Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent: Animal Kingdom ride gets a name, story, and Harrison Ford animatronic
Disney revealed the name of Animal Kingdom's Indiana Jones attraction at D23: Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent. Harrison Ford is the model for the ride's animatronic, a first for any Disney park, and the story sends riders into the Maya Underworld to escape a giant serpent called the Tsukan inside the new Tropical Americas land.
Disney has named the Indiana Jones attraction coming to Disney's Animal Kingdom: Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent. The reveal came during the "Horizons: A Carousel of Progress" showcase at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, where Imagineers Michael Hundgen and Chris Beatty also confirmed that Harrison Ford himself is the model for the ride's new Audio-Animatronics figure, a first for any Disney park.
Key Details
- Attraction Name: Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent
- Location: Tropical Americas, the new 11-acre land at Disney's Animal Kingdom
- Animatronic: Harrison Ford is the model for the Indiana Jones figure, his first face on a Disney attraction anywhere
- Story: An escape through the Maya Underworld, guarded by a serpent creature called the Tsukan
- Also in the Land: An Encanto attraction, El Carrusel de los Animalitos, a Maya-inspired play area, plus shopping and dining
- Announced At: D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event 2026
Harrison Ford is the face of the animatronic
The presentation opened with a recorded message from Harrison Ford, who thanked fans for following the character across decades of films. He then shared the headline news himself: he is the actual model for the next Indiana Jones Audio-Animatronics figure. Ford confirmed this is the first time his face will appear on a Disney attraction anywhere in the world. The existing Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland has always used a generic likeness, so a Ford-modeled figure is genuinely new territory for the franchise.
Later in the showcase, Hundgen and Beatty returned to the subject and displayed the digital model that Walt Disney Imagineering is using to build the figure.
The name: Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent
The two Imagineers confirmed the attraction's title publicly for the first time: Indiana Jones and the Myth of the Jade Serpent. It joins Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye at Disneyland and Indiana Jones et le Temple du Peril at Disneyland Paris as the third Indy attraction worldwide, and the first at Walt Disney World.
A story rooted in Maya culture
The team also shared the first details about the ride's cultural inspiration. The goal is to pair a classic Indiana Jones adventure with the kind of cultural and natural detail Animal Kingdom is built around, a park dedicated to creatures both real and imagined. The ride takes guests beneath an ancient temple ruin and draws on Maya culture and its connection to nature.
The temple entrance facade, previously seen only in renderings, is now under construction, and the showcase included a behind-the-scenes look at it. The project team is working with archaeologists, anthropologists, and Maya cultural experts to keep the details accurate to the region, and the attraction will feature original Maya artwork created for the ride. Imagineers have made research trips to Honduras to study the region's culture, customs, and folklore firsthand, with the Copan archaeological site, one of the best-preserved cities of the ancient Maya civilization, serving as a key reference for the attraction and the land around it.
Into the Maya Underworld
Guests meet Dr. Jones as he explores a temple near a cenote, a once water-filled underground cave. Local legend holds that the passage leads to the Maya Underworld and is guarded by a serpentine creature called the Tsukan. Riders get pulled through a portal into the Underworld and have to escape its dangers: monstrous bats, oversized scorpions, fire, and, naturally, snakes.
The Tsukan appears throughout the ride, including a final confrontation. Disney showed the crowd a first look at the gigantic Audio-Animatronics serpent, which towers over the Imagineers building it. The team is sculpting the figure by hand rather than relying entirely on digital fabrication, a choice meant to make it more lifelike up close.
The rest of Tropical Americas
The ride anchors Tropical Americas, the 11-acre land first announced by then Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D'Amaro at D23 in 2024. Disney says the land is part of the largest slate of expansion projects in Walt Disney World history. It will hold two headliner attractions, the Indiana Jones ride and one themed to Encanto, along with shopping and dining.
Families get two more additions. El Carrusel de los Animalitos is a new carousel with 22 hand-carved animals drawn from Disney and Pixar stories, including Scuttle, Squirt, Pua, Pascal, Simba, Eeyore, Kuzco, and Heimlich. Nearby, a Maya-inspired play area lets kids dig for artifacts and explore the rainforest setting hands-on.
Why this matters
This is the most detail Disney has given on the Animal Kingdom expansion since the land was announced two years ago, and the pieces now have names, a story, and visible construction. A Harrison Ford-modeled animatronic gives Walt Disney World a version of Indy that even Disneyland's ride never had. Disney has not yet announced an opening date for Tropical Americas, so guests planning around the new land should watch for timing news in the months ahead.