TOURISM

AT&T;’s Wild Ride: Will Indiana Jones please phone home?

Disneyland has signed AT&T; as the sponsor of its new and much-hyped Indiana Jones Adventure ride. The phone giant has already collaborated with the theme park on a publicity stunt earlier this month.

Guests who brave the expected long waits for the ride through the “Temple of the Forbidden Eye” will receive AT&T; decoder cards so they can fritter away the minutes trying to decipher hieroglyphics they encounter along the way.

Though it is one of the highest capacity rides at Disneyland, the Indiana Jones Adventure is expected to have long waits before guests can board the simulated off-road vehicles that will take them on a three-minute excursion past lava pits, giant cobras and the ever popular giant rolling ball. The ride opens March 3.

AT&T; helped Disneyland round up hundreds of its customers with the last name of Jones for a publicity stunt in the park Feb. 4.

Corporate sponsorship has a long tradition at Disneyland. The park opened with many of its rides sponsored by various large corporations as a way of defraying the costs of building the park, a process that left founder Walt Disney strapped for cash.