Choose-Your-Own-Adventure
When the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror opened in 1994, it was perhaps the pinnacle of Michael Eisner’s “Ride the Movies” era; a fusion of technological showmanship and the kind of storytelling only Disney can master, and a new high water mark for Imagineering. In fact, we put the one-of-a-kind E-Ticket as a contender for our Best Rides of Each Decade Extra feature.
Why one of a kind? Because though no less than three Towers of Terror have existed across the globe, none have perfectly duplicated the experience of Walt Disney World’s. And in fact, this is where our story of the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror diverges down separate paths… And it’s your chance to choose-your-own-adventure and decide which thread you’ll follow!
1. Disney’s California Adventure (2004)
After the stunning success of the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at the Disney-MGM Studios, plans were quickly adapted to duplicate the AGV drop ride system back to Disneyland, where it would’ve been swapped from “drop” to “launch” and used as the backbone of a never-built mountain called Geyser Mountain. However, when the resort debuted Disney’s California Adventure in 2001 to scathing reviews, it became clear that the underbuilt second gate needed a new anchor attraction much more desperately than Disneyland did.
Almost exactly a decade after Orlando’s mega-attraction opened, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror opened at Disney’s California Adventure. However, still in the midst of the budget-cutting final decade of Eisner’s regime, the Californian version of the ride had a number of cost-saving edits: primarily, the removal of the AGV ride system. The resulting elimination of the Fifth Dimension scene necessitated a reconfigured and refined ride system. Technically, California’s Tower of Terror had significantly higher capacity and a much more reliable ride system, but as a trade off, it was just a “regular ole E-Ticket” instead of a super-headliner.
That said, California Adventure’s Tower of Terror made a major impact on both the park’s attendance and its direction. Its 2004 debut was the start of righting the ship, and by time the park’s fabled five-year rebuild kicked off in 2007, the Hollywood Tower Hotel was a model for the park’s new direction: offering rich, romantic worlds of Californian history and legend, celebrating (instead of spoofing) the Golden State.
If you’re interested in the significant changes that went into adapting the ride for California, this is when you’ll want to make the jump to our Lost Legends: The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror feature – a sort of “Part II” to this story – dissecting the experience of remaking the ride and its unexpected closure…
Today, the art deco hotel has become Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! adapting the ride’s infrastructure and system to a laugh-out-loud prison breakout in a “warehouse prison powerplant” looming over the park.
2. Walt Disney Studios Park (2007)
Insiders say that the Tower of Terror that opened in California Adventure had actually been designed for a park even worse off: Walt Disney Studios at Disneyland Paris. One of the most pathetic parks ever built, the tiny French “studio” opened in 2002 with just three rides – three! A 2007 expansion literally doubled the park’s ride count by way of a Toon Studios section and the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, duplicated from California.
Interestingly, once California’s version of the ride received its randomized, high-energy ride profiles by way of Guardians of the Galaxy, Paris’ Tower of Terror finally activated its own ride’s randomizer… but using The Twilight Zone. In fact, Paris’ ride officially ditched the “classic” Tower of Terror scenes in 2019, gaining three new on-ride scenarios revolving around the ghostly little girl seen in the preshow. The scenes include demonic creatures swarming the elevator shaft, the elevator itself becoming sentient, and the Fifth Dimension unfurling before riders’ eyes.
If you’re interested in exploring the sad state of the Parisian “studio” park, walking through its barren backlots as they appeared in 2002, and tracing its transformation today, this is where you’ll want to jump to the Declassified Disaster: Walt Disney Studios Park. Just know… we warned you…
3. Tokyo DisneySea (2006)
Quite another twist in the Tower of Terror story comes via Tokyo Disney Resort, where the Oriental Land Company (OLC; the resort’s owner and operator) was intrigued by the high-capacity, high-efficiency ride system developed for California… but unfortunately, recognized that the 1950s and ’60s sci-fi Twilight Zone had no relevance in Japanese culture and was largely unknown by the resort’s guests.
The solution? Develop a new story entirely. In fact, Imagineers latched on to an obscure reference in the park’s Mediterrannean Harbor port referencing an ancient secret society connected to Leonardo da Vinci called S.E.A.: The Society of Explorers and Adventurers. And the rest is history…
DisneySea’s one-of-a-kind, Twilight Zone-free Tower of Terror introduces the nefarious explorer Harrison Hightower, whose cursed collection of stolen artifacts resides deep in his New York City hotel. When a particularly angry idol interrupts Hightower’s ride to the penthouse on New Years Eve, 1899, the hotel is left abandoned with tours facilitated by the New York Preservation Society.
To step into this haunted hotel, you’ll want to open up our in-depth history and ride-through of the Modern Marvel: Tower of Terror where the secrets of Shiriki Utundu await…
The Dark Side of Hollywood
“Often imitated, never duplicated.” Truer words have never been spoken about The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. An evergreen, cinematic classic, the sensational dark ride remains – even three decades later – an icon of Imagineering. This Modern Marvel tells a story like few rides do.
And of course, that story continues. Whether you next follow the threads to California, Paris, or Tokyo, you can rest assured knowing there will be very few modern dark rides to top the scale and scope of Walt Disney World’s Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.
A near perfect fusion of storytelling, technology, atmosphere, environment, and effects, there’s a reason that the Hollywood Tower Hotel is one of the most enduring symbols of Walt Disney World… Who would’ve imagined that Disney Parks could turn dark? And yet, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror remains one of the strongest works in Disney’s portfolio because of its eerie, otherworldly atmosphere, stunning detail, and a story that can only come from the farthest reaches of the Twilight Zone.
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