The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, more commonly known as Tower of Terror, is a drop tower thrill ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios, Disney's California Adventure Park, Tokyo DisneySea and Walt Disney Studios Park. It is based upon the television show The Twilight Zone. The original version of the attraction opened at Disney's Hollywood Studios in July 1994, with the California Adventure version opening nearly ten years later, in May 2004. The Tokyo DisneySea version—named simply "Tower of Terror" and featuring a modified storyline—opened in September 2006, followed by the Walt Disney Studios Park version in April 2008.

The attraction takes place in the fictional Hollywood Tower Hotel (itself inspired by the Hollywood Tower, named a historic landmark by the US Department of the Interior). The story of the hotel, adapted from elements of the television series, includes the hotel being struck by lightning on October 31st, 1939, mysteriously transporting an elevator cart full of passengers to the Twilight Zone and causing an entire wing of the building to disappear. The exterior of the attraction resembles an old hotel with a blackened scorch mark across the front of the façade where the lightning struck it. All of the cast members wear a costume that resembles that of a 1930s bellhop. At over USD$1000 per uniform, it is the most expensive costume in the various theme parks.

At 199 feet, it is the second tallest attraction at the Walt Disney World Resort, shorter only than Expedition Everest's 199.5 feet. 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. In Disneyland Resort Paris it is the second tallest attraction, although, when aloft, the Jules Verne-themed "Panoramagique" tethered balloon attraction climbs over 200 feet.

Attraction storyline and description

Queue and pre-show

In the American and European versions of the attraction, guests enter the hotel through the main entrance gate. The outdoor queue winds itself through the overgrown gardens of the Hollywood Tower Hotel and leads to the lobby. Inside the lobby, it is dark and the whole place is covered in dust. There is a yellowing copy of the Los Angeles Examiner dated October 31, 1939, a table set with tea and stale pastries, several suitcases, and a cobwebbed owl sculpture surrounded by a circle of dead flowers that appears to be the centerpiece of the room. Behind the front desk is the broken elevator, its sliding doors having slid off their grooves. A sign still reads "Out of Order". Everything in the hotel has apparently been left undisturbed ever since it closed decades ago. Guests are informed that their rooms are not quite ready yet. For the time being, guests are asked to simply enjoy themselves in the hotel's library. The library is full of not only books, but exotic antiques, a television, and plenty of Twilight Zone memorabilia. Through the window, guests can observe that there is a thunderstorm going on outside. Lightning strikes and the television comes on, apparently of its own accord. The opening sequence of Season 4 of The Twilight Zone plays, followed by a supposedly "lost" episode hosted by Rod Serling. Serling explains the mysterious events that caused the hotel to close back in 1939. He also mentions that one elevator in the hotel is still in working condition: the service elevator in the basement boiler room. He invites the guests, if they dare, to board the elevator and discover the secret of the Hollywood Tower Hotel. With that, the television shuts off and a back exit from the library opens. The guests exit and go to the boiler room, where they wait until the elevator is ready for them. In order to achieve the weightless effect the Imagineers desired, cables attached to the bottom of the elevator car actually pull it down at a speed slightly faster than what a free-fall in gravity would provide. Two enormous motors are located at the top of the tower. The motors are 12 feet tall, 35 feet long, and weigh 132,000 pounds. They are able to accelerate 10 tons at 15 times the speed of normal elevators. They generate torque equal to that of 275 Corvette engines and reach top speeds in 1.5 seconds.

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

Following the ride's success, in 1997 Disney produced a film titled "Tower of Terror", starring Steven Guttenberg and Kirsten Dunst. A very few shots were filmed at the Orlando theme park, most of them shot on Burbank movie sets. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0131620/

Disney's Hollywood Studios Version

The ride system employs specialized technology developed specifically for Disney, particularly the ability to move the vehicle in and out of the vertical motion shaft. The elevator cabs are self-propelled, automated vehicles which lock into the vertical motion cabs. The cabs move into and out of elevators horizontally, move through the "Fifth Dimension" scene, and on to the drop shaft. After the vehicle has completed its profile, the vehicle propels itself to the unload dock and then back to the show shaft. The Floridian ride system runs on a loop, though it's not as efficient as the newer "franchise" version used in California, Paris, and Tokyo .

In this version of the attraction, Rod Serling greets passengers 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 its first stop.

The doors open to reveal a long, dimly-lit hotel corridor with a single window at the opposite end. A violent thunderstorm is raging and lightning flashes outside the window. Ghostly images of the five doomed guests from 1939 appear for a moment, then vanish in a burst of electricity. The corridor disappears, but the window remains and morphs into a creepier black-and-white version and shatters (like in the opening segment of each episode).

The elevator doors close and the car continues its ascent. 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, and this time, it's opening for you."

The elevator stops once more. The doors open to an endless field of stars. The elevator car emerges horizontally from the shaft through a section of the ride called The Fifth Dimension: a bizarre collection of sights and sounds, once again in the style of the television show's opening sequence.

The elevator reaches another star field which splits 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."

The elevator enters another vertical shaft. Starting with the first drop coming right after Serling's echo of "Zone" fades. Rather than a simple gravity-powered drop, however, the elevator is pulled downwards, causing most riders to rise off their seats, held down only by a seat-belt. At least once during the drop sequence, wide elevator doors in front of the riders will open to reveal a view of the park from a height of about 170 feet. The back of the "Hollywood Tower Hotel" sign partially obstructs the view.

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, lightning flashes, 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 second corridor when returning to the basement is as the opening for the third season of the Twilight Zone. Then Rod Serling's voice says, "A warm welcome back to those of you who made it, and a friendly word of warning; something you won't find in any guidebook. The next time you check into a deserted hotel on the dark side of Hollywood, make sure you know just what kind of vacancy you're filling. Or you may find yourself a permanent resident of... The Twilight Zone!" The ride vehicle returns to the basement of the decrepit Hollywood Tower Hotel. The ride was reprogrammed most recently in its fourth conversion. This T4 allows any number of randomized drops and lifts, always featuring one "faux" drop meant to startle the riders, and one complete drop through the entire tower. The slogan for the ride is "Never the Same Fear Twice" and "The Tower is in Control."

Disney's California Adventure Version

While similar in concept and theme to the original attraction in Florida, the versions of this attraction in Disney's California Adventure Park and the Walt Disney Studios in Paris do have some differences.

order to conserve space and money, Imagineers redesigned the entire ride system for the attraction at Disney's California Adventure, and made some general changes to the show scenes. The attraction features three elevator shafts. Each shaft, in theory, is its own separate ride with its own separate operating system. Doing this made it easier to repair individual areas of the attraction without causing the entire attraction to go down. Each shaft has two vehicles and two load levels. It is designed so that the lower vehicle can be in its ride profile while the upper vehicle is loading, giving the attraction the ability to move its line much faster. Since each vehicle loads and unloads from the same point, it ended up saving space. Due to the smaller budget and fewer breakdowns, Disney decided to use this ride system again at Walt Disney Studios in Paris and Tokyo Disney Sea.

When the show cycle starts, the vehicle pushes backwards away from the elevator door while a starfield appears around it and a purple spiral appears on the doors. 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 for the elevator is a large mirror. Rod Serling tells riders to "wave goodbye to the real world." As they do, lightning strikes and electricity begins to arc around the mirror and the reflection of the riders is replaced by a ghostly silhouette of themselves. The passengers' reflection then disappears with the narrator saying "For you have just entered ... the Twilight Zone!" (The mirror uses computer-generated imagery to change the appearance of the riders' reflections, ultimately removing them from the image completely. A high resolution camera captures the guests' and compares the image to an image of an empty elevator, then removes whatever is not in the empty image.) The elevator shudders as the door closes and the elevator moves to the next show scene. As the door opens, it reveals a corridor of the hotel, with an elevator door located on the far end of it. Here, the narrator says, "What happened here to dim the lights of Hollywood's brightest show place is about to unfold once again," which is followed by an appearance of the hotel's permanent residents. Electricity courses through the hallway after their disappearance as Rod Serling continues his narration: "One stormy night long ago, five people stepped through the door of an elevator and into a nightmare...."

The hallway slowly fades away into a starfield with the permanent residents standing in the now open elevator that was at the end of the hallway. Serling then says "That door is opening once again, but this time, it's opening for you." Then the elevator at the end of the hallway with the permanent residents has a little "show sequence," when it shows them standing helplessly in the shaft then their elevator drops. Then the "ghostly" projected passenger elevator drops, followed a second later by the actual passenger elevator beginning its drop sequence: a drop from the show scene to the first floor, then a rise to the "13th" floor. After flashing strobe lights and the photo opportunity, the elevator has a short drop, followed by a longer one, then a rise that goes up 2/3 of the way up to the top and an immediate fall down to "B3." The lights flicker as the elevator goes all the way back up to the top, it is then that the top floor doors open and riders are treated with a sky-high view of both Disneyland and California Adventure. The elevator pauses there a moment and falls to a place between the load levels (so that both load levels give the same ride) and a door opens again and passengers see an elevator door. The vehicle begins moving toward the door. The Twilight Zone theme begins again as Rod Serling says, "The next time you check into a deserted hotel on the dark side of Hollywood, make sure you know just what kind of vacancy you're filling or you may find yourself a permanent resident of...The Twilight Zone." The door opens, and a bellhop is standing in the doorway to greet departing passengers.

Seasonal enhancement

Started in 2006 for Disney's Halloween Time, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney's California Adventure receives special sound and lighting effects for the exterior and themed Halloween decor for the surrounding area and in the lobby. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is the starting point of Disney's "Happiest Haunts on Earth" tour. The Halloween decor was not put up in 2008, but lights projected spinning spider webs upon the exterior of the hotel.

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Walt Disney Studios Paris Version

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Walt Disney Studios Park is based on the same designs as the version at Disney's California Adventure. However, it was originally Imagineered for the Paris park at the same time as Tokyo's tower and planned to open just 2 years after the opening of the park itself.

When financial troubles again hit Disney's Parisian theme park resort, the attraction was put on hold. In the meantime, it was constructed for Disney's California Adventure as an added crowd-puller.

The attraction was finally greenlit in 2005 and was under construction right in the center of the park, behind the "La Terrasse" seating area, in early 2006. Upon completion, it was joined by a new theme development producing an outdoor Hollywood Boulevard of faux movie sets. Unlike its American cousins, the Paris Tower was constructed using concrete rather than steel due to French construction guidelines and standards, at a total cost exceeding €180 million. [71811]

The Paris and California versions were originally believed to become identical versions upon completion, but some differences remain, notably the height of the building, the location of some rooms backstage as well as other differences due to construction and work regulations being stricter in France.

The name of the attraction in French is La Tour de la Terreur - Un Saut dans la Quatrième Dimension. (The Tower of Terror - A jump into the fourth dimension)

The default audio language for the pre-show library video and the ride is French, but can be changed to English by the Cast Member. The library video is the same as the American version but dubbed in French and subtitled in English.

The Walt Disney Studios version opened on December 22, 2007. The official opening to the press was April 5, 2008.

Twilight Zone references and design information

• The opening lines and appearance in the introduction video during the queue-- In the original episode, Rod Serling says "...map of the United States." In the Tower of Terror opening lines, the line instead is "...maintenance service elevator, still in operation, waiting for you. We invite you if you dare to step aboard because in tonight's episode, you are the star. And this elevator travels directly to...the Twilight Zone." The opening line is a modified version of the introduction from the episode "It's a Good Life."
• There is a display case in the photo gallery of the Tower Of Terror attraction at Disney's California Adventure that contains two items relating to the "A Thing about Machines" episode. One is a typewriter (with the GET OUT OF HERE FINCHLEY message); the card next to it reads "Almost Writes By Itself." There is also an electric razor; its card reads "Has A Long Cord - Can Follow You Everywhere." There is also a toy telephone from the episode "Long Distance Call" with a card saying "Perfect for the children's room and those late night calls from Grandma."
• The queue 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. This can be found in the upper level of the boiler room next to the attraction warning signage. Periodically the girl's voice can be heard calling out for help from the wall and from the radios around the boiler room.
• Outside the libraries at DCA, in the glass case adjacent to the doors there is a gold thimble accompanied by a card that reads, "Looking for a gift for Mother? Find it in our Gift Shop!" This is a reference to the Twilight Zone episode "The After Hours."
• Both of the elevator exit areas of the Florida ride contain a display featuring, among other things the ventriloquist dummy "Caesar" from the Twilight Zone episode "Caesar and Me."
• In the lobby of the hotel on a dusty couch sits Talky Tina from the Twilight Zone episode "Living Doll," at California Adventure and Walt Disney Studios (Paris).
• In the library, the Mystic Seer machine from the episode "Nick of Time" can be seen sitting on the high shelf.
• At DCA, envelopes with the names Rod Serling and Victoria West, can be found in both libraries, near the sliding wall, a reference to the episode "A World of His Own." In Library 1, it sticks out of the top of the green books. In library 2, it sits in front of the books. The green books contain titles of selected "Twilight Zone" episodes. Other books in the libraries are in various languages from around the world, including German and Danish.
• In the hotel Lobby at California Adventure, there is a door with 22 in brass numbering. This is a reference to the episode "Twenty Two".
• The trumpet from "A Passage for Trumpet" can be seen in the display while exiting the libraries.
• As the ride comes to a stop in Florida the slot machine from the Twilight Zone episode "The Fever" can also be seen.
• As the ride comes to a stop the flying saucer from the Twilight Zone episode "The Invaders" is hanging from the ceiling.
• At all rides besides Tokyo's, the preshow includes the little girl holding a Mickey Mouse plush toy, along with her still holding it on the hallway scene. At DCA's there is a picture of a man, who is said to be Walt Disney, behind the counter in the gift shop of him at a Tip Top Club party holding a Mickey Mouse plush toy as well.
• The elevator has a plaque that says the last time the elevator was checked. Its number is 10259 which is a nod to the date October 2, 1959 which is the date The Twilight Zone first aired and was checked by Mr. Cadwallader, the sinister deal maker from the episode "Escape Clause."
• "Picture If You Will..." is in the Hotel Gift Shop where you can buy your on-ride photo, something Rod Serling would say in the Twilight Zone episodes.
• In the Florida library, there is the book titled To Serve Man from the episode of the same name.
• After guests are loaded on the elevator, the needle to indicate what floor the elevator is on moves past the 12th floor. This is a reference to the 9th floor and the episode "The After Hours".

Soundtrack

In the queue for the Tower of Terror at Disney's Hollywood Studios, music from the 30s is played.

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
• Walt Disney World Resort: Official Album
• Official Album: Walt Disney World Resort Celebrating 100 Years of Magic

Hotel Hightower: Tokyo DisneySea's Tower of Terror

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, an 1890s' New York City hotel owned by eccentric billionaire Harrison Hightower III who disappeared on December 31, 1899 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's architectural style is more gothic, and the Tower is located in the American Waterfront area of the park, close to the S.S. Columbia cruise liner. The ride system for this version is similar to that of Disney's California Adventure's version and that of Walt Disney Studios Paris' version.

The story of this Tower is much more complex then the others. The story follows the adventures of the hotel's famous builder, Harrison Hightower. Having completed many expeditions around the world and collecting thousands of countless artifacts, all of which he stored in his hotel. As it would turn out, he actually stole these many items for his own personal gain. After one such expedition to Africa, he brings home an idol by the name of Shiriki Utundu. He claims that the natives were very unhappy to part with their beloved god and threatened him that it would curse him. On December 31, 1899, Hightower held a huge party, attended by many members of the press. There he boasted about how great he was for taking the idol and denied any claims to it being cursed and even went so far as to insult it. He even used the idols head to put out his cigarette. Around midnight, he entered the elevator to retire to his quarters at the top of the hotel. As the elevator neared the top, Shiriki Utundu came to life. The idol zapped him and the elevator, causing it to drop and crash at the bottom. When the elevator was finally prised open, only Hightower's hat and the idol were found. The hotel was then abandoned and left for many years, claimed by the locals to be haunted. After several years, in 1912, a woman from a New York restoration company reopened the hotel with paid tours available. It is on these "tours" that guests embark on when they enter the hotel.

The queue starts outside the hotel and winds through the gardens, all filled with many fascinating statues from many different countries. Signs are posted all over the front advertising the tour. Guests then enter the lobby, a very elaborate and well-decorated room filled with lush furniture and beautiful art. Across each arch near the ceiling is a mural of Hightower on one of his adventures. If one looks closely, they will notice that he is actually escaping the people in some way with a valuable artifact or item in his possession. At the end of the lobby are the elevator doors, broken open slightly and held in place by a plank of wood. The broken cable is visible inside. Guests are then ushered into a room filled with many pictures of Hightower, his expeditions, and his hotel.

Guests then enter one of two rooms, either his office or the library. From here the story is the same, in both rooms, a large stained glass window of Hightower is in the middle with Shiriki Utundu sitting on a pedestal nearby. A tour guide talks about Hightower a little bit, then winds up an old gramaphone with a recording of Hightower's last interview. At this point, the stained glass window comes to life, it changes, showing him holding the idol. It then shows him entering the elevator and the doors closing. It then shows outside the hotel and the elevator ascends, suddenly all the lights on the hotel turn off, there is a big blast of green lightning and the elevator drops, leaving a shattered hole in the window where it lands.

At this pont, Shiriki Utundu comes to life. It looks around with an evil grin on its face before laughing evilly and vanishing into a starfield right off the pedestal! (This effect works with the room going dark, the projection that gives the doll its features turns off and it drops into the pedestal. The starfield is done by fiber optics on the pedestal, idol, and wall.) Guests are then ushered into an enormous storage room (the loading room). The room is two stories and is filled with countless artifacts from countries all over the world, from statues to furniture. There are multiple loading rooms on the second floor, each themed to a different type of item. One has swords, another has tapestries, another has masks, another has stone tablets.

Guests are then put into rows and loaded into an elevator. The restraints are over the shoulder and waist seatbelts, similar to car seatbelts. The doors close, the elevator goes dark, and pushes away from the doors. Suddenly, the idol's eyes appear on the door, a starfield appears, and Hightower continues talking about the idol. The elevator begins its ascent. The first stop is in front of a long hallway. Shiriki Utundu sits on a table and Hightower's ghost appears next to it. He reaches out to touch it, but the idol zaps him into the elevator opposite the hall, it then drops. The idol turns toward the guest's elevator and its eyes glow menacingly as the hallway vanishes into a starfield. The doors close and the elevator ascends another level. This time the doors open, revealing a large mirror, Hightower tells the guests to wave goodbye to the real world. As they do, green lightning fills the mirror and the guests reflection becomes green and ghostly. It then vanishes altogether and the idol appears in the mirror. He starts laughing evilly and zaps the elevator with his eyes. The elevator then ascends rapidly to the top and begins its drop sequence. At some point the doors open at the top and a camera takes a photo of the elevator. After the drop sequence ends, the elevator pushes back to the doors with idols eyes still on it. Hightower tells the guests how lucky they are to have survived. Guests then exit into a gift shop where they can buy their picture and other Tower of Terror merchandise.

See also

• Disney's Hollywood Studios attraction and entertainment history
• Tower of Terror, a 1997 television movie based on the ride.
• Incidents at Disney parks
• List of amusement rides based on television franchises

References

• "Operating Guideline for The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney's California Adventure"

1. Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Headline | National News | Dallas Morning News
2. FAA Section 2. Air Navigation and Obstruction Lighting 2-2-3-a2
3. Tallest Buildings in Orange County
4. http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/parks/hollywood-studios/attractions/twilight-zone-tower-of-terror/
5. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (Around The World) - 15th Anniversary - Disneyland Resort Paris | DLRP Magic!
6. DLRP Today | Hollywood Boulevard
7. DLRP Today | Spotting the details of a Twilight Zone redux
8. Theme Parks and Rides: Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Disneyland,WDW

External links

• Disney's Hollywood Studios - Tower of Terror
• TowerOfTerror.Org - Detailed site about all of the Tower of Terrors found around the world (fan website)
• Disney's California Adventure - Tower of Terror
• Tokyo DisneySea - Tower of Terror
• Walt Disney Studios - Tower of Terror