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View Full Version : Indiana Jones 10th Anniv event - what did you think?



jiminycesq
03-04-2005, 06:36 AM
Any trip reports on last nights "special merchandise event"? Any comparisons to other recent events, etc? Inquiring minds want to know!

olegc
03-04-2005, 07:01 AM
it's 8 am - but still too tired to write much. Merch pickup was easy but we did it at 1pm. Came back that night. They let us in late and walked us to the party. Food was good - but we noticed people were confused as to the layout of the stations. Mai Tais in coconuts was nifty.

The scavenger hunt (for clues to a final location) was a neat idea - but I think with the late start it was hard to stay on track. Nice touch -we ended up with our own boat on Pirates (this was open, and Tarzan's treehouse. and indy.

The last part of the evening - Tony Baxter announced that we could all ride Indy with the lighs on. We tried to quickly finish desert - only to eb told the ride was now closed. After much comlpaining from a large group they reopenend. But the wait for that and other things meant we did not leave DLR until 12:45am.

Overall it was really fun - but i think since the land is so narrow and long it was difficult to gather people together for announcements. Also, seems like many of the staff were told to go home when they thought people were gone - not gauging how many people were left. HAd to use courtesy vans to the parking lot (they were told we'd all park at the hotel).

The clues led us to columbia dock to get an Ancient Artifact. Chisel and pick included. It was so late we did not open it. We also received a Chocolate MAra head.

I'd do it again - but they need to do something like a more detailed schedule, and maybe blinking pager lights or something on the lanyard to let people know the next thing is happening.

Indy with the lights on was probably not as awesome as Space MOuntain - but neat to see everything work (especially the boulder - no spoilers here)...

cstephens
03-04-2005, 09:03 AM
For anyone who's interested, the coverage report for the Indiana Jones Adventure 10th Anniversary Event held on March 3, 2005 has been posted. The report includes information on new merchandise for St. Patrick's Day, Easter and new big figs, registration process information, set-up information, full event details, and observations about some of the event difficulties that arose. Extensive photos included. Here's the link: http://www.colddeadfish.net/dlr/indyevent.html.

Thanks!

disney jones
03-04-2005, 09:15 AM
what a great report- thanks!!

Mommy2NicknMax
03-04-2005, 09:41 AM
I second that! Great report! It was so detailed I actually felt that I was there.

scarlett1214
03-04-2005, 12:46 PM
Cindy's report was great--it did a really good job of describing the activities and some of the problems with the event. We were disappointed to be at nearly the end of the line to enter the park, having met at the picnic area like we were supposed to. Several people ahead of us were complaining aloud about being way back in line, while those who didn't meet at the picnic area as instructed were "rewarded" by being first in line to get in (and then first in line for food and drinks). I agree with the food and drink situation--the layout and process was very poorly handled. Most of us spent the entire time waiting in line at each of the stations in order to get food. The tables were set up surrounding each of the stations so that, if you were even lucky enough to sit at a table (and there weren't nearly enough tables for all the guests), you were basically surrounded by mobs of people waiting in lines for the next food station. We ate standing up at the exterior bar near Bengal Barbecue. I was dismayed to see someone in a wheelchair having to sit next to a stand-up height table and reach up to set down his food and drink. Shouldn't some handicapped accessible tables have been set aside? We also saw the table with the exotic birds--I think it should have been stated somewhere that there were exotic animals on display that people could check out if they wished.

I agree that the area was too spread out for everyone to hear what was going on--we only realized that the scavenger hunt portion was starting when we saw a group of people with papers heading over to one of the attractions. Fortunately, we were in the last group, so we didn't miss our instructions. However, when we went over to the queueing area, we didn't have a cast member guide to lead us where we needed to go. Eventually we did, and we headed to Indy (the first attraction on our quest). Once we got into the safety film area, we waited probably 15-20 minutes for others ahead of us to work on the clues in the office/cage area just past the film room. Several people were complaining about having to wait so long. After that, the rest of our quest was pretty simple, and we figured out what the secret message said before our very last clue sheet. However, by this time, Tony Baxter was long gone from the Columbia/Mark Twain dock. We had fun breaking open our ancient artifact brick, but more than a few of us dented the metal tin that held the pin--we told the cast members there that they should have instructed people to hammer from the corners in so we didn't damage the tin.

When leaving the dock, we were told that we could ride Indy with the lights on, and we were able to do exactly that (it was probably 11:15 at this time). We missed the dessert completely, since it took until just after 11:00 to complete our quest. Also, until I read Cindy's report, I had no idea that Tony Baxter even gave a talk--it was never announced or indicated on the itinerary. Had we known about it, we would have definitely been there to listen. We did see the group of people waiting outside Indy, but weren't sure why we were there. We left shortly after that, walking through Downtown Disney back to the Disneyland Hotel lot. By that time, the parking lot guards were gone, so we drove out not having to pay for our day of parking.

This was our first event, and we found it to be pretty satisfying. The merchandise we purchased fulfilled our expectations, and exceeded them in some cases. The organizational aspects were somewhat disappointing--the itinerary ended up being basically useless. I would like to see something more concrete as to the evening's events, including listing any and all special entertainment and activities and their times and locations (in this case, the Tony Baxter talk, the animal events, etc). The food distribution and seating arrangements were definitely the most disappointing part of the event. The food itself was inventive, tasty, and very appropriate for the event. The scavenger hunt was probably a bit too challenging for some people--we found it was best to have one person in our group to look for a given answer and then have him/her share it with the rest of us. We all had lots of fun working together on the clues. All in all, we were satisfied that we got what we paid for, despite the somewhat haphazard way the events unfolded.

disney_leonard
03-04-2005, 03:30 PM
I won't rehash the details as they have been covered nicely by previous posts. We too were disappointed with the line up to get in and found ourselves penalized for following instructions. They had only two turnstiles to funnel everyone in. Just opening two more would have cut the time in half and there were many cast members available who could have jumped in to do that for the first 15 minutes it would have taken to speed entry.

We also found the lack of information a little challenging and only three food stations inadequate (all different so you needed to visit each if you wanted to sample everything). The food was excellent.

The hunt for clues seemed to bog down the worst in the bottleneck after the film room at Indy. Only a handful of people could be in there at one time so the wait was too long. You had to solve each stage of the hunt to get the instructions to go to the next and then finally to the Columbia for the reward. It was 11 when I approached a CM in frustration and was told where the prize awaited so I bypassed the last phase.

The CM's working the event were aware of the problems and made adjustments on the fly. For example, they opened the River Belle restaurant for additional seating when it became clear that there wasn't enough. CM's went through the crowd telling people that additional seating was available. When it became clear that the hunt for clues was taking too long they extended the time that POC was open to allow people to complete the search. Then at the last minute they extended the end time to allow people to ride Indy with the lights on.

This is a case where the CM's saved the day. I have only been to the Holiday Haunted Mansion event but the CM's working last night seemed to really be enjoying themselves and went the extra mile to make sure guests had a good time. It doesn't excuse poor planning but they did an outstanding job to make sure people had a good time. Hats off to the great CM's who saved the event!

Tinker Bell
03-04-2005, 03:42 PM
For my frist event I had lost of fun. We went to the picnic area by 8:15. I was sadden to have to wait so long for food. I am not use to eatting so late.I did feel like a heard of cattle. We found seating with another couple who we talk to. It was nice getting to know them. We did not eat till we were full cause the lines were long but oh well. Alot of walking around in circles. That I did not think was going to happen.The Big thing was my DH loved it (this is a man who would rather be home then do anything disney)He likes quest kinda things.So for me I started low so the only way to go was up.I went in with no ideas of what to do or how things were going to happen. So I am good.Thank you CM that made my nite and my hubbys thank you

disneygurl92
03-04-2005, 07:00 PM
OMG ten years already!!!!! This is kinda off topic but the day the ride came out it was my cousins birthday and sadly its the same day my grandfather passed away.
I went the day it opened. I wish I could have been there for the 10th aniversary though.

cstephens
03-06-2005, 09:32 PM
The event merchandise is now available at the Indiana Jones outpost in Adventureland. Other than the really expensive, one-of-a-kind stuff, it looked like they had everything there except for the jeep and the decoder pin (which sold out before the event). The t-shirt, event pin, watch and compass set, obelisk, attraction building, clock and photo frame are all there.

Captain Josh
03-06-2005, 09:51 PM
ooooh!

stuff I wish I could save up for.

...eh, nah. I'll just make my own decoders, I guess.

olegc
03-06-2005, 10:44 PM
The event merchandise is now available at the Indiana Jones outpost in Adventureland. Other than the really expensive, one-of-a-kind stuff, it looked like they had everything there except for the jeep and the decoder pin (which sold out before the event). The t-shirt, event pin, watch and compass set, obelisk, attraction building, clock and photo frame are all there.

i know this is an event thread - but this just hit me today. NONE of the merchandise can really be considered "EVENT" merchandise. Yes, it is limited edition, yes it is relatively unique, but the plaques and patches on the different items simply have the 10 year anniversary logo. NONE of the pieces, including the T-shirt, say the exact date of the event. THat's a real shame and I wish I had noticed this before. I would not have bought some of the items.

This is a bad habit that the DLR marketing dept. is making - don't label anything with an exact date since you can't sell it later in a shop in DLR.

The worst of it? The special pin in the "artifcat" you had to chip open is NOT EVEN LIMITED EDITION! or with a date. Man - talk about going out on the cheap! :mad:

Tinker Bell
03-07-2005, 10:24 AM
The worst of it? The special pin in the "artifcat" you had to chip open is NOT EVEN LIMITED EDITION! or with a date. Man - talk about going out on the cheap! :mad:


I notice this too. It did sadden me too. I was hopeing for a dated pin to add to my collection oh well I did save everthing I got. My hubby even does not want his stuff so Now I have to of everything.

jjpenguin
03-07-2005, 11:37 PM
The worst of it? The special pin in the "artifcat" you had to chip open is NOT EVEN LIMITED EDITION! or with a date. Man - talk about going out on the cheap! :mad:


Mine has the date on it on the back. It says March 3, 2005.
Maybe I got lucky and got the only one with a date ;)

JJ Penguin

olegc
03-08-2005, 06:22 AM
Mine has the date on it on the back. It says March 3, 2005.
Maybe I got lucky and got the only one with a date ;)

JJ Penguin

I stand corrected (just checked). I guess my eyes were so blinded from the red clay dust during chipping that I could not read it. :p

olegc
03-08-2005, 06:30 AM
BTW - did everyone notice that the tin has on it "Lost Delta..." which is a mild reference to the land at Tokyo Disney Sea where their Indiana Jones attraction is located. I did not check but I think theirs is "Lost River Delta". All that synergy flowing through the realm of Disney. Wow.... :D