Disney World Reveals Name of Indiana Jones Attraction, Harrison Ford as Animatronics & Backstory
Walt Disney World has announced the official name for the Indiana Jones Adventure attraction coming to Tropical Americas at Animal Kingdom, while also surprising guests of the Parks Panel at the 2026 D23 Expo with the news that Harrison Ford will portray the Audio Animatronics Indy for the first time ever! This post shares details, concept art, backstory, and everything we know about the plan–plus quick commentary.
This Indiana Jones Adventure news was announced during the “Horizons: A Carousel of Progress” or Parks Panel presentation during the 2026 D23 Expo at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Imagineers Michael Hundgen and Chris Beatty revealed a treasure trove of announcements about everyone’s favorite hero with a snake grudge.
The Indy attraction will live in the vibrant, lush new land of Tropical Americas, and includes revolutionary Audio Animatronics figures, an original storyline, and one grand escapade that transports guests into the world of the ancient Maya alongside Indiana Jones, in a way that only Animal Kingdom could.
Harrison Ford Appears as Audio Animatronics
This segment of the D23 Expo began with a surprise transmission from Indy himself, Disney Legend Harrison Ford, to kick things off. After expressing his gratitude to fans for being along for the ride on so many adventures with this beloved character, Ford briefly shared that he is the actual model for the next Indiana Jones animatronic.
Ford jokingly confirmed that this is the first time he will be the face you see on a Disney attraction anywhere in the world. (You read that correctly–the versions at Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea do not use his likeness in their Audio Animatronics; it’s instead very clearly nondescript explorer man or whatever.)
Michael and Chris then displaying the digital model that is being used to build the Audio-Animatronics figure. (I’ll update this later with photos once I can offload from my memory card.)
Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent
The next major announcement from the 2026 D23 Expo presentation came from Michael and Chris, as the duo confirmed the name of the attraction publicly for the first time: Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent is the title of this next installment of Indy’s adventures at Disney parks.
Welp, guess it’s time to stop referring to this one as Indiana Jones Adventure. Kinda surprised it’s not Indiana Jones Adventure: Myth of the Jade Serpent. While I’ll miss the ‘Adventure’ naming convention, I’ve been giving Disney a hard time about punctuation in attraction titles, so I can’t complain too loudly about this one!
Myth of the Jade Serpent Storyline
Michael Hundgen and Chris Beatty also revealed first details about the ride’s cultural inspiration, new storyline, and the experience guests will have once entering the temple and embarking on this breathtaking quest.
Imagineers were eager to blend the thrill of a classic Indiana Jones adventure with the rich cultural details that are quintessential to Animal Kingdom, a park that is dedicated to creatures both real and imagined. The attraction takes riders on a journey alongside Indy, beneath an ancient temple ruin, showcasing Maya culture and its profound connection to nature – perfectly fitting for this park.
Michael and Chris shared that the temple entrance is being built as we speak, and gave a behind-the-scenes look at the stunning facade, which up until now we have only seen in renderings.
They continued to share that the project team remains dedicated to authentic storytelling, working closely with archaeologists, anthropologists, and Maya experts to ensure that every element is accurate for the region. Riders will be awed by the highly detailed and original Maya artwork found in the attraction, and I can’t wait to get a first glimpse at some of these pieces.
During Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent, you’ll rendezvous with Dr. Jones, who is in the midst of exploring this mysterious temple near a once water-filled underground cave, called a cenote. Local legend says the passageway leads directly to the Maya Underworld, and is protected by a serpentine creature: the Tsukán.
Michael and Chris provided an animated first look at one of the key scenes. And they shared that the adventure takes off when riders are unwittingly sucked through a portal to the Underworld, where they’ll have to escape perilous dangers, like monstrous bats, larger-than-life scorpions, fire and flame, and of course, snakes.
You may be asking, “why’d it have to be snakes?” and Imagineers have a great answer to that. Chris revealed that you’ll encounter the Tsukán throughout Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent, including a final climactic confrontation.
A first look at the gigantic Audio-Animatronics figure was showcased to the D23 crowd, revealing how it completely towers over the Imagineers bringing it to life. Not only that, but the team is taking great care to sculpt the figure by hand, which will make it that much more life-like, and snake-fear-inducing, for guests.
During the Parks Panel, Imagineers shared that Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent is part of the biggest slate of expansion projects in the history of Disney World, so getting an inside look at this extraordinary feat was such a special treat.
We first learned of Tropical Americas during the 2024 D23 Expo, where Josh D’Amaro revealed the new 11-acre section being added to Animal Kingdom. The sprawling land will contain two headlining attractions inspired by Indiana Jones and Disney’s Encanto, in addition to shopping and dining.
Additionally, families visiting Tropical Americas will find plenty to discover, including El Carrusel de los Animalitos, a brand-new carousel featuring 22 hand-carved animals inspired by Disney and Pixar stories — spot the likes of Scuttle, Squirt, Pua, Pascal, Simba, Eeyore, Kuzco, Heimlich, and more. Young adventurers can continue the journey in a nearby play area inspired by the Maya, where young explorers can unearth artifacts and investigate the natural wonders of the rainforest through hands-on exploration and play.
In recent months, the Imagineers have divulged details about their research trips to places like Honduras, where they’ve learned firsthand about the region’s culture, customs, and folklore. Their experience with native artistry and architecture has served as inspiration when crafting the new land, specifically for the Indiana Jones attraction leveraging observations from the Copán site, one of the most well-preserved cities of the ancient Maya civilization.
In case you missed them from this weekend’s earlier coverage, here are model photos of the Indiana Jones temple exterior from the Imagineering booth on the show floor:
Tropical Americas is the project at Walt Disney World that’s furthest along. It’s also the only expansion for either coast with a confirmed opening before the next D23 Expo, and possibly even Destination D23.
Unfortunately, Disney did not divulge an opening season during the Parks Panel. And, unless I missed it, they didn’t even reiterate the previously-announced 2027 opening year. While that probably is meaningless, it feels worth mentioning.
As discussed in When Will Tropical Americas Open at Animal Kingdom?, our big prediction is that the expansion gets a phased opening. That explains why the first phase could debut as early as Summer 2027, with the second phase coming as late as Spring 2028.
Our Commentary
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again. Indiana Jones Adventure is a masterclass in themed design, worldbuilding, and storytelling in thrill rides. It’s also Exhibit A in how Walt Disney World did dinosaurs dirty with that land at Animal Kingdom.
Dinosaurs are, by every measure, the coolest creatures to ever have roamed the earth. They would eat Harrison Ford in 99 battles out of 100. (He’d get lucky and crash his plane into them 1 time.) As the newer attraction based on these beautiful beasts, DINOSAUR should be light years better than Indiana Jones Adventure. And yet, it’s not even remotely close.
Prior to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Indiana Jones Adventure was the most groundbreaking addition to Disneyland ever. Indiana Jones Adventure was a generation-defining attraction and paved the way not just for future rides, but influenced entire lands.
Three decades later, Indiana Jones Adventure is still a revolutionary ride that feels fresh. Everything about Indiana Jones Adventure is excellent. The queue setting the tone, the humorous pre-show, and the daring journey aboard a transport vehicle deep into the Temple of the Forbidden Eye in search of unimaginable rewards.
Even though the track layout of DINOSAUR is substantially similar, the queue and pre-show don’t have the same size or scale, nor does some of the interior space of the attraction. So it’s hardly a foregone conclusion that the newer version of the ride would be better. After all, DINOSAUR wasn’t!
If all goes well with the Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent ride reimagining, Walt Disney World fans are in for a real treat. Even those who are upset that DINOSAUR’s countdown to extinction is now underway will almost assuredly be quickly won over by Indiana Jones Adventure. I’m pretty confident of that, even when taking nostalgia (it’s a helluva drug) into account.
Indiana Jones Adventure is just that much better–most reasonable fans, even the overly sentimental ones, will recognize that. Even as someone who has done both versions of this ride dozens of times, I can’t wait to have Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent at Walt Disney World. In part because I want all of you to experience it. But also, because I love it so much that I welcome a third edition with open arms. As Sallah would (and does) say, “it is unlike anything you have ever experienced, I assure you!”
Ultimately, we’re really looking forward to Tropical Americas. For one thing, this project is the one that’s most necessary, as Animal Kingdom badly needs about a half-dozen new rides. Three will have to suffice for now, but hopefully this is just the start of big plans to make DAK a full-day park for the average guests and not just super fans.
For another thing, all of these concepts look fantastic. The Encanto Madrigal Casita dark ride has tremendous potential to be a great family-friendly dark ride, and everything we’ve heard has us optimistic. (It honestly doesn’t bother me in the least that this isn’t trackless–most guests won’t even know as the ride profile should be very dynamic.)
Even the critter carousel and ‘Village of Hope’ look like they should deliver a great central hub to the land. Tropical Americas reminds us a bit of Fantasy Springs at Tokyo DisneySea, and although it’s unlikely the attractions will rise to that level, it’s nevertheless nice to see that level of attention to detail and three rides that should be tremendous assets to Animal Kingdom. We can’t wait!
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Your Thoughts
What do you think of Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent? Good attraction name, or should it feature “Adventure” and punctuation in the title? What about the surprise that Disney is shelling out for Harrison Ford’s likeness? Excited or underwhelmed by the storyline? Or, are you in wait and see mode with this? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
