If you enjoy the magic of the attraction and would prefer not to know how it works don't read this.
I've taken advantage of the vast amounts of information available on for this ride and from my own experiences on it.
1. Chamber of Destiny - Your ride begins. You'll notice after that first right hand turn that the track proceeds in a straight line towards the door in front of you. The doors to the three chambers move creating the illusion.
2. "Individual" Rooms - As you can see above each room is the same save for a few lighting tricks that make it appear otherwise. Observatory of the Future, Chamber of Earthly Riches, and Fountain of Eternal Youth. The Observatory gives the best view of some of this trickery. The purpose of the stars above is to keep your eyes off the walls on either side of you as it's very easy to see the wall paintings that are better lit in the Eternal Youth Room. The gold and treasure is very easy to see when the screen it's printed on is lit up but again you can still spot the Eternal Youth walls hidden behind it.
3. Indiana Jones - You first encounter Plastic Harrison Ford couragously holding the gates shut to keep what I can only imagine are cast members trying to reach the break area. He says a few different things then points you up to the left. He also lets you know that you're looking at snakes when you see the giant snake. Thanks for the help there buddy. From there you don't see him until you reach the giant rolling ball. He says a few different things as well and is well lit so you don't notice the opening that reveals the track below the ball. Then you round a corner and there he is again with a large broken ball. He says a few things then jerks about as you wait for them to unload the jeeps ahead of you.
4. Faux Terrain - Here comes the science! In case you haven't noticed the jeeps as they cross the bridge in front of you the wheels stay firmly planted on very flat ground yet you still lurch about. This is how they're able to create a different ride experience. The jeep accelerates, decelerates, stalls, dips, lunches and slips all over the place and in very different ways. It's most apparent when the bridge behaves like it's going to collapse and when you're driving like a teenager through the dark and the jeep stalls. It also hesistates differently before driving through the darts.
5. Sallah - Before the ride you're given words of advice by Gimli the Dwarf from the Lord of the Rings. It's a bit odd in my opinion. I know it''s the same actor and he played Sallah in the Jone's films so save your angry nerd remarks. You get the same spiel before the ride but he is nice enough to leave you with a joke at the end that ties into your experience with the Chamber of Destiny. This feature struggles on busy and slow days so expect to hear him joke about the fountain of youth no matter what room you entered.
Check out that awesome Fez. I had no idea he was a Shriner.
That's about it. Even after deconstructing the ride it is still one of the best attractions out there and blows away many if not most theme park attractions. If you haven't been on it prepare to be dazzled. If you have been on it, you're probably going on it again so you can spot the skeleton with the mouse ears hat or look for hidden Mickeys. I think pretty much everybody loves it young and old except for people who prefer their thrills involve children in foreign countries singing about how small the world.
Here's a gigantic picture of "Bones."