Halloween, 1939, a mysterious event forces the closing of the famous Hollywood Tower Hotel. What was once the favorite hotel of the Hollywood elite is now only the shadow of itself. Since its reopening in 2008 for those brave enough to dare to walk inside, the infamous building has yet to tell all its secrets. Discover 13 secrets about the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.
1
The refurbishment of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™ marked the first time a Disneyland Paris attraction stayed open during a transformation as important as this one. Each elevator shaft was closed, each one after the other, in order to implement brand new effects. During this time, the two other shafts were still taking guests to the Twilight Zone.
2
Thanks to a unique mechanism, two elevators can share the same shaft. When guests are boarding one elevator, the other is taking its occupants to the Twilight Zone.
3
The service elevators of the Hollywood Tower Hotel are not really dropped but are actually pulled to the ground. This original system makes the lifts go down faster than gravity and make our guests feel as if they are flying.
4
The attraction uses three of the biggest motors ever used for such a conveyance. They are three times as big as motors used for high-speed elevators.
5
More than 5,000 props fill the attraction. Imagineers went to many flea markets and thrift shops through California and Europe to find period-appropriate objects. Many of them are references to The Twilight Zone such as broken spectacles, a trumpet or a miniature spaceman; details that a fan of the show will not fail to notice.
6
To keep the attraction as immersive as possible, its name is only visible at a single location. On the bronze plaque marked “The Hollywood Tower Hotel,” which sometimes magically appears as “The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™”.
7
The design of the Hollywood Tower Hotel is inspired by the Pueblo Deco style, very popular in the 1920s, when the hotel was built. The style is at the meeting point of Art Deco, with its pronounced geographic shapes, and southwestern Native American art.
8
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror can be found in many Disney Parks around the world, however it never looks the same. The attraction opened at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, at Walt Disney World, in Florida, in 1994 and its architecture is based on the Spanish Colonial Revival style. At Tokyo Disney Sea, the hotel is constructed following the Moorish Revival architecture style.
9
Chalk markings can be found on the boiler room walls. If you listen carefully, you might hear the call of a little girl, lost in another dimension.
10
Contrary to its appearance, the Hollywood Tower Hotel garden is far from abandoned. Plants have been carefully handpicked by Walt Disney Imagineers and then were grown to look like nature was reclaiming its place, following the abandoning of the hotel in 1939.
11
The infamous lightning bolt struck the Hollywood Tower Hotel the evening of October 31st, 1939, between 8:05pm and 8:06pm. This is shown throughout the queue. A journal, the edition of that dreadful day, has been left in the lobby by guests fleeing the hotel and every single clock has stopped between 8:05 and 8:06.
12
The names on the hotel registry on the date of Halloween 1939 are those of the Imagineers who worked on the creation of the attraction at Disneyland Paris.
13
During the grand opening of the attraction on April 5, 2008, the Hollywood Tower Hotel served as a backdrop for projections during a light and sound show. It was the first time that projection mapping was used in such a large scale at Disneyland Paris. The same technology is used in the Disneyland Park each night during Disney Illuminations.
1
The refurbishment of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™ marked the first time a Disneyland Paris attraction stayed open during a transformation as important as this one. Each elevator shaft was closed, each one after the other, in order to implement brand new effects. During this time, the two other shafts were still taking guests to the Twilight Zone.
2
Thanks to a unique mechanism, two elevators can share the same shaft. When guests are boarding one elevator, the other is taking its occupants to the Twilight Zone.
3
The service elevators of the Hollywood Tower Hotel are not really dropped but are actually pulled to the ground. This original system makes the lifts go down faster than gravity and make our guests feel as if they are flying.
4
The attraction uses three of the biggest motors ever used for such a conveyance. They are three times as big as motors used for high-speed elevators.
5
More than 5,000 props fill the attraction. Imagineers went to many flea markets and thrift shops through California and Europe to find period-appropriate objects. Many of them are references to The Twilight Zone such as broken spectacles, a trumpet or a miniature spaceman; details that a fan of the show will not fail to notice.
6
To keep the attraction as immersive as possible, its name is only visible at a single location. On the bronze plaque marked “The Hollywood Tower Hotel,” which sometimes magically appears as “The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™”.
7
The design of the Hollywood Tower Hotel is inspired by the Pueblo Deco style, very popular in the 1920s, when the hotel was built. The style is at the meeting point of Art Deco, with its pronounced geographic shapes, and southwestern Native American art.
8
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror can be found in many Disney Parks around the world, however it never looks the same. The attraction opened at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, at Walt Disney World, in Florida, in 1994 and its architecture is based on the Spanish Colonial Revival style. At Tokyo Disney Sea, the hotel is constructed following the Moorish Revival architecture style.
9
Chalk markings can be found on the boiler room walls. If you listen carefully, you might hear the call of a little girl, lost in another dimension.
10
Contrary to its appearance, the Hollywood Tower Hotel garden is far from abandoned. Plants have been carefully handpicked by Walt Disney Imagineers and then were grown to look like nature was reclaiming its place, following the abandoning of the hotel in 1939.
11
The infamous lightning bolt struck the Hollywood Tower Hotel the evening of October 31st, 1939, between 8:05pm and 8:06pm. This is shown throughout the queue. A journal, the edition of that dreadful day, has been left in the lobby by guests fleeing the hotel and every single clock has stopped between 8:05 and 8:06.
12
The names on the hotel registry on the date of Halloween 1939 are those of the Imagineers who worked on the creation of the attraction at Disneyland Paris.
13
During the grand opening of the attraction on April 5, 2008, the Hollywood Tower Hotel served as a backdrop for projections during a light and sound show. It was the first time that projection mapping was used in such a large scale at Disneyland Paris. The same technology is used in the Disneyland Park each night during Disney Illuminations.
Article and photos by Disneyland Paris.
