The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney's Hollywood Studios
Disney's Hollywood Studios
AreaSunset Boulevard
Coordinates28°21′36.2″N 81°33′35.4″W / 28.360056°N 81.559833°W / 28.360056; -81.559833
StatusOperating
CostUS$140 million
Opening dateJuly 22, 1994; 30 years ago (1994-07-22)
Lightning Lane available
Disney California Adventure
AreaHollywood Land
Coordinates33°48′24″N 117°55′03″W / 33.8065479°N 117.9174805°W / 33.8065479; -117.9174805
StatusClosed
Opening dateMay 5, 2004
Closing dateJanuary 3, 2017[1][2][3][4]
Replaced byGuardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout!
Walt Disney Studios Park
NameThe Twilight Zone Tower of Terror - A New Dimension of Chills
AreaProduction Courtyard
Coordinates48°52′00″N 2°46′37″E / 48.8666589°N 2.7768075°E / 48.8666589; 2.7768075
StatusOperating
Opening dateDecember 22, 2007; 16 years ago (2007-12-22)[5]
Ride statistics
Attraction typeDrop tower dark ride, haunted attraction
ManufacturerOtis Elevator Company
DesignerWalt Disney Imagineering
ThemeThe Twilight Zone
Music
Height199 ft (61 m)
Drop130 ft (40 m)
Speed39 mph (63 km/h)
G-force1.3[6]
Vehicle typeAutomated guided vehicle (Florida)
Elevator (California, Paris)
Vehicles8 (Florida)[a]
6 (California, Paris)
Riders per vehicle21
Rows3
Riders per row7
Duration3:34
Height restriction40 in (102 cm)
Pre-show hostRod Serling (voiced by Mark Silverman)[7]
Ride hostRod Serling
Must transfer from wheelchair
Closed captioning available

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, or simply Tower of Terror, is a series of similar accelerated drop tower dark rides located at Disney's Hollywood Studios, Tokyo DisneySea, Walt Disney Studios Park, and formerly located at Disney California Adventure. The attraction is inspired by Rod Serling's anthology television series, The Twilight Zone, and takes place in the fictional Hollywood Tower Hotel in Hollywood, California. The Tokyo version features an original storyline not related to The Twilight Zone and takes place in the fictional Hotel Hightower. All versions of the attraction place riders in a seemingly ordinary hotel elevator, and present a fictional backstory in which people have mysteriously disappeared from the elevator under the influence of a supernatural element many years previously.

The original version of the attraction opened at Disney's Hollywood Studios, then named Disney-MGM Studios, at Walt Disney World in July 1994. A decade later, Disney began plans to add similar versions of the attraction to their newest parks at the Disneyland Resort in California, Tokyo Disney Resort in Japan, and Disneyland Paris. In California and Paris, Disney sought to use the popular attraction to boost attendance at the respective resorts' struggling new theme parks. The California and Tokyo versions of Tower of Terror opened in 2004[8] and 2006,[9] respectively, while financial problems delayed the opening of the Paris version until 2007.[10] The California version closed in January 2017[3] and was replaced by Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout!, which was later incorporated into Avengers Campus in 2021.

The Tower of Terror buildings are among the tallest structures found at their respective Disney resorts. At 199 feet (60.7 m), the Florida version is the second tallest attraction at the Walt Disney World Resort, with only Expedition Everest at Disney's Animal Kingdom being taller by 0.5 feet (0.2 m). After its retheme, the 183-foot (55.8 m) structure at the Disneyland Resort is still the tallest building on the property, as well as one of the tallest buildings in Anaheim.[11] At Disneyland Paris, it is the second tallest attraction.

  1. ^ Martin, Hugo (July 23, 2016). "Tower of Terror to get superhero makeover at Disney California Adventure Park". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
  2. ^ Rohde, Joe (July 23, 2016). "Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! Coming to Disney California Adventure Park Summer 2017". Disney Parks Blog. Archived from the original on July 25, 2016. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Glover was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Dix was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference d23.com was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Fun Facts of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror". HiddenMickeys.org. Archived from the original on April 29, 1999.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference TwentyFacts was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "Disney's California Adventure Tower of Terror Secrets". TowerofTerror.org. Archived from the original on April 25, 2012. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
  9. ^ "Tokyo Disney Tower of Terror Secrets". TowerofTerror.org. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
  10. ^ "Disneyland Paris To Build New Rides For Both Parks". Ultimate Rollercoaster. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
  11. ^ "Tallest Buildings in Orange County". Orange County Almanac.


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