Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
| Twilight Zone Tower of Terror | |
|---|---|
Tower of Terror in Disney's Hollywood Studios, Florida |
|
| Data | |
| park | Disney's Hollywood Studios |
| Subject area | Sunset Boulevard |
| opening | July 22, 1994 |
| building-costs | $ 140 million |
| Location | 28 ° 21 ′ 36 " N , 81 ° 33 ′ 36" W. |
| park | Disney's California Adventure |
| Subject area | Hollywoodland |
| opening | May 5, 2004 |
| New opening | May 27, 2017 |
| building-costs | about $ 80 million |
| Location | 33 ° 48 '24 " N , 117 ° 55' 1" W. |
| park | Tokyo DisneySea |
| Subject area | American waterfront |
| opening | September 22, 2006 |
| building-costs | approximately $ 190 million |
| park | Walt Disney Studios Park |
| Subject area | Production courtyard |
| opening | December 22, 2007 |
| building-costs | approximately $ 180 million |
| Location | 48 ° 51 ′ 59 " N , 2 ° 46 ′ 44" E |
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror - usually also Tower of Terror - is a combination of a free-fall attraction and a themed ride in several Disney theme parks .
Locations
Overview
- Disney's Hollywood Studios in Lake Buena Vista near Orlando , Florida
- Disney's California Adventure Park in Anaheim , California
- Walt Disney Studios Park in Marne-la-Vallee , France .
- Tokyo Disney Resort in Japan
Disney's Hollywood Studios, Florida - The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
The tower in Florida has echoes of the Italianate style or the Mediterranean Revival Style , which cites elements of Mediterranean architecture.
location
At the end of Sunset Boulevard (Main Street Hollywood Studios Park) the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror stands on a hill. Through a garden, past the hotel, you get to the lobby of the Hollywood Tower Hotel . The background story consists of a fictional episode of the Twilight Zone , an American mystery TV series. In the 1930s, five people disappeared in the elevator of the Hollywood Tower Hotel after lightning struck the building. Now the guests go on the trail of the events and ride the freight elevator through different scenes and experience a mixture of a free fall tower and a themed ride.
waiting room
Through the lobby you come to one of the two libraries (in the original: Library ), where the story is explained in detail on a black and white screen. The film is stylistically strongly based on the old episodes of the Twilight Zone . This is particularly clear in the sequence with Rod Serling , the host of the American mystery series.
We continue through the engine room (in the original: Boiler Room ) in which old machine parts and dummies of elevator technology are on display. The guests are received by an employee and distributed to the four stations.
loading
The visitors are divided into six lines. Line 6 (four people) is in the first row on the left (seen from the entrance), line 1 (with three people) in the first row on the right. Line 5 is the same as the 6th with the difference that you sit in the second row and line 2 sits in the same row behind line 1. Lines 3 and 4 form the last with three (right) and four (left) seats. This results in a capacity of 21 people per trip. Now the guests are asked to check their belts. The cast member (Disney expression for employees ) leaves the cabin and the journey begins. There are a total of two drop shafts that run parallel to each other, with three elevators running in each shaft. You are secured by a two-point belt. There are four boarding and show shafts, two each come together in the 5th Dimension Room and come back together in the basement after getting out. For this process, the gondola is rotated 90 degrees.
journey
After loading, the car drives up and stops in front of a hallway. With the theatrical trick Pepper's ghost , the once lost guests are projected into the hotel corridor. The elevator continues up, the door opens. This time he slowly moves forward. As the only version of three, this offers the 5th Dimension Room , another hallway with stars and other projections. Here you drive forward through to the drop shaft. Two of the four show shafts converge here at a switch. When it arrives at the chute, the car is accelerated downwards or upwards, the drive programs are changed at random. The maximum speed is 13 m / s, this speed is generated by motors with an output of 12,000 hp . In the middle of the drive a door opens and you have a clear view of the Hollywood Studios and the entrance area of the Rock 'n' Rollercoaster . The exit platform is on floor zero, the entrance on the first floor.
Disney's California Adventure Park, California
2004–2017: The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
The tower in California is designed in the Art Deco style.
The entrance to the attraction in California Adventure is similar to the tower in Florida. In both parks the waiting area is in front of the hotel or leads alongside. In these versions, the journey begins with a stop at a mirror, where the occupants see themselves. The light gets darker and the visitors see themselves as ghosts again. The elevator simulates an earthquake, after all, all occupants have disappeared in the mirror.
The next scene (the hallway scene) is almost identical to the Florida version. The difference is that the 5th Dimension Room is replaced in this scene. The elevator doors opposite are the only ones visible after the light goes out. The entire room is wrapped in stars. The elevator doors at the end open, you can see the occupants who have disappeared in the night. A short time later you fall a few meters yourself, so the show scenes are at a height of about 20 meters. After the fall, the cabin snaps up and the doors open. The driving photo is taken shortly before you fall again. The car drives once more to the top of the shaft, but falls without stopping into the depths and the journey ends after another fall. In contrast to the Tower of Terror in Florida, there is a shaft that is a dark ride part and a fall shaft in one. For the loading process, the car is driven into a niche where visitors can get in and out. Two cars can run per shaft. There are three shafts in total, all of which run parallel.
The exit is at the same point as the entry. When you get in, you first go through the first door, then briefly through a hallway and only then get into the driver's cab. After getting off, you leave the attraction through the hallway. Those who decided against a ride shortly before boarding (when arranging the rows) can leave the attractions through the hallway without going into the cabin.
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Since 2017: Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout!
During San Diego Comic-Con 2016 it was announced that the California tower would be redesigned thematically. The storyline is now based on characters and events from the Guardians of the Galaxy series of films.
The attraction was closed on January 2nd, 2017 and completely redesigned inside and out in the following months. As "Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout!" the new version was reopened on May 27, 2017.
Walt Disney Studios Park, Paris - The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
The Tower of Terror in Paris is roughly a 1-on-1 copy of the original version in California.
Tokyo DisneySea Park, Japan - Tower of Terror
The subject of the Tower of Terror in Tokyo is completely different. The Japanese tower has a neo-Gothic design (for example with elements of the Scottish Baronial style) and takes up a story from the 19th century in New York. Harisson Hightower, owner of the Hotel Hightower, disappears with the totem Shiriki Untundu. The preshow does not take place in a library, but in Hightower's study.
Like the Parisian and Californian versions, there is no 5th Dimension Room. The journey begins here with a hotel corridor, where the story is explained again. On to the mirror, which has the same function as the towers in Paris and California. Then comes the main trip in free fall. The Japanese Tower of Terror also has three bays with two cars per bay. In contrast to all other towers, the guests are secured with three-point belts. Critics complain about the Japanese attraction's smoother driving program.
Parallels to the TV series
Inspired by the American mystery series Twilight Zone , some clues can be found in the attraction, albeit hidden. The video in the preshow was partly taken from It's a Good Life. cut. The sound was recorded afterwards by Mark Silverman.
In the waiting area in front of the loading of the cabs there is a maintenance certificate that is dated October 31, 1929 and was signed by a Cadwallader who also appears in the episode Escape Clause and who ultimately identifies himself as the devil.
Also from the episode It's a Good Life. is the name Anthony Fremont, who, according to the display in the foyer, is playing this evening in the Tip Top Club , the place where visitors to the hotel are supposed to take the service lift. In the series, however, the person is not a musician, but a young boy with supernatural abilities.
Further information is hidden under the screens at the photo sales. For example, there is a toy phone from the episode Long Distance Call .
filming
In 1997, based on the story of the Tower of Terror, the feature film Im Jenseits is still available . This was filmed in Florida (filming of the attraction) and Los Angeles. The original title is Tower of Terror .
Thus, the attraction is based only on the series Twilight Zone , but does not take up any of its consequences or suggests to the visitor that they are in a new episode specially invented for the passenger.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: BREAKOUT! Coming to Disney California Adventure Park Summer 2017. Retrieved June 8, 2019 (American English).
- ↑ Check Into Twilight Zone Tower of Terror Before it Checks Out of Disney California Adventure Park on January 2, 2017. Retrieved June 8, 2019 (American English).
- ↑ AllEars.Net (travel guide): The WDW Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Retrieved June 10, 2020 .