Disney filed a construction permit for the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular at Hollywood Studios, where the rolling boulder has been out of the show since it injured a performer in December.
The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular at Disney’s Hollywood Studios has a new construction permit, and WDW News Today wondered whether it means the boulder is coming back.
Disney’s Facility Asset Management team filed the permit for the show’s theater, WDW News Today reported on Wednesday, Oct. 14. Chip and Company noted it comes nearly a year after the accident that pulled the boulder from the show.
Disney hasn’t said what the work is for.
Here’s how the show runs now, without the boulder, in a full 2026 performance from Attractions POV:
What does the new Indiana Jones permit say?
It’s short on details. It lists the theater’s address, 225 Cypress Drive, a scope of “General Construction” and Coastal Steel Inc., a steel fabrication company, as the contractor, according to WDW News Today. The permit expires Oct. 5, 2027.
WDW News Today pointed out that Facility Asset Management filings usually cover general maintenance, not big creative changes. Steel work could be big enough to close the show for a while, though, and the outlet floated the boulder’s return as one possibility.
That part is a guess. Nothing in the permit mentions the boulder.
What happened to the Indiana Jones boulder?
It came off its track. On Dec. 30, 2025, during an afternoon show, the roughly 400-pound rubber boulder prop jumped its track and bounced toward the front rows, FOX 35 and BlogMickey reported.
Longtime cast member Robert Herrick put himself between the boulder and the audience. He plays the show’s Director, who sits in the tech booth during the boulder scene, and he’s 6-foot-6, FOX 35 reported.
The boulder hit the stage wall, bounced about 8 feet in the air, struck Herrick and bounced away from the crowd, according to FOX 35. The impact fractured his C6 and C7 vertebrae, and he needed six stitches and wore a neck brace for eight weeks, BlogMickey reported.
“I’d do it over again, a hundred times over,” Herrick told FOX 35 in January. In another interview that month, with WFTV, he said he wanted to be a speed bump for the boulder so it wouldn’t reach the audience.
A Disney spokesperson told FOX 35 that safety is central to the company’s work and that the show element would be modified while its safety team reviewed what happened.
Is the boulder back in the Indiana Jones show?
No. Since the accident, the opening scene ends with a stunt performer doing a flip instead of the boulder chase, BlogMickey reported in May. Disney called that change temporary while the safety review continues.
BlogMickey’s writer said the boulder was still missing on a recent visit.
Herrick returned to the show in May, nearly five months after he was hurt. His fellow cast members greeted him with a sign that read “Welcome back Robert! The boulder didn’t stop you.”
How long has the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular been running?
Since 1989. The 30-minute show recreates stunts from Raiders of the Lost Ark and has been part of the park almost from the start, FOX 35 noted.
Herrick has been with the show for decades. BlogMickey called him a 36-year veteran, and he told FOX 35 the boulder had launched thousands of times without a problem before December.
What else is happening near the Indiana Jones show?
Something mysterious. A steel frame recently went up near the show’s exit for a project code-named Project Fedora, which may be an Indiana Jones-themed play area for younger guests, according to WDWMAGIC’s sources.
WDW News Today noted that project has a different address than the theater, so the two permits don’t appear to be connected. We wrote about Project Fedora earlier this week.
For now, the stunt show keeps running with its modified opening. If the boulder ever rolls again, it’ll probably get more applause than the plane fight and the market scene combined.
Article compiled and written by Kambrea Pratt (editor-in-chief), Derek Gibbs (beat editor) and the Pirates & Princesses newsroom. Pirates & Princesses is part of WebReef Media.
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Hat Tips:
WDW News Today (Oct. 14, 2026), the permit and Project Fedora’s address
Chip and Company, Chris B (Oct. 14, 2026), the permit timing
FOX 35 Orlando (Jan. 22, 2026), the accident, Herrick and Disney’s statement
BlogMickey (May 2026), Herrick’s injuries, return, the modified opening and his WFTV interview
Attractions POV on YouTube (May 29, 2026), the 2026 show
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