In May, I will have the opportunity to take my four best friends to Walt Disney World for the first time. As they looked over the different attractions, the one that really terrified them was, in my opinion, one of Disney’s best, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.
This isn’t the first time I’ve heard a guest express all out fear at the idea of entering one of Disney’s most innovative attractions. As a matter of fact, in December, I sat beside a girl that entered the elevator in tears as she had no idea what to expect. So, hopefully, by the end of this article, I will at least be able to dispel some myths about the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.
It’s no wonder that this attraction inspires such terror in guests. It’s one of the only attractions visible when you enter into the Walt Disney World Resort and as you enter the Disney-MGM Studios and make your way up Sunset Boulevard, you can hear the screams as the doors of the tower open and the mysterious elevator plummets downward.
While some guests prefer the anxiety of not knowing what they’re in for, other guests like to have a little bit more information. First, I’ll clear up the number one myth that people believe when they first see The Tower: No, you’re not standing up. Now that’s out of the way, what happens when you enter the tower?
First, you’re treated to a pre-show in what appears to be a lonely hotel library where Rod Serling, magically from the grave via an “old” black and white television, tells you a tale of a group of hotel guests that mysteriously disappeared when lightning struck the hotel whilst they were traveling in the elevator. Once the pre-show concludes, you’re shuffled out of the library and into the maintenance quarters of the tower.
Guests are then boarded onto an elevator where you’re seated almost audience style in front of the elevator doors. Once everyone is buckled in, the elevator doors close and the elevator ascends slightly, opening at the next floor to reveal a hotel hallway. At the end of the hallway are spectres that resemble the unfortunate hotel guests that disappeared years ago. The guests disappear and the hallway goes dark, leaving only the window at the hallway lit. As stars shine around the window, the window shatters and the doors once again close.
The elevator ascends again and now opens up to reveal a Twilight Zone-esque world complete with disembodied eyeballs and that trademark E=mc2. The car moves forward, entering this strange world, passing by the dreamlike elements of the floor. As your car reaches the end of the hallway, the floor goes dark and the elevator rises once again. Suddenly, the air conditioning doesn’t feel so cool. In fact, you’re certain you can feel a breeze of fresh air.
That’s when the doors open, revealing the Disney MGM Studios below. You can see the park just long enough to vaguely recognize certain landmarks before the car makes its fast descent. The ride is programmed to have a random number of drops, so you’ll rise again an unspecified number of times and drop again.
In my opinion, this is one of the most gratifying rides at any of the parks. If you can ride Space Mountain, then there’s absolutely no doubt you’ll be able to ride Tower of Terror.
Have you ridden Tower of Terror and had a good or (hopefully not) bad experience with the ride? Click on my author name above and your comments could be included in an upcoming blog article.