Plunge down the dark freight elevator shaft of the once glamorous Hollywood Tower Hotel in The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, a thrill ride for big kids, teens and adults at Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park. Ah, but this is no ordinary hotel. Its phantom elevator is located beyond the fifth dimension, the one that crosses over into The Twilight Zone.
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 31, 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 facade where the lightning struck it. All of the cast members wear a costume that resembles that of a 1930s bellhop, and is the most expensive costume in any park in the world.
Queue and Pre-show
In the American and European versions of the attraction, guests enter the hotel through the main entrance gate. Throughout the entire queue area in most parks, typical 1930's music can be heard, but in such a way that it sounds eerie in respect to the strange location. The outdoor queue winds itself through the overgrown gardens of the Hollywood Tower Hotel past signs pointing to the stables, bowling green, tennis courts and natatoriums(pools). The queue meanders to the west of the hotel entrance, past dishevelled and overgrown statues and somewhat exotic and labelled plants. Eventually it leads to the lobby from the left. 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 left at the check-in, a glowing fireplace, an un-finished game of Scrabble at a table accompanied by half-drunk cocktails, 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 and articles, 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 lights go out, save for the television which comes on, apparently of its own accord. The opening sequence of Season 5 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. Serling then states that the present evening's atmosphere is similar to that of the night the guests have just witnessed, but this time they are the ones involved in events. He also mentions that one elevator in the hotel is still in working condition: the maintenance 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. The television then shuts off and is followed by a brief moment of darkness.
With that, a back exit from the library opens. The guests exit into and move through the boiler room, past quietly humming boilers, furnaces and engines, at the end of which they are placed upon a row to stand on a marker of their choice, awaiting the elevator's arrival.
The Ride
First ascent - Rod Serling greets passengers the moment the elevator doors close, saying, "You are the passengers on a most uncommon elevator about to ascend 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 overgrown plants and doors to guest rooms running the lengths, and unread newspapers and trays laid out in front of them, with a single window at the opposite end of the corridor. A violent thunderstorm is raging and lightning flashes outside the window. Ghostly images of the five doomed guests from 1939 appear for a moment, turning to the elevator and luring the guests to join them. They then vanish in a burst of electricity. These ghostly images are actually a classic example of a Pepper's ghost effect. The corridor then fades away, but the window remains to the point that it appears to be floating in a dark starfield. The window changes into a creepier black-and-white version and shatters in the now star-filled hallway, like in the opening segment of each episode.
Fifth Dimension - The elevator doors close and the car continues its ascent. Serling's voice continues on, saying "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 what at first looks like a maintenance room, but slowly transforms into an endless field of stars. The elevator car emerges horizontally from the lift shaft and enters a section of the ride called The Fifth Dimension, which is a bizarre collection of sights and sounds and starfields, once again in the style of the television show's opening sequence. A rendition of The Twilight Zone opening sequence plays throughout. The scene ends as the elevator reaches another star field which splits and opens much like elevator doors. The elevator enters another vertical shaft. 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 Drop - On the last word of Serling's narration, the elevator starts its drop sequence. 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 (52 m). The back of the "Hollywood Tower Hotel" sign partially obstructs the view (it is on the back of this sign that the on-ride camera is located, which photographs the riders for purchase later).
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 so that each trip on The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is a slightly different experience. The ride was reprogrammed most recently in its fourth conversion. The result of the reprogramming is that the ride system allows for any number of randomized drops and lifts. When guests enter the drop shaft, a computer randomly chooses one of four drop profiles, one of which is a modified version of the ride's third incarnation. Regardless of the number of randomized drops and lifts, each drop sequence always features one "faux drop" meant to startle the riders, and one complete drop through the entire tower. Since each trip results in a unique drop sequence, Florida's slogan for the ride is "Never the Same Fear Twice!"
After a series of these drops have been made, the elevator returns to the basement of the decrepit Hollywood Tower Hotel, past a curious array of abandoned items. A movie plays, showing elements from the season five opening sequence, along with the 1939 elevator passengers and Rod Serling, falling into the "vortex" seen in the season three opening sequence. Rod Serling's voice states, "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." Guests then exit the elevator, leaving the hotel through the gift shop.
Touring Tips
- This is a very dark ride and may be too intense for many young children (not to mention some adults!).
- The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is a FASTPASS attraction. Queues at this attraction continue to be long during busy periods, even though the newer, nearby Rock'N'Roller Coaster has relieved that somewhat. If you obtain a FASTPASS at the Tower, you can then easily walk over to ride the coaster, while awaiting your FASTPASS window to open.
- This ride is part of the Extra Magic Hour program at the park, which allows resort guests entrance to the park one hour earlier or up to three hours later than normal operating hours on designated days.
- Just before you board the elevator for the ride, there is an exit for those who change their minds at the last minute.
- This attraction is very dark and is probably not advisable for folks with a fear of the dark or claustrophobia. In addition, those with a fear of heights may be upset at certain points during the ride.
- If stand outside the Tower of Terror, you can hear the screams and squeals of its passengers, you may even watch the elevator doors open and see the hapless guests dangling in mid-air before their next drop!
Facts
- 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.
- The ride system of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney's Hollywood Studios 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 ride vehicles, termed "AGV" for autonomous guided vehicle, which lock into separate vertical motion cabs. The cabs can move into and out of elevators horizontally, move through the "Fifth Dimension" scene, and on to the drop shaft.
- In order to achieve the weightless effect the Imagineers desired, cables attached to the bottom of the elevator car 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 (3.7 m) tall, 35 feet (11 m) 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 Imagineers reportedly watched every episode of the original television show at least twice.
- Ride engineers tested 33 versions of the Tower of Terror before coming up with what they felt was the best and most thrilling attraction.
- Many of the items in the queue and other areas of the attraction are from actual episodes of the original Twilight Zone series, such as the poster for the Anthony Freemont Orchestra in the queue, and the small metal robot on a ledge in the library.
- On December 31, 2002, the Tower of Terror debuted a new drop sequence. This was the fourth show enhancement and placed the computers in control of the ride making each sequence unique and random.
History
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Walt Disney Studios Park is based on the same designs as the version at Disney California Adventure Park. However, these designs were originally imagineered for the Paris park at the same time as Tokyo DisneySea's tower, and planned to open just two years after the opening of the park itself.
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 themed 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.
Hidden Mickey
- Check out the toy that the little girl in the video is holding.
- Look at the balcony railing just before you enter.
- Look at the water stain in the boiler room.