive elements, either...


Verdict:

Disneyland's is much better.

Kuzcotopia
02-08-2002, 11:07 PM
Addition:


Sorry Nigel 2, same plot, same rooms, merely a re-theming to a meso-american theme.


Sorry BigJake, when I went there the electricity effect on the eye of the Cavern of Bubbling Death idol was pretty lame indeed.

It did have an electricity effect, which was in a shape like aztec race-arounds. But to my disappointment, NO LASER shot out of the eye. Never saw it happen with any of the cars going through, in fact, I think I remember that there was no light mounted in the eye socket.

I thought that was terrible to leave out. That's one of my favorite effects, because the eye blasts are timed to explosions in the room. And the explosions "shake" the bridge, which didn't shake at all in Japan. Perhaps the explosions were eliminated because of the tornado effect.



Anyway, ours is better.

Nigel2
02-08-2002, 11:58 PM
I guess we have differnet ideas about what is the same and what is different.

BiggJakeMoney
02-09-2002, 12:11 AM
Ouch, Kuz, that's too bad. When I saw a publicity still the electricity effect in the eye actually looked pretty impressive, as it looked like it was the source of the laser coming out of the eye.
But now that you've elaborated on it, I realize that it was a publicity still, and they doctor those things all the time. They could've added the laser in photoshop, or something like it.

Anyways, it IS lame that they left it out. The shaking bridge and the laser contribute SO MUCH to the feeling of chaos all around you, as it appears that the other jeeps you see racing around the temple are in big trouble, just like you. Take out that little bit of magic, and it seems more like you and a bunch of other jeeps are just taking a wild tour through some big set pieces.

Plus, you said the jeeps don't stall! What's that about? It appears the Japanese like their ride experiences more streamlined and sterile, without sense of variation or randomity.

Oh well. Their loss is definitely our gain. We got the better one!


-BJM

Nigel2
02-09-2002, 12:19 AM
Also why is the vortex lame in comparison to the lake of illumated water w/ fog to pass as lava?

Kuzcotopia
02-09-2002, 12:45 AM
Yeah, Jake. Glad we have ours.


Nigel, I don't know why you're grilling me on this. You go ride the one in Tokyo and tell us how different it is. I'm telling you my opinion as a guy who's ridden the american one about 50 times and has ridden the one in Japan.

No laser shooting out of the eye. No explosions. No real fireballs.

That's why it's lamer. The smoke in a tornado looked pretty, but not scary. I'd rather have lasers and explosions that shake my car than a swirl of smoke that doesn't do anything.

That was the biggest difference in a ride that had almost everything else identically lifted from the Disneyland ride, including the exact track layout animatronic figures, effects, music and story points. If the fact that Indy speaks Japanese and there's a big swirly plume of smoke is different enough for you, by all means please spend thousands of dollars on a trip to Japan to see it.

I do recommend people to visit Tokyo Disney Sea. Just don't go thinking you are getting a new Indiana Jones Adventure. There are bigger differences in the recent updates to Pirates than there are between the versions of Indy.

BiggJakeMoney
02-09-2002, 01:16 AM
My problem with this "vortex" is a simple missed opportunity.

Oriental Land Company dropped so much for this park, why not spend a little extra to IMPROVE the Cavern of Bubbling Death, instead of substituting it for something else, i.e. the "Vortex."

Imagine more real fireballs, with fire erupting at several new places around the skull. How about a synthetic lava? It can be done, I've seen a picture of Imagineering tests. How cool would it be to actually see lava spitting up in geysers from the bottom of the pit? And don't forget the long-forgotten "falling ceiling" effect. I would love to see that one back in action, as the effect was so convincing with the ice, and everything. It actually looked real, and was very effective in startling the visitors. They wouldn't even have to have improved upon it, just stuck it in there at not much higher a cost.

In any case, there was huge potential to keep it as the "Cavern of Bubbling Death," but to improve two-fold upon what we have here in Anaheim. In the end, they just went for the different, albeit less visually impacting, concept.


-BJM

JoeCanadian
02-09-2002, 12:47 PM
Thanks everyone for your responses. Still sounds pretty cool nonetheless.

Nigel2
02-09-2002, 11:03 PM
Originally posted by Kuzcotopia
Yeah, Jake. Glad we have ours.


Nigel, I don't know why you're grilling me on this. You go ride the one in Tokyo and tell us how different it is. I'm telling you my opinion as a guy who's ridden the american one about 50 times and has ridden the one in Japan.


Nah, I wasn't grilling you. I wanted to know what makes it so different?

Oh and the synthetic lava would have probably been like the cannon balls in pirates, a blast of water with a light behind it to mimic the look of lava, probably masked with smoke so it looks less like water.

BiggJakeMoney
02-10-2002, 11:50 PM
Oh and the synthetic lava would have probably been like the cannon balls in pirates, a blast of water with a light behind it to mimic the look of lava, probably masked with smoke so it looks less like water.

You know Nigel, I would be inclined to say the same thing, except that in the imagineer test photo I looked at, the lava substitute is clearly gelatinous in nature, being much thicker with bigger, fatter droplets. I'm thinking something simple, maybe even like a "Karo Syrup" type substance.

In any case, it looked quite convincing, I hope they put it to practice in a ride soon.



-BJM

Nigel2
02-11-2002, 11:44 PM
Then it would probably be like the "Dip" in Roger Rabits cartoon spin where it only lands in a receptical that sends it back. Karo would be freaky to see (that definately would never happen, I could just see ants trying to get to it:D )