The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

Tower of Terror
File:TowerofTerror Logo.jpg
Ride statistics
Attraction type	Elevator drop
Theme	Twilight Zone
Number of vehicles	6
Guests per vehicle	22

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Ride statistics
Must transfer from wheelchair

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Ride statistics
Must transfer from wheelchair

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Ride statistics
Must transfer from wheelchair

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Ride statistics
Must transfer from wheelchair

This article is about the Disney ride. For the roller coaster at Australian amusement park Dreamworld, see Tower of Terror.

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, more commonly known as Tower of Terror, is a simulated freefall thrill ride at Disney-MGM Studios in Lake Buena Vista, Florida and at Disney's California Adventure Park in Anaheim, California. It is based upon the television show The Twilight Zone. The Disney-MGM Studios ride opened in 1994 and the California Adventure version in 2004.

A new Tower of Terror attraction opened at Tokyo DisneySea in Japan on 4th September 2006 and in January 2008 the Walt Disney Studios in France will open theirs. The Tokyo DisneySea version of Tower of Terror does not have a Twilight Zone theme.

The ride is themed to resemble the fictional Hollywood Tower Hotel. The storyline of the ride is that on October 31, 1939, the hotel was struck by lightning, transporting an elevator car full of passengers to the Twilight Zone. The exterior of the ride resembles an old hotel with a blackened scorch mark across the front of the facade where the lightning destroyed part of the building. All of the cast members wear a costume that resembles that of a 1930s bellhop. At over one thousand dollars (US) per uniform, it is the most expensive costume in the various theme parks.

It is the third tallest attraction (199 feet) at the Walt Disney World Resort (Expedition Everest is half a foot taller, and the wand decorating Spaceship Earth adds 41 feet to that 180-foot tall attraction). The Tower of Terror is 199 feet high at Walt Disney World because of FAA regulations that require a fixed red light beacon to be added to the top of any 200-foot or taller building. Imagineers thought that the beacon would take away from the hotel's 1939 theme. At the Disneyland Resort, the 183-foot attraction is the tallest attraction at the resort, as well as the tallest building in Anaheim.

Ride description

The attraction facade at the Disney-MGM Studios, October 2005.

Template:Spoiler Guests entering the ride are ushered into the library, where they view the Twilight Zone season 4 opening sequence and a short clip of Rod Serling describing the events at the hotel, presented in the style of The Twilight Zone television series' opening segment. Serling introduces the story of five unfortunate victims of supernatural events that took place on Halloween 1939. He then invites the hotel's newfound guests to enter into their own episode of the famed series. From there, guests pass through the hotel's basement "boiler room" and into a large elevator equipped with 6 rows of seats, accommodating 21 passengers.

The ride employs specialized ride technology developed specifically for Disney, particularly the ability to move the elevator cab in and out of the drop shaft in the Florida version. The elevator cabs are actually automated vehicles which lock into the elevators. The cabs move out of their elevators to make the horizontal transit [The Fifth Dimension scene] to the drop shaft. The California and Tokyo versions were able to take advantage of a relatively new technology that allowed guests' reflections to be transformed into ghosts before their eyes (a thermal camera).

Although the ride is designed to feel like a freefall, the elevator is actually accelerated downward faster than the pull of gravity for extra thrills.

In an effort to be true to the spirit of The Twilight Zone, Disney Imagineers reportedly watched every episode of the original television show at least twice. The attraction buildings are littered with references to Twilight Zone episodes.

Florida version

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Looking up at the attraction facade at the Disney-MGM Studios, October 2004.

In the Florida version of the ride, Rod Serling greets riders the moment the elevator doors close, saying, "You are the passengers on a most uncommon elevator about to ascend directly into your very own episode of The Twilight Zone." The elevator rises for a few seconds before coming to a stop. The doors open to reveal a corridor populated by the ghostly occupants from 1939, who then disappear. The corridor fades to a starlit night sky, and a window breaks (like in the opening segment of each episode). The elevator doors close and the car begins to rise again. Serling's voice continues: "One stormy night long ago, five people stepped through the door of an elevator and into a nightmare. That door is opening once again, but this time, it's opening for you." At the top, the doors again open and the car mysteriously moves forward out of the shaft, through a section of the ride called The Fifth Dimension: a surreal collection of objects and sights, once again in the style of the television show's opening sequence.

The hotel lobby, Florida, MGM Studios, October 2005.

A field of stars appear and begin disappearing. The stars completely disappear, and they form a vertical line, which splits in half and opens like elevator doors. Serling's voice is heard again, saying, "You are about to discover what lies beyond the fifth dimension, beyond the deepest, darkest corner of the imagination, in the Tower of Terror." After the elevator moves in to the shaft, the randomly-selected drop sequence begins. At one point, doors in front of the riders will open to reveal a view of the park from a height of 13 stories. In the years since the attraction's initial opening, a randomized pattern of drops and lifts have been added, where the ride vehicle will drop or rise various distances at different intervals. Other effects were also added, including new projection images of the breaking window, wind effects, and ominous blacklit figures of the five ghostly original riders. These changes were made to make every trip to the Twilight Zone a different experience. After a series of these drops have been made, the ride vehicle returns to the basement of the decrepit Hollywood Tower Hotel. The slogan for the ride now is "Never the Same Fear Twice!!"

Attraction facts

• Previous taglines:
  • "Fear Every Drop" (1999)
  • "Twice the Fright" (1997)
• Current tagline: "Never the Same Fear Twice", "The Tower is in Control!" (May 5th 2004 - present)
• The ride line at California Adventure features a reference to the Twilight Zone episode Little Girl Lost. Chalk marks on the wall are in the same place they were in the episode when trying to find where the portal to find the girl was.

California version

California version of Tower of Terror.

While similar in concept and theme to the original ride in Florida, the version of this attraction in Disney's California Adventure Park does have some differences.

The biggest mechanical difference is in how the elevator shafts are configured: in California, the ride vehicles rotate between a front shaft (used for loading) and a rear shaft (used for the attraction itself), while the Florida attraction shares the two attraction shafts with the four loading zones.

When the ride starts, the elevator pushes backwards away from the elevator door while a starfield appears around it. The narrator (Rod Serling) says, "You are the passengers of a most uncommon elevator, about to take the strangest journey of your lives. Your destination...unknown, but this much is clear, a reservation has been made in your name for an extended stay". A door closes, placing riders in darkness as the elevator rises.

The first stop of the elevator is in front of a large mirror. The voice of the narrator tells riders to "wave goodbye to the real world". As they do, electricity begins to arc around the mirror and the reflection of the riders is replaced by a ghostly image. The audience's reflection then disappears with the narrator saying "For you have just entered ... the Twilight Zone!" This is actually a thermal-mirror, which shuts off to reveal the dummy vehicle behind it. The elevator shudders as the door closes and the elevator moves to its next stop, a corridor of the Hotel, similar to the one in Florida. Here, the narrator says that "What happened here to dim the lights of Hollywood's brightest show place is about to unfold once again.", which is followed by a similar sequence of events to that of Florida. Rod Serling continues his narration, assuming the dialogue from the Florida attraction: "One stormy night long ago, five people stepped through the door of an elevator and into a nightmare...."

Instead of the window at the end of the corridor, there is an elevator door that, after the lightning striking and the ghosts vanishing through bolts of electricity, opens to reveal the ghosts of the 1939 guests dropping into the "5th Dimension." As the ghosts of the 1939 guests reappear in their elevator, the Rod Serling narration continues with "That door is opening once again, but this time... It's opening for you." With that, the rider elevator drops into the 5th Dimension a mere split-second after the riders see the ghosts' elevator drop (a change from the lengthy horizontal movement that precedes the drop in the Florida version).

The passenger's car drops into darkness before ascending to the top of the shaft for a view over the Disneyland Resort before dropping to the bottom window, and falling to the bottom.

After Sept 11, 2001, and while the California version was still under construction, the entire concept for this attraction was under serious review and was at once considered to be entirely unusable. This due in part to American sensibilities regarding the words "tower" and "terror" and that the Disneyland Resort had at the time been a target of Al Queda.

Seasonal enhancement

For Halloween 2006, the California Tower of Terror received decorations and minor enhancements. Items include Halloween decorations in the hotel lobby, items surrounding the exterior of the building and a selection of cast members in period costume including a reporter, a janitor and a pair of 1930s Los Angeles citizens. There was also an effect where there was lightning and thunder at the tower.

Paris version

Paris Tower as of 1/27/07

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Walt Disney Studios Park is almost an exact copy in every way to the version at Disney's California Adventure (even if the Tower had been first designed for the French Disney resort). The ride is currently under construction in the central area of the park, behind the "La Terrasse" seating area. Upon completion, it will be joined by a major new theme development producing an outdoor Hollywood Boulevard of faux movie sets. Unlike its American cousins, the Paris version is being constructed using concrete rather than steel, this is one of the few details of the ride that differ from its Californian counterpart upon completion. The use of concrete in the construction instead of steel was due to French construction guidelines and standards.

Attraction Facts

• Disney MGM Studios version:

Ride Duration: 3:10 minutes

• Disney's California Adventure version:

Ride Duration: 2:25 minutes

Soundtrack

In the queue for the Tower of Terror at Disney-MGM Studios, music from the 30s is played. The listing can be found here: Disney Music Loops: Tower of Terror Area Music.

The ride's theme was conducted by Richard Bellis, and can be found on several theme park albums:

• Disneyland/Walt Disney World Music Vacation (as part of a medley)
• Walt Disney World Resort: The Official Album (1999 CD)
• Walt Disney World Resort: Official Album (2000 CD)
• Official Album: Walt Disney World Resort Celebrating 100 Years of Magic (2001 CD)

Historical site

Tower of Terror at Tokyo DisneySea

In Hollywood, California, visible from Highway 101, are the Hollywood Tower apartments on Franklin Avenue. A plaque by the front door reads:

HOLLYWOOD TOWER. 1929. SOPHISTICATED LIVING FOR FILM LUMINARIES DURING THE "GOLDEN AGE" OF HOLLYWOOD. PLACED ON THE REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES BY THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR.

Spinoff Attraction

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The Hotel Hightower Concept Art

The Tower of Terror at Tokyo DisneySea has no connection or tie-ins with The Twilight Zone, and is instead themed as the Hotel Hightower, a New York City 1890s hotel owned by eccentric billionaire Harrison Hightower III who disappeared while taking the elevator up to his private quarters shortly after taking a mysterious idol of a trickster spirit called Shiriki Utundu from an ancient civilization in Africa. The facade is more gothic in architecture, and is located in the American Waterfront area of the park, opposite the S.S. Columbia cruise liner.

See also

• List of current Disney-MGM Studios attractions
• Tower of Terror, a 1997 Television movie based on the ride.
• Incidents at Disney parks

External links

• The Official Disney-MGM Studios Tower of Terror Site
• The Official Disney's California Adventure Tower of Terror Site
• Tokyo Disney Resort - Tower of Terror
• Tower of Terror 1899- Tokyo Disney Resort's official Tower of Terror storyline webpage, featuring a virtual tour of the Hightower Hotel and other storyline information

• TowerofTerror.org
• ServiceElevator.com
• Joe's Tokyo Disney Resort Site - The Hotel Hightower Photo Update
• Tower of Terror at Disneyland Resort Paris construction photos
• Tokyo Disney Resort at Home Tower of Terror
• Theme Park Review's Tower of Terror Page
• Interview with Robert Rhine, 'Rod Serling' for the Tower of Terror.
• DLRP Magic! - Guide to Paris' Tower of Terror
• DLRP Today - Follow the construction of Paris' Tower of Terror
• Simulation of Tower of Terror control panel. Includes schematic/blueprint of ride layout and demonstrates the ride operation from the viewpoint of a cast member operating the ride.