Safety mechanisms

Naturally, such a complex attraction has quite a few redundant safety mechanisms. When the Walt Disney World version opened, it featured shared lap bars, which gave more than a few guests a sense of security. One seat in the middle of the back was dubbed the “seatbelt” seat, as it was positioned between two lap bars, and only the daredevils were eager to claim that seat.

As it turns out, though, seatbelts are actually more secure because they are fitted to the individual passenger. In the early 2000s, all of the seats were converted to “seatbelt seats,” and later installations at other parks have always featured seatbelts rather than lap bars. Your seatbelt status, and everything else that occurs in your ride car, is monitored by cameras, and a PA system is used to warn guests to knock off potentially dangerous behavior.

Multiple steel cables, each capable of holding the elevator on its own, are attached to each car. Numerous braking mechanisms are also available, as well as shock absorbers that cushion the car if the system happens to overshoot its designated stopping point. Diligent safety inspections are carried out daily and, of course, Disney must remain in compliance with state and federal safety laws.

That is the essence of how the ride works from a physical perspective. Before going into the details behind the Tower of Terror’s stunning special effects, let’s take a moment to walk through the attraction as it unfolds from the guest’s point of view.

Preshow

Your experience begins long before you actually approach the building. Rising imposingly from the foot of Sunset Boulevard, the hotel features a lighted window, giving the illusion that it is open for business. Of course, the screams of terror might cue you in that this is far from a normal hotel!

As you enter the queue, you will make your way through an impressive overgrown garden. Keep an eye out for the plaque that reads, “Established 1917,” and see how many of the 1930s jazz tunes you can name from the soundtrack. As you enter the hotel’s lobby, take note of the dusty decorations and personal effects. The idea is that the hotel was recently reopened to the public, but everything was left just as it was on the night it closed.

Interestingly, there is historical precedent for this stylistic choice. During the silver boom in Tombstone, Arizona, the town’s Bird Cage Theatre was known as the wildest and wickedest night spot between New Orleans and San Francisco. It was known for its bawdy stage shows, prostitution, and the longest running poker game of all time (8 years, 5 months, and 3 days). However, the silver mines flooded in 1889, and the residents of Tombstone fled with little warning. The Bird Cage Theatre was hastily boarded up. In 1934, the new owners removed the boards for the first time, to reveal a sort of time warp. Everything was exactly as it had been, decaying but still mostly intact. The Bird Cage has been open to tourists ever since, preserved as it was at the moment the boards were removed.

After strolling through the lobby, you are invited into the library to wait while your rooms are prepared. Lightning flashes outside the window, signifying a thunderstorm outside. The lights flicker and go out, and a small black and white television comes on. In the “lost episode” of The Twilight Zone, Rod Serling explains the back story. He then invites you, if you dare, to board the maintenance elevator and discover the hotel’s secrets for yourself.

The library doors open, and you make your way through the hotel’s boiler room, a slightly ominous set filled with furnaces and engines. Finally, you reach a bellhop who directs you to stand in a particular spot to await the arrival of your service elevator.

Ride experience

As the elevator doors close, you again hear Rod Serling’s voice warning you that you are about to make your own trip into the Twilight Zone. The elevator rises briefly and then stops. The doors open to reveal a dilapidated hotel corridor with room service trays and newspapers outside the guest room doors. At the end of the corridor is a window that reveals flashing lightning. The ghostly figures of the five people from the elevator appear, beckoning you to join them. They disappear, and the corridor slowly fades from view. As what was once a corridor becomes an endless field of stars, the window morphs into the window from the opening sequence of Season 5 of The Twilight Zone. As in that sequence, the window cracks and disappears.

The doors close and your elevator rises again. You hear Rod Serling’s voiceover note that the door to the Twilight Zone is opening again, this time for you. Then the elevator doors open to reveal a maintenance room that again fades into a field of stars. Your ride vehicle moves forward through a surreal mix of sights and sounds that are reminiscent of the show’s opening sequences. As you approach the drop shaft, a field of stars in front of you splits and opens, mirroring the effect of elevator doors, and then the shaft goes pitch black. A final line from Serling explaining that you are about to experience the fifth dimension is your only warning. On the last word of his voiceover, the randomized drop sequence begins.

After the drop sequence, your elevator returns to the hotel’s basement. After viewing a short clip, you are welcomed back by Rod Serling. As in the TV show, he gives a brief wrap up of the experience before sending you on your way.

Naturally, the Tower of Terror exits through a gift shop. However, the entire exit experience, from the narrow corridor into which you emerge from the elevator through the gift shop itself, is perfectly themed to the rest of the attraction. Unlike many of the Disney gift shops these days, this one is notable for the fact that it sells primarily Tower of Terror and The Twilight Zone souvenirs, including such hotel-related items as slippers and bathrobes.