"Tower of Terror"

Image: Dejiki

Naturally, our tour begins in the urban gardens outside of the hotel's lobby. Behind the antique gates closed and locked many years ago, the relics of Hightower's private collection are already astounding... Ancient statues, relics, and carvings dot the overgrown gardens. We even pass by a workstation of a painting, left unfinished on the canvas, of a young woman posing with the treasures.

Image: Dejiki

As the velvet ropes double back through the hotel's once-grand entrance and past priceless artifacts gathered by Hightower in his global exploits, you might  – for just a moment – believe his thievery was worthwhile... 

Click and expand for a larger and more detailed view. Image: Disney

But there's just something unlikeable about a man who decorates the lobby of his hotel with frescoes of him stealing ancient wonders from cultures around the world. Have we mentioned yet that Harrison wasn't exactly subtle? Indeed, portraits, paintings, and murals splashed over grand arches reveal the depth of Hightower's deceit... and that the treasures on view aren't truly ours to see.

In mural after mural, Hightower makes off with wonders of the South Pacific, the Old West, the Orient, and Africa, always with the locals in hot pursuit as he sails away triumphantly with the artifacts that define their culture. What's worse – it must've been Hightower himself who commissioned these portraits recalling the proud moments of his life.

But he's never looked so smug as he does in the final mural adoring the lobby's grand back wall...

Image: Disney

In it, Harrison Hightower III surveys New York Harbor in the shadow of his proudest possession yet – this very hotel – and the stolen artifacts being unloaded from his freighter for installation here.

Of course, it's a telling dichotomy – a beginning and an ending, if you will – that this proud portrait of Hightower and his priceless wonders is positioned directly above his real legacy...

Image: Dejiki

As if exploded outward from pressure, the once-ornate brass doors of an elevator open into a cinderblock wall, with flickering sparks illuminating the grimy, dusty darkness of an open shaft... It's an especially odd site in this otherwise royal palace of precious treasures... and perhaps a fitting start for our proper tour through the history of the Hotel Hightower.

Gathered into a parlor room next to the lobby, we're introduced to our personal guide through the hotel: a member of the New York Preservation Society who happily catches us up on some of the "urban legends" that have spread through town: yes, the Hotel Hightower – merely a vacant, decaying memory for the last twenty years – was once the must-visit headquarters of international explorer and somehow-millionaire Harrison Hightower III, and a favorite palce to store the treasures he "acquired" in his overseas travels.

One particularly spectacular find is his last – Shiriki Utundu, a mysterious wooden idol he "discovered" while strolling about in the darkest uncharted jungles of Africa. This unusual idol plays a key role in the puzzle of Hightower's disappearance, and as luck would have it, the real Shiriki Utundu is our next stop. Even two decades after Hightower's disappearance, he's still proudly positioned on a pedestal alongside the millionaire's desk.

As such, the tour moves into Hightower's private study – a curious, dark room centered around an ornate oak desk beneath a stained glass window depicting Hightower standing before his Hotel. Shiriki is here, perched high on a column and standing atop a bone-supported pedestal.

Though he's dusty and only a few feet tall, there's something unusual about the statue with its razor-sharp teeth anchored to a carved frown; the skull embem hatched into his chest; his dark, closed eyes.

Image: Dejiki

A large brass phonograph sits ahead. It contains an important piece of the puzzle – the final moments before Hightower's disappearance, as captured in an press conference he gave on that fateful night – New Year's Eve 1899. As the Tour Guide winds the phonograph, the creaky, crackling voice of Harrison Hightower comes from within. His interviewers ask about Shiriki Utundu and – specifically – whether or not he fears the "curse" said to follow the artifact.

"A cursed idol?" he bellows with laughter. "You idiot!" With that, he puts his cigar out on Shiriki Utundu's head.

At once, the lightbulbs in the study fizzle out and an eerie green low focuses into an electrical energy, zapping the stained glass window overhead, its color disappearing. Hightower's voice resumes, but this time, it's echoing from all around us, weak and lost. "I was wrong." The shards of the stained glass window come alive, rearranging to show Hightower – with the idol in hand – boarding the hotel elevator just before midnight. It speeds up through the hotel but upon reaching the penthouse, a great green flash glows from the hotel's highest floor. "His eyes!" the millionaire screams... and at once, the elevator plummets down the stained glass window, shattering it.

With that, an otherworldly green glow collects around the idol standing on the platform before us. It concentrates onto the skull on his armor, turning into a fizzling electricity. Shiriki Utundu is suddenly saturated with color as it breathes in, the electricity focusing into two piercing green eyes staring straight ahead. In one of the most truly chill-inducing moments ever devised by Disney, the idols eyes turn downward, focusing on the crowd, then scan across it, viewing each of us. 

Then, its razor teeth curl into a sinister smile as it chuckles quietly over distorted music. Then, it begins cackling darkly. Shimmering, sparkling points of light appear across its body and the wall beyond, as the idol turns transparent except for those glowing eyes and twisted smile... As it laughs, unhinged, its last vestiges disappear. When the lights return a fraction of a second later... it's gone. 

We listed this spectacular, must-see encounter among our list of "How'd They Do That?" Special Effects, but suffice it to say Shiriki Utundu is not gone... he's simply moved further into the Hotel Hightower, where he'll wait for us...

In any case, a new passageway opens into the innards of the hotel, and the secret Vaults where Hightower's most precious treasures are stored... 

Image: Cory Doctorow, Flickr (license)

It's a massive tomb of relics; gigantic monuments suspended from the ceiling, with us touring along the collections set into alcoves and secret corners of this vast treasure trove. Eventually, we can climb the stairs up to the second level. Our Tour Group is split and positioned in smaller rooms with themed collections. For example, we might find ourselves surrounded in suits of armor, shields, chalices, and Medieval paintings for a personalized, small-group experience. But rest assured, there's more to this collection than meets the eye.

A massive painting slides aside to reveal a secret hallway with an elevator within... Surely, we've stumbled upon something spectacular. And our Tour Guide is here, behind the painting, pleased to have surprised us and ready to lead us to the big finale: our view of Hightower's penthouse.

Strapped in, all seems ready to go. But the moment the doors close, something unusual happens...

The elevator doesn't go up. It doesn't go down, either. Instead, it pulls backwards, horizontally moving away from the elevator doors. The lights onboard and in our basement chamber flicker out, leaving us with nothing but darkness and the eyes of Shiriki Utundu receding farther away. "Why didn't you heed my warning?" Hightower's voice growls. "I was foolish. I destroyed myself in pursuit of my treasures. Now, I'll repeat this night forever. It is my destiny..."

Shiriki's high-pitched laughter echoes in the dark, as a sudden push from beneath begins to propel the elevator upward through the darkened levels of the hotel. It's unusually quick and breathtaking as the elevator suddenly floats to a halt. With a ding, the doors open, revealing Hightower's penthouse.

It's beautiful. We see Shiriki Utundu down the hall, his back to us as a ghostly visage of Hightower and his fateful words flicker. "A cursed idol? Idoitic!" But with a second glance, an ethereal energy begins to collect around it. As Hightower is overcome with green light, he pulls away as if remembering... "The eyes!" It's too late. The energy gathered around Shiriki blasts him. He's thrown backward through the penthouse, landing in an elevator opposite our own, which quickly plunges.

Now, it's just the idol and us.

Its powers begin to warp the space around us as the Penthouse disappears entirely, replaced by endless, expansive, infinity. Only distant points of light around us give us any sense of place as the elevator floats helplessly in the darkness. Then, Shikiri turns coldly toward us, his green eyes shimmering as he laughs. This chilling, goosebump-inducing moment is just the beginning. The elevator doors slide closed, cutting us off from his tricks. Then, we're moving again.

Image: Disney

The doors open this time onto a grand, enormous mirror. "Say your goodbyes..." Hightower's voice offers weakly. It's subtle, but an unusual chill overcomes the elevator. Green light seeps in through windows and cracks in the walls, even contaminating the elevator's lamps. Our own reflection begins to pulse and undulate with green energy until it disappates, revealing an empty elevator. But the energy then coalesces into the idol, hovering just before the mirror. As his mouth clatters with laughter, he races toward the elevator as a green flash. The doors try to close in time to seal him away, but it's too late. The elevator plummets.

Then, it flies upward again, crashing through the hotel before arching and being pushed back down the elevator shaft. It bounds up and down as the lights inside the cage fizzle and spark, until the elevator is lifted to the height of the hotel, the doors opening to views of Mount Prometheus and New York Harbor. 

Image: Cory Doctorow, Flickr (license)

At times, the elevator pauses in the middle of the shaft, a green glow illuminating a concrete wall ahead. But then, Shikiri's shadow is cast there as if he's on top of the elevator itself. Then, with a snap, he cuts the wire as the vehicle falls again. Doors open and close, revealing a level of the hotel that's become nothing but stars. Up and down, riders scream as we face the same fate as Hightower.

Then, all at once, it stops. The elevator pauses, looking out in pitch black darkness. Shiriki's eyes once more appear ahead, but this time the elevator moves horizontally again, forward through the blackness. "You are safe..." Hightower promises. "But beware: don't become attracted to the excitement when life hangs in the balance. And never return here."

Our run-in with Shiriki Utundu saw us relive the last moments of Hightower's life... and survive. As always, we want to end our in-depth ride features with the best point-of-view videos we can find. In this case, we can tour the entirety of the Hotel Hightower thanks to our friends at Attractions Magazine and their unbeatable video here:

Naturally, our tour of the so-called "Tower of Terror" ends in a gift shop (in this case, a clever repurpose of the hotel's Majarajah Pool" with wooden boards laid across the pool itself, but incorporating the diving board pedestal and other features into the shop.

Upon exiting, though, you'd do well to turn around and take a look at the experience you just survived... You just may notice that every few moments, a vibrant green flash from the penthouse trails downward like lightning, striking one of those elevator shafts and causing it to turn green and plunge downward into the hotel... It seems that the curse of Shiriki Utundu lives on.

Which begs the question: will this spectacular story ever make its way closer to home? On the next page, we'll talk about other S.E.A.-themed adventures and how Disney might've repurposed the story of Harrison  Hightower to create one of their newest thrill rides right here in the United States. Do you know which one? Read on.