The Disneyland Book of Secrets 2014: One Local's Unauthorized, Rapturous and Indispensable Guide to the Happiest Places on Earth (174 page)

From the
Hub
(or
Central Plaza
) one can see the grand
Mark Twain Riverboat
when it’s docked in
Frontierland
, the
Sleeping Beauty Castle
and
Matterhorn Mountain
of
Fantasyland
, and once the
Moonliner
, now the
Astro Orbitor
of
Tomorrowland
.  Deeper in the park, the silhouette of
Splash Mountain
’s
Chickapin Hill
, the spires of
Big Thunder Mountain
, and the kinetic clock tower of
“it’s a small world”
are among the other
wienies
.

Aside from
Grizzly Peak
,
DCA
’s original emblem,
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
is the most striking and recognizable
DCA
icon, aside from the new
Carthay Circle Theatre
, and, being visible from well outside the
berm
, its most effective
wienie
in terms of sparking attention and intriguing Guests and outsiders alike.

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
is the second attraction that I rode at the
Disneyland Resort
when I first visited in March of 2006.  The tower was less than two years old at that time, and still attracting huge crowds.

I’ll never forget turning south
toward the tower and staring at it.  The street flows between the
Hyperion Theater
and the
Disney Animation
building, terminating in a former
cul-de-sac
from which the mammoth tower rises.

The
nearer we drew to the tower, the more impressed I was.  Remember, if you will, that I’d never been to the resort before, and I hadn’t been at
WDW
since I was eight years old.  I wasn’t used to
Disney
substance and quality.  A large sign embedded in a wall at the side of the hotel reads
Hollywood Tower Hotel
, but periodically the sign glimmers, as if wrapped in a cloud of nefarious
pixie dust
, and then it reads
Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
.

The ground level
is richly themed.  There are stone walls, palm trees, an entrance gate, a garden.  Above you the multitude of windows, the domes with their layers of
verdigris
, the flickering, damaged
Hollywood Tower Hotel
neon sign and the charred scar where lightning struck the building—all of these grim features seem to glower down upon you.  From time to time, broad doors more than a hundred feet above the ground fly open, and you see–and hear–shrieking Guests quickly appear and disappear.

The
Imagineers
hit all the right notes.  The tower’s obvious former luxury enchants.  Its disfigured, decaying appearance menaces.  1930’s music plays, muted, as if it emanating from deep within the hotel–or from the
Twilight Zone
.

A
Cast Member clad as a
circa
-1930’s
Bellhop
greets Guests at the gate.  Guests are treated politely; the fiction is that we’re actual guests of the hotel.  We’re welcomed warmly.  We’re told to go inside and that our rooms will be ready soon (!)

The queue winds through the exterior garden and
into the expansive
Lobby
, with its dead plants and its lovely period furniture and appointments moldering under dust and spider webs. 
Twilight Zone
aficionados
should keep their eyes peeled from here on out for
Twilight Zone
references and in-jokes.

Imagineers
did a superlative job of setting the stage here; it truly looks like a lobby where everyone suddenly fled without notice, leaving everything behind.  There’s abandoned luggage, and playing cards, and a fading copy of the
Los Angeles Examiner
dated October 31, 1939.  Look for the broken elevator and its “Out of Order” sign, one of the clues to what happened here.

Another
Bellhop
(the standard costume for
Tower
Cast Members) tells Guests that their rooms are not yet ready and directs them to wait in one of two
Libraries
.  What’s the difference?  The left
Library
routes Guests to the top level of the
Boiler Room
; the right
Library
leads them to the
Boiler Room
’s lower floor.

Guests enter the
Library
to find a well-appointed but eerie chamber, replete with books (of course), antiques and
Twilight Zone
references.  Be prepared:  On crowded days, you’ll find that the
Bellhops
pack Guests into the
Libraries
pretty tightly, just as over at
Disneyland
’s
Haunted Mansion
Guests are sometimes jammed into the
Portrait
(
Stretching
)
Chambers
on crowded days.

As you’ve probably sussed out by now, your wait in the
Library
isn’t going to be a pleasant little interlude.  Thunder crashes, lightning flashes, the room trembles and the television flickers on.  You’re treated to a brief clip from the
Twilight Zone
episode “It’s a Good Life,” which has been edited and dubbed to create an introduction to the
Tower of Terror
.  It’s an effective reworking of the source material.  It really seems as if host
Rod Serling
is briefing you on the hotel’s history, those fateful events of October 31, 1939 and the vanishing guests, and inviting you to ride the hotel’s only remaining working elevator, the service elevator, in an attempt to solve the haunted hotel’s riddle.

A door opens, leading Guests into the
Boiler Room
.  Guests in the left
Library
will exit to the top floor of the
Boiler Room
; Guests in the right
Library
will exit to the
Boiler Room
’s lower level.  Why a two-floor loading zone?  The design saves time and space.  There are three elevator shafts and six ride vehicles, three vehicles on the top loading level and three just below.  In each shaft, while one Guest vehicle is loading and experiencing the ride set-up, the other vehicle is plunging up and down, experiencing the show.

Just as the
Haunted Mansion
’s
Portrait
(
Stretch
)
Chamber
leads Guests to a second queue in the long
Portrait Gallery
, the
Tower
’s
Boiler Room
presents you with a second queue that snakes its way to the bank of
Service Elevators
.  It’s a dimly lit, deliciously creepy place, whether you’re on the first or second level.  If you find yourself in a long, slow-moving line, pass the time by observing all of the details.  Find the boiler that looks like it has a face.  Listen for the radio that turns on and off intermittently, and for a faint, periodic voice.

If you’re queuing on the top level of the
Boiler Room
, don’t climb onto the railings.  This might sound like common sense, but on the night of on August 18, 2010, a 20-year-old Guest who appeared to have been drinking swung one leg over the railing.  He made some sort of remark to his pals, something like “What if someone fell off?”  Suiting his actions to his words, the Guest then toppled over the rail, falling 25 to 30 feet before hitting the floor below!

The attraction was closed briefly, long enough for paramedics to treat the young man and then send him to the UC Irvine Medical Center for assessment.  He had suffered minor injuries and was quickly released.  Th
e story was reported the by
ABC
news (
Disney
’s parent company), CNN news, the “Los Angeles Times,” and other media.

Disneyland
is one of the safest (as well as happiest) places on earth, but only if you follow the rules and don’t do dangerous things.  Guests caught up in the euphoria of their visit sometimes behave recklessly, as if no matter what they do, they will
magically
be all right.  Parents in particular, take note:  Obey all safety rules, use common sense, and
watch your kids
.

When you draw near the
Service Elevators
, you see by the old-fashioned arrow indicators above each elevator that they climb as high as the 13
th
floor.  That’s the storyline.  Remember, however, that the building is actually 183 feet tall.  Given the gargantuan motors atop the structure, your elevator car won’t be going that high, but you
will
be more than 130 feet above the ground.  Sound too scary for you?  The
Boiler Room
allows Guests who don’t want to ride the attraction to exit from this area.  Simply ask a Cast Member to point you toward the exit.

If you
are
going to brave the
Tower
’s heights–and ghosts–keep moving toward the
Service Elevators
. 
A Bellhop
will ask you for the number of Guests in your party, and direct you to stand in a specific row in front of one of the elevator doors.  There are a limited number of seats in each elevator car, so follow all Cast Member instructions to the letter to avoid throwing off the count and configuration, and ask questions if you’re confused.

Once the passengers for your elevator are assembled and the car’s previous riders have been unloaded, the elevator doors
slide open and you’re directed to step inside, taking seats based on your row number.  Step lively but carefully into the interior and take your seat.  Again, follow all Cast Member instructions and ask questions if confused.

Fasten your seatbelt securely and make sure that any little ones in your party are securely fastened too. 
Stow loose items in mesh pouches provided for that purpose.  Think about it:  You’ll be rushing up into the air and falling at faster than 32-feet-per-second squared.  You
really
don’t want loose hats, bags, and valuables flying around the elevator car!  On a visit in December 2012, my brother-in-law and I braved the
Tower
once again; his cell phone flew out of his jacket pocket and smashed on the floor, the battery falling out.  Luckily, the phone was OK once he reassembled it.

There’s a
fun Internet video of a
DCA
maintenance worker testing one of the
DCA
Tower
elevators.  The elevators are run through their paces frequently to make sure they’re in safe operating order at all times.  The maintenance chap wears a cap and glasses and carries a clipboard with a checklist fastened to it.  At the very first drop, his cap flies off his head, he almost loses his glasses, the clipboard almost clocks him, and tiny objects (coins?) fly out of his pockets and rattle around the vehicle for the rest of the ride.

Supposedly this video depicts actual ghosts in the elevator car.  The ghosts are easily debunked as reflections from the attraction’s effects, but the video remains fascinating not for any supernatural reason, but because it’s captured a fascinating glimpse of
backstage
DCA
.  (If you’re interested in allegedly ghostly videos of
Disneyland
, visit
www.youtube.com
and search for “Ghosts at Disneyland” or, if you’re the skeptical sort, “Ghosts at Disneyland debunked”.)

Once everyone is
securely restrained, the elevator doors slide shut and are immediately obscured by a purple vortex and a vast sea of ink-black sky and glittering stars.  Simultaneously, your seats glide away from the doors.  This is the first–but certainly not the last–incredibly disorienting thing that will happen to you on this attraction.  When was the last time you were on an elevator that backed up horizontally?  How about never?  You’re not in a typical service elevator; you’re already in the
Twilight Zone
!

Driving that point home, you hear the famous
Twilight Zone
theme and
Serling
(as voiced throughout the ride by
Mark Silverman
) announces that you’re about to make “the strangest journey of your life.”  He’s not kidding.  Hitherto hidden doors slide shut across the front of your car, and you suddenly feel your elevator being none-too-gently hauled upward.