Script for The Disney/MGM Studios' "The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror" Transcribed by Chip Lundell The script begins with the video that is viewed in the library. Before this, though, you can hear music while waiting in line and a voice telling you to stand back from the doors of the library. As you walk into the library, you turn and face the television in the corner of the room. As soon as everyone is inside, the"bellhop" will hit the switch that closes the doors and begins the movie. All of the dialogue from the libraries on is spoken by Rod Serling and by a voice imitator. When the doors have closed, the video begins: (Lightning flashes.) "You unlock this door with the key of imagination, beyond it is another dimension. A dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into . . . The Twilight Zone." "Hollywood, 1939. Amidst the glitz and the glitter of a bustling young movie talent at the height of its golden age, the Hollywood Tower Hotel was a star in its own right. A beacon for the show business elite. Now, something is about to happen that will change all that." (Now you hear a strange high-pitched noise and ominous sounding music. You see a shot of the exterior of the hotel and then an interior shot of the elevator. Lightning hits the elevator shaft and the Twilight Zone music starts playing. The elevator crashes to the ground and the monologue resumes . . . ) "The time is now, on an evening very much like the one we have just witnessed. Tonight's story on The Twilight Zone is somewhat unique and calls for a different kind of introduction. This, as you may recognize, is a 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." (On this the T.V. goes blank and the lights brighten. The doors open and the "bellhop" beckons you to exit into the boiler room. There are 4 separate elevators to board in the boiler room. Pairs of elevators share shafts and the doors on the outside of the building. If you are riding for the first time and don't want it to be too scary, you should take the path to the right when they split. These elevators go to the door on the right as you face the exterior of the building, and are partially obstructed by the `Hollywood Tower Hotel' sign. The left path and subsequently left exterior door is not blocked in any way, and will give you more of a feeling that you could fly out. Take the left path if you are going to try and take a picture of the park from the top. As you board the elevator, the 'elevator operator' may say any number of things with the intent of making you nervous. The boiler room actually is filled with neat stuff to look at. If you notice the wire cages next to each elevator, you will see the large coils of wire the allow the elevator to run. If you keep watching, the lights dim and the wire coil malfunctions and the elevator falls. I don't know if the real ride drops at the same time that the coil implicates it has. It's just a neat thing to watch. Anyway, when the elevator is fully loaded and the doors have closed, the speech begins . . . ) "You are the passengers on a most uncommon elevator about to ascend into your very own episode of The Twilight Zone." (At this time, the elevator has risen and reached its next stop; the doors open and a bright light flashes--they just took your picture. You can see down a long hotel corridor with a window at the other end. Just then, lightning flashes and the specters of those unlucky guests begin to appear. They motion for you to follow them, but suddenly the lightning strikes again and they vanish! Slowly the whole hallway disappears; everything but the window at the other end. All you can see are stars, blackness and the lone window staring back. Suddenly, the window begins to move. It mutates into the window from the opening of The Twilight Zone, and then shatters! The doors close.) "One stormy night long ago, five people stepped in 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 ascends a couple more floors, then stops. The doors open and the elevator moves forward into another dimension. Ghostly images of those departed hotel guests surround the car. A giant eyeball stares at you. The elevator continues on as a cluster of lights beckon the car into the darkness.) "You are about to discover what lies beyond the fifth dimension, beyond the deepest, darkest corner of the imagination . . . in the Tower of Terror." "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." **************************************************************************** From: REMHOFKT@udavxb.oca.udayton.edu (Kevin T. Remhof) Newsgroups: rec.arts.disney Subject: TZ:TOT schematic and script Date: 31 Mar 1995 03:28:42 -0600 OK, I was at DisneyWorld about 2 weeks ago for Spring Break. During my stay, I rode the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 18 times. Our last day there, we attempted to videotape the ride, but our camera was soaked on Splash Mountain, and we were foiled. I'd appreciate any help on reconstructing the script and how the ride works. I'd like to put together a web page about the ride, since it is so great!! Here's what I have for the script so far (from memory): In the library, the TV comes on: "You open this door with the key of imagination Beyond it lies a dimension of sight A dimension of sound A dimension of mind ... You have crossed over into The Twilight Zone ... Hollywood 1939 ... The time is now Tonight's episode of The Twilight Zone requires a different kind of introduction This as you may recognize is a maintenance service elevator ... Because tonight, you are the star and this ride travels directly to The Twilight Zone Elevator itself You have stepped aboard a most uncommon elevator ... Fourth floor 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 Next floor, moving You are about to discover what lies beyond the 5th dimension in the Tower of Terror After the drop Welcome back those of you who made it Here's a piece of friendly advice, one that you won't find in a ny guidebook. The next time you check into a hotel on the dark side of Hollywood, make sure you know just what kind of vacancy you are filling. OK, that's what I have. If anyone can help me correct what I have and fill in some of the gaps, post it or e-mail me. Also, I think I have the "mechanics" of the ride pretty well figured out, as least as far as the floor plan and such go. If anyone would like to see this, let me know. Thanks for any help you can give. Hey, is there an opening for an FDC Twilight Zone ToT operator?? I think I'd have a pretty good shot at it!! Kevin -- Kevin T. Remhof University of Dayton aka CPS Senior (unknown author) The script from THE TWILIGHT ZONE: TOWER OF TERROR _________________________________________________________________ The dialog is spoken by Rod Serling and an impersonator. Excerpts of Rod were taken from The Twilight Zone series and seemlessly merged with the dialog written for the Tower of Terror. Disney did a fantastic job on this segment! The text in brackets denotes where the dialog takes place (uppercase) and other notes (lowercase). _________________________________________________________________ [LIBRARY: Twilight Zone Episode] "You unlock this door with a key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension. A dimension of sound. A dimension of sight. A dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into... The Twilight Zone." "Hollywood 1939. Amid the glitz and the glamour of bustling young movie talent, at the height of it's golden age, the Hollywood Tower Hotel was a star in it's own right. A beacon for the show business elite. Now, something is about to happen that will change all that." [key visual segment (I won't spoil it).] "The time is now on an evening very much like the one we have just witnessed. Tonight's story on The Twilight Zone is somewhat unique, it calls for a different kind of introduction. This, as you may recognize, is a 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." [ELEVATOR] "You are the passengers on a most uncommon elevator, about to ascend into your very own episode of The Twilight Zone." [ELEVATOR] "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." [ELEVATOR] "You are about to discover what lies beyond the fifth dimension. Beyond the deepest, darkest corner of the imagination... in the Tower of Terror." [ELEVATOR] "A warm welcome back to those of you who made it, and a friendly word of warning; something you won't find in any guide book. The next time you check into a deserted hotel on a 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." _________________________________________________________________ Here's a post of some info provided by a Disney employee: --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Okay, here's pretty much how a visit to the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror will go for guests, based on a presentation given to us recently: After winding through an external queue on the left side of the building (as you face it from the street), around a gnarly dead tree that -- oddly enough -- came from the Blizzard Beach site, you enter the Hollywood Hotel at what would be like a terrace level...the ride unloads one level down and you exit at that "ground" level. So, it'd be as if the WDW Pirates unload went straight out instead of using an escalator to return you to the load level. When you enter the lobby of the hotel, you are moved to a sitting room with a television. Rod Serling appears and begins to set up the mystery of this hotel...that a group of employees were lost in a catastrophe there one night many years ago and they haven't been heard from since. Service in all the main elevators of the building were lost that night, he tells us, but there is one service elevator in the back that still works. A wall of the sitting room moves away and you proceed to the basement of the hotel, where the boiler room is. Here you enter the second queue, winding around the furnaces and boiler equipment, until it's your turn to board the service elevator. You enter the cab of the elevator...since it's utilitarian rather than luxurious, there's a lot of wire mesh (which just happens to add to the visibility from inside!). Up goes your elevator and, as you get to each level of the hotel, a new scene unfolds before you. In one of the corridors, you'll catch a glimpse of the missing hotel employees. Ah! You must be on the right track! Or...are you heading for the same fate? Many great illusions are in store for you as you go up into the hotel...in one case, the entire -- seemingly solid -- corridor "set" vanishes and becomes a star field! Soon, you arrive at the level called the Fifth Dimension. This room will be very disorienting to you, as you look *out* into a scene that appears to look *up* an elevator shaft. You'll be moving horiizontally, but part of you wants to believe you're going up. Here, also, you'll be surrounded by images, some of them are even of you! (They were taken earlier in the ride). And also you'll see a huge eye looking back at you. Now you move into the drop VVC (Vertical Vehicle Conveyance). Your cab rises up more floors...you're in the part of the hotel that was damaged by the lightning bolt. At each floor you can look out the open elevator door to the theme park outside. When you reach the top, you can look out through the blast hole in the building, past the Hollywood Hotel sign hanging on the side of it. You are surrounded by electrical motors and equipment that is sparking and flashing. This is clearly not good ! Suddenly the elevator cab you're in lurches and drops about a foot...but you stop. Whew! Momentary relief. But then the outer shaft doors close and the cab breaks loose, falling the rest of the way to the bottom! The fact that the cab has so much mesh...including the floor (!)...allows the wind to move up through you, heightening the sensation of falling. Lighting effects in the shaft make the speed feel even faster! When you reach the bottom (safely ) Rod Serling reappears to wrap up the experience for you and you exit into the unload area...which, conveniently, has souvenir photos of each of you -- looking suitably terror stricken -- for sale should you be interested in purchasing one. When was the image taken? At the moment of the "false drop," when you first felt the sensation of falling. During that fall, you travelled from 35-40 feet in free-fall (the rest is controlled deceleration)...the free-fall period lasted 1.75 seconds (the free-fall ride at Magic Mountain near L.A. provides 1.50 seconds of fall...the extra .25 second is said to be VERY noticeable)...and in it you went from 0-35 mph in 1.0 second. In fact, the ride vehicle isnot just released for its fall...to heighten the sensation, the vehicle is actually *pulled down* for a brief period! The motors that drive this lift are 3 times larger than those used in the World Trade Center in New York City! Tower of Terror is now scheduled to be open officially on July 1, 1994. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hope this helps Regards Timothy From: recarts@gate.net (Tinkerbell) Subject: An Amended Review of ToT (SPOILERS/long) was Re: ToT IS AWESOME!!!!! Date: 21 Jul 1994 12:15:39 -0400 RAD GUY, hmmm?...then howse come you're only de-lurking now so that you can plug CM Previews of ToT...?....no matter...but you should at least get your versions straight! ...let a pixie do the talking... ind00550@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu (RAMD/RAD GUY) writes: >What has 13 Floors? >Guests that are almost invisible, >And a bunch of people >screaming in terror as >they plummet non-stop >to the ground below >trapped in an >elevator? >TRAPPED IN AN ELEVATOR!?! There are some clever shirts for sale (well, the shirts have the basic IQ of any other shirts around, but the sayings on them are fairly clever) at the end of ToT....one of them has a frightened face of a ToT "hotel guest" on the front, just about to make his *final* descent....but not before the EARful Tower (the water tower/symbol of D/MGM) is reflected in his glasses....great stuff....there is limited ToT merchandise---shirts, squeeze bottles, baseball caps---for sale...more than likely, pins, pencils, paper, etc., etc., etc. are screaming on their way..... >Is that to theatrical? Hehehe, sorry, that's just the back of the >t-shirt I bought in the gift shop after I rode it. Yes, ToT has >officially been ridden by an actual human being!!!! I'll get right to my >review cause I know how RADers can get: Yeah, i know how RADers can get, too....more Disney...not enough Disney...too little Disney...Disney this, Disney that....Disney Disney Disney....sheesh!...you'd think that's all existed in the world! ;)...of course...why do you think i'm Tinkerbell? >The line begins outside the Hollywood Tower Hotel (HTH) in what looks >like the courtyard, very nice detail(as always). You actually kind of >feel like your going into one of the disney hotels except that you are in >a line that moves pretty slow. how would you know?!...that queue (for guests *never* stand in "lines") has only been open for CMs...the real fun is yet to come---as in tomorrow morning after official opening, when they're expecting a 3 hour wait for an 8min. attraction.... ...BUT IT'S SO MUCH FUN!!!!! ANYWAY (I'm warning you now, this post is gonna get *real* long)...yes, it *is* supposed to be the courtyard to the hotel...in fact, it *is* the courtyard to the hotel...pay attention to the stately decor---the fountain, the sculptures, the vases of trailing ferns and ivy....and stop to look at the main hotel sign...it's not what it appears to be...the theming iin this attraction is absolutely wonderful.... >The line winds up around to the front of the hotel and flows into the >Lobby that is TOTALLY decked out in that late 40's, early 50's chic. The >look is like everyone just vanished "poof" right in th CORRECTION!!!...the Hollywood Tower Hotel was "built" circa 1917---it says so just as you enter the main door....supposedly, the main story occurs in 1939...although other versions of the story have it occurring shortly after the hotel was built... >does feel kind or Erie to be in there. At night i'm sure it will be >really scary. Erie?...since when has there been a lake at the Studios?...if you mean *eerie*, yeah, you're right ("Mufasa!"...."ooh, that makes me shiver--Say it again"..."Mufasa!")...it's going to be delectably spine-tingling.... >After you circle around the lobby, you arrive at the Concierge(Sp?) where >a castmember greets you and escorts you into the hotel library. The door >closes behind you, much like the gallery of the haunted mansion. Once Beep!Beep!...back up, you forgot to tell 'em about the Lobby...it's on par with the Grand and the Lodge for being stunning...*real* period furniture---authentic Hollywood antiques...rich tapestries, deep woods and aged leather....all appropriately covered in *Dust*...and in front of you, just as you pass the Bell Stand, are the broken doors of that ill-fated elevator...the one that mysteriously disappeared that stormy night... >room jumped and let out a scream) and the old black and white tv in the >corner lit up in the darkness. It begins with the old Twilight Zone >trailer and a Rod Serling impersonator tells a story about a group of FYI, that is *really* Rod Serling...Disney Imagineers spent hours upon hours reviewing "Twilight Zone" episodes, not only to give the attraction an authentic TZ feel and to contain TZ references, but to find *the* perfect clip of Serling that would fit into telling the story.... >room complete with huge rusty pipes, lots of coal for the furnace and >HUGE boilers, once again, detail is great and if wasn't for the air >conditioning you'd swear you were in a basement of a hotel, complete with >dirty gloves and open log books left on the desks. Oh, but the cool, dank, musty smell in that boiler room is absolutely fantastic!...you have to remember, the hotel's been deserted for at least 55 years...those boilers aren't even in operation... as for the seating arrangements in the elevator car (a major concern of people interested in ToT is whether riders would sit or stand, and how that would affect the drop), it looks vaguely like this as you queue up: Row 1 Row 3 Row 5 Row 6 Row 4 Row 2 1 3 5 6 4 2 1 3 5 6 4 2 6 with the entry to the elevator at the head of the row...you are invited to take your seats in order by row, starting with the back of the car made of rows 5 & 6....ie. 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 3 3 3 4 4 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 ...in actuality, there is room for 4 persons each in rows 3 and 4....there is a center aisle...and the one lucky person sitting in the center of the back row does *not* have a lap bar, but a seatbelt...and two side hand-grips for when you make the plunge... >The lights dim and you shoot up about 3 stories very fast and stop. The >doors open and you are peering dowm a hall(ala floating candles in the >haunted mansion). The Five figures(ghosts) appear in the hallway and >beckon you to come with them, then disappear. Lights go out, and Stars the interesting details about this hallway are the "do not disturb" signs hung on doorknobs, the empty trays and dishes from private dining that have been left to be collected outside persons' doors... ...and the two portraits at the very end of the hall...unfortunately, although my eyesight is very good without them, my glasses weren't on my face when i rode, so i couldn't make out who they are...one of my fellow CM/riders kept claiming one of them was Elvis *grin*...it is a personal theory that one of them very possibly is Frank G. Wells...it's not a definite thing, but it would be a great tribute... >The doors open and this time, the car moves out into a spooky hallway >with weird TZ icons and Stuff all over the place. this time you have ascended to the 5th floor...the "5th" imagery in this attraction is wonderful, all fitting in with the 5th Dimension...*i'm so impressed*...am not an avid TZ watcher, but from what i do know, the TZ references in this area are good...and look for the Hidden Mickeys in this area of the attraction...I"ve spotted two of them...one of them is rather tricky....but i'll wait to see if any of the rest of you smart people find them---can't spoil EVERYTHING...It's hard enough as it is to leave out the minutiae---but it's fun to know the little trivia about the attraction, so i'm trying to help you out so you can better recognize what's around you... The Drop, in one word, is : Heart-Shaking (ok, had to link two words with a hyphen)...but yes, it's very good... ...some general words of advice---nothing you'll find in any guidebook (*giggle*...i love extracting that phrase from the ride!)...it is *only* a 12.5 story drop---straight down an elevator shaft...it's definitely a thrill, but it's not like a roller coaster where you're gonna rise back up and drop again...this seems like a fairly obvious thing, but some people have complained about how quickly the drop goes... A.---you're doing a free-fall (so to speak) drop---gravity is gonna work its magic, and you *are* falling really fast!! B.---12 stories is not as tall as you think it is... I worked/lived on the 12th floor of a bldg when i was at school...and i know all about riding elevators that distance...and getting stuck in them, etc., etc.....It's tall, but it's not *that* tall.... ...which, as i do with folks intimidated by Splash Mountain, means i'm going to encourage even those who think they are too faint of heart to try this to ride this attraction---it's *wonderfully* themed and detailed...and the drop is literally 3 seconds of your life...count'em 1...2...3....there, it's over.... ...there is an "escape" route, of course, before you actually enter the elevator...but you've never entered the 5th Dimension quite like this.... Enjoy it everyone!...I'll see you there...or maybe---just maybe---we'll meet in the 5th Dimension.... *Tink* From recarts@gate.net Fri Jul 22 08:21:35 PDT 1994 Article: 49455 of rec.arts.disney Xref: netcom.com rec.arts.disney:49455 Path: netcom.com!netcomsv!decwrl!pacbell.com!well!nigel.msen.com!spool.mu.edu!sdd.hp.com!math.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!nic-nac.CSU.net!charnel.ecst.csuchico.edu!yeshua.marcam.com!zip.eecs.umich.edu!newsxfer.itd.umich.edu!gatech!udel!news.sprintlink.net!tequesta.gate.net!gate.net!recarts From: recarts@gate.net (Tinkerbell) Newsgroups: rec.arts.disney Subject: Re: An Amended Review of ToT (SPOILERS/long) was Re: ToT IS AWESOME!!!!! Date: 21 Jul 1994 13:39:14 -0400 Organization: RecArts Magazine Lines: 37 Sender: recarts@news.gate.net Message-ID: References: <30fc7a$n3c@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: inca.gate.net QUICK ADDENDUM to my previous msg.... the name of the photo stop at the end of the attraction (like at Splash, you're photo will be taken right as you enter the drop) is called "Picture if You Will..." *grin*...how perfect! and i need to make a slight modification to my rendering of the seating arrangements in the elevator car: QUEUE area just prior to boarding: Row 1 Row 3 Row 5 Row 6 Row 4 Row 2 1 3 5 6 4 2 1 3 5 6 4 2 6 and, once seated IN THE ELEVATOR: 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 3 3 3 4 4 4 1 1 1 *2* *2* *2* ....got so carried away in my description that it looked like row 2 just stayed in the line while the others entered the 5th Dimension...and we just couldn't leave out row *2*, now could we? hope you're able to *drop* by the D/MGM Studios so you can ride Tower of Terror soon :) *Tink* From recarts@gate.net Fri Jul 22 09:24:55 PDT 1994 Article: 49488 of rec.arts.disney Xref: netcom.com rec.arts.disney:49488 Path: netcom.com!netcomsv!decwrl!news.hal.COM!olivea!charnel.ecst.csuchico.edu!nic-nac.CSU.net!usc!howland.reston.ans.net!gatech!udel!news.sprintlink.net!tequesta.gate.net!gate.net!recarts From: recarts@gate.net (Tinkerbell) Newsgroups: rec.arts.disney Subject: Tink Falls 5 Times Date: 20 Jul 1994 22:49:05 -0400 Organization: RecArts Magazine Lines: 19 Sender: recarts@news.gate.net Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: inca.gate.net Summary: Tower of Terror Keywords: No Spoilers ...after a morning at the Cast Member Preview of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Tink picks herself up, puts her heart back where it belongs, and dusts herself off.... *smile*..wow! that was fun!...can i do it again? I'll leave you with this thought: "A friendly word of warning...something you won't find in any guidebook...The next time you find yourself checking into a deserted hotel on a dark set in Hollywood---make sure you know what kind of vacancy you're filling...or you may just become a permanent resident." --the end of Tower of Terror...for those people who survive.... From rec-arts@gsb-lira.stanford.edu Fri Jul 22 12:50:50 PDT 1994 Article: 49511 of rec.arts.disney Xref: netcom.com rec.arts.disney:49511 Path: netcom.com!netcomsv!decwrl!ames!agate!headwall.Stanford.EDU!gsb-ara-3.stanford.edu!user From: rec-arts@gsb-lira.stanford.edu (Rec.Arts Magazine) Newsgroups: rec.arts.disney Subject: Disney's Newest Hotel a Portal--into the Twilight Zone Followup-To: rec.arts.disney Date: 22 Jul 1994 08:18:25 GMT Organization: Stanford University Graduate School of Business Media Center Lines: 139 Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: gsb-ara-3.stanford.edu Disney's Newest Hotel a Portal--into the Twilight Zone 'Tower of Terror' opens at Florida Studio Theme Park By M. Kerry Step into another dimension...a world of sights and sounds beyond human imagination...but only starting today. Unless you were one of the lucky, wide-eyed Cast Members who scrambled these past weeks to preview Disney's latest thrill attraction, Walt Disney World's newest hotel has been shrouded in the mysteries of the Twilight Zone. As eager guests stare in longing at the gardened entryways to the new Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, they are turned away by bell-hop garbed Cast Members. Is it the terrified shrieks of Cast Members you hear, or is it your imagination? The few Cast Members who plummeted 13 stories down the lift shaft of the Hollywood Tower Hotel and return to the thin veil of reality to talk about it provide us with a minds-eye view of Disney's latest mindbender. The frame of the Tower of Terror climbs ominously into the skies of the Walt Disney World Resort, the tallest structure on property. Even as guests drive out the whimsical main gates after spending a day in the happy shadow of Cinderella's Castle at the Magic Kingdom, the outline of Tower of Terror looms on the horizon. Any Disney Imagineer would like you to believe the structure is a true 13 stories high - but to accommodate existing flight traffic patterns and to avoid the necessary flashing red signal lights on the roof for airplane pilots, the hotel is just a little shorter. After opening ceremonies on Friday, the first official guests will enter the wrought-iron gates leading into the courtyard of the Hollywood Tower Hotel. Lining the pathway toward the main doors, tall palms and lush greenery eerily beckon adventurous riders into the queue. The Tower itself exudes a magnetic pull on those who dare explore the unknown regions of the fifth dimension. The entrance sign, a signal of the mind-boggling mysteries inside the attraction, comes to sparkling life as "Twilight Zone Tower of Terror" glows in and out behind the name of the Hollywood Tower Hotel. Set in the era of the rise of Hollywood circa 1917, the story behind the hotel's elevators entices visitors into the elegant and intricately decorated lobby. Leather furniture, rich woods, and deeply colored tapestries give an authentic feel to the lobby, as do the Cast Members dressed in classic bell-hop attire emblazoned with the "HTH" logo of the hotel. An "out of order" sign stands in front of collapsed mesh lift doors, further drawing hotel guests into the secrets of the disaster that once occurred on a stormy night long ago... Everything in the hotel's library remains exactly as it did so many years ago in 1917 when the Hollywood Tower Hotel was a thriving Mecca for Hollywood's young and elite. Books, pipes, cut glass figures, porcelain vases, and antique lamps adorn tables and shelves. Suddenly, the lights in the library shut off, shrouding the audience in darkness as the television (the attraction's one anachronism---but how else to introduce *the* star of "The Twilight Zone," Rod Serling, than via the same medium that brought the fifth dimension to reality?) flickers on and Serling introduces the story behind those broken lift doors. One stormy night, an elegant honeymoon couple, the bellman buried under the weight of their bags, a child actress, and her grandmotherly nanny entered the main elevators of the Hollywood Tower Hotel during the thick of a dazzling and haunting electrical lightning display. As the group made their ascent toward their rooms, lightning struck the lift shaft on the outside of the building. If you look closely while outside the attraction, you can clearly see where the building was "struck". The lift itself plummeted to the ground floor - yet the bodies of the victims were never found, and are said to still roam the hotel, inviting unsuspecting visitors to enter the fifth dimension and learn the secret of that fateful night. Upon leaving the library, guests enter the belly of the hotel's boiler room - an authentically creepy period-representation of the inner workings of a hotel basement around 1917. A musty smell tickles your nostrils as you wind through the boiler room and watch guests ahead of you step into the very lift that could carry them to an untimely fate. Guests are seated in three rows split by a center aisle. The lap bar descends over the laps of guests, or now, should we say, travelers to another dimension. There's no turning back now. The lights in the shaft dim and the car ascends to the third floor. The doors in front of the lift open onto a view of the hallway. "Do not disturb" signs hang on some of the hotel room doors and used dishes from private dining, indications that other guests are enjoying a normal stay at the hotel, wait outside in the hall to be collected by housekeeping...and plush carpet lines the hallway itself. Suddenly, a flash of light! And then the ghostly images of those five victims, the crackle of electricity weaving around their bodies, beckon guests further into the hotel. They disappear and the hallway moves into the fifth dimension. The window at the far end of the hall appears to wander towards the lift ca and shatter as piercing stars the riders. The lift doors close and the car shoots up the shaft to the fifth floor. Again, the lift doors open. This time, the car edges out into the hallway - not apparently within the hotel, but within the fifth dimension itself. Shocking images of clocks and the guests and employees of the hotel twist and surround the visitors in black, blue, green, and purple lights. An eye reflects the guests seated in the service lift, seeming to look at them and contain them at the same time. Lights swirl in front of the car before the very 'elevator doors of the fifth dimension' - piercing beams of light that separate as would lift doors - open in front of the car and lead them into the main shaft. Up! Up! Up! The lift climbs rapidly upward to the very top of the hotel. Doors open in front of the car, exposing guests to the back of the "Hollywood Tower Hotel" sign on the outside of the building and to the world below. Suspended there for a brief instant, people inside the car may view the heights to which they have climbed. A sudden and alarming jolt, a flash of light, screams, and.....! The fall occurs so quickly that guests will hardly realize that it has begun before it ends. Once the attraction is open to all guests of the Disney-MGM Studios, a photo of the group's astonished faces (taken during the fright of that initial jolt, before the final drop down the lift shaft) will be available for preview and purchase as guests exit. That is, those guests who survive their journey through the fifth dimension. The most advanced technology available, including high-powered workstations and FDDI fiber-optic data networks, is used in Disney attractions to capture every bit of terror on the faces of guests as they experience the vast unknown. Continuing on towards the exit, guests will be able to purchase hotel gifts, period costume jewelry, "Twilight Zone" memorabilia, and "survivors'" items as souvenirs of their thrilling drop. Although the Tower of Terror is prefaced with all the health/motion warning signs characteristic of a thrill attraction, the ride is not a roller coaster. As with Splash Mountain at the Magic Kingdom, the drop itself only heightens the complete experience - without being as intimidating in reality as it appears from the outside. However, the merely curious may enter the hotel to uncover some of its mysteries, leaving just before that fateful decision to take the lift itself. The incredible attention to detail within this attraction will make it a thrill for any guest to the Disney/MGM Studios Theme Park. However, the instantaneous thrill and sensation of completing the fall is something a visitor to Tower of Terror should not miss. Disney has created another spectacular attraction! ---------------------------------------- (C)1994 Rec.Arts Magazine All rights reserved. May be commercially excerpted or quoted only with written permission. From kruse@longwood.cs.ucf.edu Mon Jul 25 07:22:44 PDT 1994 Article: 49731 of rec.arts.disney Xref: netcom.com rec.arts.disney:49731 Path: netcom.com!netcomsv!decwrl!spool.mu.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!newsserver.jvnc.net!darwin.sura.net!osceola.cs.ucf.edu!longwood.cs.ucf.edu!not-for-mail From: kruse@longwood.cs.ucf.edu (Holger Kruse) Newsgroups: rec.arts.disney Subject: A little story about ToT Date: 24 Jul 1994 12:41:14 -0400 Organization: University of Central Florida Lines: 133 Message-ID: <30u5ja$134@longwood.cs.ucf.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: longwood.cs.ucf.edu Keywords: ToT Tower Twilight Terror Hi everyone, I rode ToT yesterday (Saturday 07/23) - 10 times - and I agree that it is absolutely incredible. Really worth almost any wait, although the wait yesterday was not that long for opening weekend: less than 1 hour most of the time and never more than 1:40. CMs told us it was up to three hours on Friday (opening day)... Ride operations went smoothly - most of the time :-). Ride reviews have been posted before, so I am not going to bore you with Yet Another One. Just a minor correction: There are 4 elevators and each one seats 22 guests. The seat layout in the elevator looks like this: 6-6-6-6-5-5-5-5 4-4-4-4-+-3-3-3 2-2-2-2-+-1-1-1 Rows 1 and 2 are the front rows. One of the seats in row 5 does not have another seat in front of it - and no lapbar, but a seat belt instead. A hint: Try to get a seat near the middle aisle in one of the front rows. They give you the best view. The seat with the seat belt is fun, too. And whatever you do, DO NOT hold on during the drop. Hold your hands up if you like. It somewhat intensifies the sensation of the drop - which is great, but a bit too short. 50 stories would be more like it :-). And now here is my little story that you might want to read before riding ToT . It really happened this way - I am not making it up: My first five rides were just fine. But the sixth ride... After we left the third (?) story (the one where you see the five missing persons materialize), the elevator is supposed to go up to the 5th dimension. This time it didn't. The elevator just remained stuck in the dark for about a minute, then the emergency lights went on :-(, and we heard a recording about how the ride has "stopped temporarily" and will continue "very soon". During the next ~12 minutes we were stuck there. CMs sometimes checked if we were still doing okay :-). They seem to have cameras, microphones and speakers about everywhere on the ride. But apparently they could not continue the ride from this point, so our elevator was eventually taken back down to the queueing area. Everyone was directed from the rightmost elevator (the one we got stuck in) to the leftmost elevator to ride again. This time it looked better. We made it to the 5th dimension without any problems, but then, after we went past those huge mirrors, something was different: Usually you are supposed to move towards a completely black wall. This time there was a shimmer of light visible at the top of the wall - reflections of emergency lights ? After we had moved about halfway into the drop shaft our elevator got stuck again - and we heard thunder apparently coming from outside the ToT. Of course everyone in the elevator was now joking that they did not take Rod Serling's introduction about taking the *same* ride as the five missing persons *that* literally :-). Our concerns were somewhat confirmed when the emergency lights went on again and we were told that there was a *thunderstorm* outside (a "real" one) and a *bolt of lightning* had taken out the power in the whole theme park, and that the operators had to power up the ride again. After about 15 minutes a CM came up to our elevator and told us that they wanted to take our elevator down to the exit area through the drop shaft - but "slowly" :-). Some riders were not quite happy with this idea - going through a drop shaft in a "non-standard" way after a thunderstorm outside had affected the ride control system - but CMs were quick to reassure us that they were "in complete control of the movement" . Anyway later the CMs changed their mind, moved the elevator back about 10 feet completely into the 5th dimension away from the drop shaft and let everybody exit one at a time. We went to some kind of maintenance room on the 5th dimension and took an elevator (an ordinary one) down to the exit area. At this time some of the first-time riders "chickened out" wondering where they would get stuck the next time :-). The rest of us took yet another elevator up to the queueing area for our next attempt to ride, and we were directed to the rightmost elevator - the one we got stuck in the first time -- oh, no ! But this time around everything was just fine. That's it. I think most of us really had fun during this unusual occurence in the ToT. It greatly added to the already eerie atmosphere, particularly considering the real thunderstorm outside, although the emergency lights somewhat destroyed the mood. I wish they were not *that* ugly, but would better fit in with the theming. A star field would be nice :-). The CMs really deserve credit ! Everyone was very friendly and reassuring, and made the impression that they were in complete control all the time - at least I for myself never felt unsafe in any way. Apparently the CMs realized that some riders were *really* about to get scared, so they did *not* make their usual comments like: Patron: "Is this a free-fall ?" CM: "Oh no, it's a **controlled** fall --- 13 stories, and **faster** than a free fall ". It is so much fun to see first-time riders waiting in the queue react to "reassuring information" like that :-). Btw, it was also interesting to walk through parts of ToT with a CM and see some of the inside of the building from a non-rider perspective. The room we were taken to first is located in the middle between the two "5th dimension" areas and looks almost like a room in an ordinary office building: white-painted walls and an elevator connecting it to the different levels of the building. I hope you have as much fun as I did. The atmosphere in the elevator was awesome. Everyone was screaming, shouting, clapping their hands, whatever :-). I've never had that much fun on any ride before and can't wait for my next ToT rides - when the 4SS season starts. Btw, does anyone know if/when they will start selling photographs of riders at ToT ? Greetings, Holger -- Holger Kruse kruse@cs.ucf.edu hkruse@bix.com From dewberry@news.delphi.com Tue Jul 26 11:44:20 PDT 1994 Article: 1188 of rec.parks.theme Xref: netcom.com rec.parks.theme:1188 Path: netcom.com!netcomsv!decwrl!news.hal.COM!olivea!spool.mu.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!newsxfer.itd.umich.edu!uunet!news.delphi.com!news.delphi.com!not-for-mail From: dewberry@news.delphi.com (DEWBERRY@DELPHI.COM) Newsgroups: rec.parks.theme Subject: Re: First WDW Tower of Terror Rpt Date: 26 Jul 1994 02:26:46 -0000 Organization: Delphi Internet Services Corporation Lines: 48 Message-ID: <311s96$f0i@news.delphi.com> References: <30hh7l$ohh@search01.news.aol.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: news.delphi.com With all due respect, I would hardly call a Disney cast member a "regular human being." I spent the entire weekend down there, so here's a look at the Tower of Terror from a guest's point of view. The best description I can come up with for the ToT is "the Hundred Million Dollar Haunted Mansion," which is an accurate statement for how much the thing cost. Like the HM, your wait in line starts out in front of the hotel, where you can peer up and see the two drop elevators and hear the screams of the riders as they fall. Once you're allowed in, you'll enter a short pre-show in the library (equivalent to HM's stretch rooms). The proper dating for the artifacts inside the hotel and the date of the "event" that made the hotel look like it does is October 31, 1939, established by a warning sign hanging on the now-open gate near the courtyard entrance (adjacent to the hotel/ride sign--which has a neat fiber optic effect). Granted the outside part of the line moves very slowly. There are two pre-show rooms, each of which can hold about 50 guests (they are just a a scooch larger than HM's stretch rooms). At least the hotel is air-conditioned (it was 90+ this weekend!). Fortunately, the boiler room line (where you board your elevator) does move fairly quickly. There are four loading areas, and each elevator car holds 22 guests (21 with lap bars and one in a seat-belted jump-seat). Barring any major problems, your wait here should not exceed 10 minutes (most likely 5 minutes) and it, too, is well air-conditioned. The sensation is absolutely incredible, better than the garden-variety freefall ride because (1) you get the story and special effects and (2) you don't wind up on your back at the end of the ride. After 5 trips on the ToT (waits averaging from 5 to 45 minutes, longest observed was 2 hours, longest reported was 3 hours on opening day), I can tell you this is a must-ride. Even if you shy away from other freefall rides, TZ is worth at least one trip . . . and yes, the ride does look awesome at night (they bathe it in a bluish light, giving it an eerie glow). Try to ride first thing in the morning (my 5-minute wait was at 8:15 am on Saturday) or during the Aladdin Parade (generally the earlier 11:30am running steals more crowds, reducing a pre-parade 2 hour wait to 40 minutes) and NEVER after a performance of the Beauty and the Beast stage show (which can disgorg up to 1000 guests, many of whom troop on over to the Tower after the show). (FYI: I've ridden the freefall ride at SFoG for years. I usually only ride it once in any given visit, and never twice in a row, a feat I was able to accomplish on TZ with relative ease.) "Your luggage has been sent to the basement. You'll be joining it soon." -paraphrase of another T T-shirt