Space Mountain

The ride begins in the Space Port where guests board their rockets. The rockets advance from the loading to mission control where a lap bar check is made and so it may wait its turn to enter the ride. When the rocket is released, the red strobe lights surrounding the rocket flash and it makes a right turn into the first room as the music begins. In this room, big, red X-shaped lights are on the sides and the rockets climb the first small lift hill. At the top, two strobe lights flash on and the rockets enter a tunnel of flashing blue lights to signify the transfer of power to the rockets. After right turn, the rockets climb the second lift hill, a long tunnel filled with screens. As the rockets begin their climb, red beams stretch along the screens and spin as a galaxy is seen swirling at the very top of the tunnel. As the rockets crest the lift, the galaxy swirls up and vanishes. The music climaxes as the rockets emerge into the main part of the ride, the inside of the mountain. A very dark room with thousands upon thousands of stars, along with galaxies, novas, asteroids and other cosmological bodies. Gusts of wind are constantly blowing in the mountain, caused by vents and other rockets. The rockets make a wide u-turn before ascending one more small lift hill. A countdown begins as the vehicles crest the hill and the rockets are sent into a high-speed ride through the immense room. The ride consists of many turns and small dips with the illusion of speed given by the fact that the track is barely visible to the riders. The ride approaches the end by plunging in a series of tight right hand turns, going faster and faster. With a sudden left turn, the vehicles enter the re-entry tunnel with many colorful stars flying towards them and two flashes of light as the onride photo is taken. The rockets hit the brakes and make a final right u-turn back into the station as mission control welcomes the riders back and the music dies away.

Indiana Jones Adventure

At the loading area, guests board the troop transport. Through the radio, Sallah (John Rhys-Davies) reminds the tourists to fasten their seat belts, and points out a problem with the transport. The transport takes off, past a cluster of mirrors concealing the maintenance dock entrance, and turns a corner into the Chamber of Destiny, where guests are presented with three doors. One of the three doors begins to glow more brightly than the other two, and Mara announces which gift the passengers have chosen to receive. The doors open, and the passengers enter the Hall of Promise.
In reality, the Chamber of Destiny only has one operating door and corridor. The walls and ceiling of the room are designed to rotate across the working doorway and a set of four façades (two on each side of the real doorway), so that three "doors" are always visible at any given time. The doors and the Hall of Promise are lit differently based on which particular chamber has been randomly chosen. Dummy tracks lead up to the other doors to enhance the effect. This is best noticeable in night vision videos of the ride which can mostly be found on YouTube. This effect however is currently not in use anymore.

• If the transport gets the Fountain of Eternal Youth, the Hall of Promise appears illuminated with shimmering aqua blue light. Front-lit scrims along the walls are painted to depict true believers drinking mystic water, discarding their withered skin and emerging young and beautiful. As you enter the thru the Fountain of Eternal Youth version of the Chamber of Destiny into the Hall of Promise, Mara says, "You have chosen wisely. This path leads to endless youth and beauty."
• If the transport gets the Chamber of Earthly Riches, the Hall of Promise is illuminated with shimmering golden light behind the scrims where of gold and other treasures are visible, rendering the Fountain of Eternal Youth scrim paintings transparent. In the original update of the attraction in 2013, Mara says "You seek the treasure of Mara. Glitter and gold, it is yours."
• If the transport gets the Observatory of the Future, it tilts upward, directing passengers’ eyes away from the dark scrims, and towards the dazzling star field. The Hall of Promise is dimly lit in purple and the ceiling above twinkles with 5,000 fiber optic stars. Mara says, "You seek the future. I will lift the curtain of time. It is your destiny."

At the end of the tunnel, the idol of Mara suddenly appears to scowl and projection mapping shows the idol 'bleed' with colors as it says:

• "You looked into my eyes. Your path now leads to the Gates of Doom!"

The transport momentarily appears to head toward an exit, before making a sharp turn into a large crumbling corridor. Lightning flashes along the walls, illuminating large cobra statues overhead as the transport continues forward. The Gates of Doom pulsate with green mist and an audio-animatronic Indiana Jones struggles to keep the doors closed. Jones scolds the tourists for looking into the idol's eyes and instructs them to proceed up the steps to the left. The transport then accelerates up the flight of stairs.

 

The transport emerges from the passage and teeters on the edge of a vast pit of lava. Another transport is seen attempting to cross a rickety rope bridge which spans the pit under a crumbling ceiling. On the far side of the cavern, there is a 45-foot-tall stone face of Mara, that periodically shoots green rays at both transports, causing flames to erupt from where the beam hits. Formerly, there was an effect in place within this scene where the light beams would hit the ceiling, causing dyed ice cubes to rain down, simulating the rubble of the caving temple. In a flier distributed in early 1995 to Disneyland Annual Passholders, a factsheet states that "By the power of Mara's wrath, 60 pounds of rubble can fall inside the temple every 18 seconds", making reference to the ice. This can be seen in some YouTube videos from the ride's opening year. (But not all, either due to the ice machine failing to meet the demands of the quick scene-change or due to the fact that the effect was turned off later that same year.) However, this effect is currently non-functioning. Many have speculated the reasons behind this, but nothing has been officially confirmed, nor has the effect been seemingly touched or tampered with in any subsequent refurbishments. The light beams have now been redirected away from the former effect, however, the sound effect for the rubble still plays upon entering the room. The transport turns left and enters catacombs of false pathways lined with skeletons, some of which pop out toward the guests.

Suddenly, all is dark. The transport's headlights flicker back on, illuminating walls swarming with thousands of beetles. Hissing sounds are heard, and riders are blasted with puffs of air. The transport heads out of the darkness and onto the bridge which spans the pit. The transport stalls for a moment as another oncoming transport can be seen about to cross the bridge, which turns away just before reaching it. The transport then accelerates across the bridge which sways and jostles under its weight. The massive stone face of Mara shoots beams from its eye, attempting to destroy the bridge. The transport makes it safely across then turns sharply to the right.

Hundreds of snakes cover the walls and ground and a large audio-animatronic cobra appears to the right of the vehicle, striking at the riders. The transport heads back to return across the rope bridge and flashes its headlights at an oncoming transport about to cross. The transport turns sharply to the right, behind the giant stone carving of Mara's face, and crosses a wooden bridge under the rope bridge. The transport stalls near a hanging tree root, where many rats are seen climbing across it and falling off into the car before a burst of speed sends the car through the tree root, which vaporizes like mist. The transport careens through a dimly lit tunnel with paintings of spear-wielding skeletal warriors adorning the walls. Blasts of air hit the riders and darts are heard striking the transport as it rolls over the trigger stones between the skeletal warriors.

The transport then approaches a dark area and stops. Indiana Jones suddenly appears above the vehicle hanging on a rope in a shaft of light. He welcomes the adventurers' rescue and bids them to turn on the headlights and prepare for him to board. As the lights flicker on, they illuminate a massive boulder rolling toward the transport. The transport seems to back up as the boulder threatens to crush Jones and the tourists. At the last possible second, the transport accelerates and suddenly the floor seems to give way, sending the transport into the chamber below. An impact resonates through the chamber, as if the boulder has crashed down, nearly striking the transport.

The transport plunges down into darkness and swerves right to see Jones standing in front of the boulder, which has been cracked by its impact.

Matterhorn Bobsleds

The ride consists of two separate tracks that run roughly parallel to each other for much of the ride, intertwining and eventually deviating from each other at the loading areas. They are the Fantasyland track and Tomorrowland track, named for the side of the mountain their associated loading line begins in. The vehicles originally held up to four passengers each, seated single-file. After the 1978 upgrade, the individual vehicles were joined into pairs with lap seating increasing the capacity per car to eight. In 2012, the cars were replaced with new vehicles as part of the six month ride closure, and it currently features two cars paired together with three single-file seats per car. The safety restraints consist of a car seatbelt. There are hand grips inside the cars, but there are no longer hand grips on the outside of the bobsled.

There is one lift hill on each track. Bobsleds ascend parallel to each other at the start of the ride, climbing past walls featuring snow-like special effects . The top of this lift hill constitutes the highest point of the ride itself, though the mountain continues upward for another couple of stories. The rest of the ride is an unpowered coast through the Matterhorn's many caverns and passageways.
The splash-down pools at the end of each track serve dual purposes. They not only cool off the braking fins mounted on the underside of the bobsleds, but the impact into the water itself acts as a braking mechanism. Because of their constant exposure to water, the fiberglass bodies are regularly waxed.

For many years, a basketball half-court existed inside the structure above the coaster, near the top of the mountain, where the mountain climbers could play between climbs. As internal access to the mountain was locked for safety reasons, the court was accessible only to the climbers. The court was relocated slightly during the installation of the Tinkerbell flight equipment prior to the 50th anniversary celebration; the hoop and playing area remain intact. There is a cast member break room inside the mountain at the base. The court is said to still be there today by many cast members and the mountain's climbers.