Ghostly goings on at the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

Dare you ride Disney’s Hollywood Tower of Terror? Board the elevator and drop 13 floors? If that sounds like your idea of fun then one of your favorite Disney World rides will be the Tower of Terror.

So what will you experience on the Tower of Terror ride. The attention to detail on this ride is perhaps one of the most striking of all the Disney World attractions.

The Tower of Terror ride is based on the television series The Twilight Zone The Tower of Terror. Naturally it is 13 stories high! Walt Disney Imagineers watched all 156 episodes of The Twilight Zone so that they could recreate the mood and feeling of the series.

The Tower of Terror is Disney World’s second tallest building at 199 feet high. Any taller and Disney would have to have put a red light beacon at the top of the building – not something that would really fit in with the 1930’s hotel style!

Like all great Disney rides the Tower of Terror has a back story. According to Disney lore it was a hotel which opened in 1919 in Hollywood. It became a favorite place to stay for the Hollywood film star elite. But one day on Halloween 1939 the Hollywood Tower Hotel was stuck by lightning. Part of the building was destroyed and 5 guests who had just entered the elevator disappeared. All of the other guests ran out of the building in terror leaving all of their belongings behind. The Tower of Terror is left empty until 1994 when it mysteriously re opens in 1994 at Disney Hollywood Studios.

So much for the story – what is so great about the ride? It is one of the most intense and original rides that you can experience. The attention to detail is amazing – even as you walk through the line you will enter a ghostly world of the 1930’s Twilight Zone. I don’t want to give you the whole story here as there are some spoilers but if you want more details here is my Guide to the Tower of Terror. But just know that you will experience darkened rooms, Twilight Zone atmosphere and then be dropped 13 floors in an elevator!

So what is my personal opinion of Disney World Tower of Terror? I have to confess I have a fear of normal elevators so the thought of stepping into one, whether I know it is fake or not, is not something I took lightly! When I first rode the Tower of Terror many years ago I did have to be persuaded on to the ride! But was it worth it? It most certainly was and I have been on it many times since.

There is of course another trick that Disney has up it’s sleeve. On some attractions you can become ‘used’ to the experience because if you ride it enough times you know what is coming next. Not so with Hollywood’s Tower of Terror. Why? Because it has a computer controlled randomized sequence. So you never know which drop is coming next. So no matter how many times you ride the Tower of Terror each experience will be as thrilling as the first.

Remember of course that the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is a popular ride. There is a Fast Pass available and most times of year it is advisable to use it. If you are at the park at opening time this may be the one that you want to ride first before the lines build up.

The height requirement is 40″ but remember also that it is a very intense and scary experience. My 10 year old used to love the Tower of Terror but now she just won’t ride it because it is just too scary for her. If your child, or even you, get through the pre show and just don’t want to ride then always tell a Cast Member – there is a last minute change your mind exit that is used quite a bit! If you have young children who aren’t riding with you then there is a Child Swap facility – you can all stand in line together and then one adult rides while the other stays with the child. Then they swap. It saves a lot of time.

So ride the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror if you dare. Check out my Guide to the Tower of Terror for more details of the ride, it’s secrets and some amazing pictures.

Photos used under Creative Commons from kevineddy

Tags: disney rides, hollywood tower of terror, tower of terror