Special Feature: An Account of the 13th Hour Closing Day Party

            Unfortunately, I was unable to attend any closing festivities for the Tower of Terror.  However, one of my blog followers, Mrbellcaptain from Tumblr, attended the 13th Hour Party that marked the end of the DCA Tower.  It was a special event that cost $95 per ticket.  He graciously provided photos and a description of the event.  The following text and photos are what he sent me, with some minor editing.

**********************************************
          The event was nice and really well planned. I arrived at Mickey and Friends at 8 PM and was parked on the roof. After getting through security and riding the tram, the check-in desks were located at ticket booth 8 in the esplanade. There were four lines, organized by last name. They asked for ID for all party members, and gave either a pink or lime green wrist band for quick identification for alcoholic drinks. They let in groups at 10PM and gave vouchers to anyone who wanted to be able to purchase a commemorative paper weight.

Editor's note:  Yes, you read that right, the voucher gave you the chance to buy the paperweight.  The souvenir wasn't even included in the extra ticket price!

            Walking down Hollywood Boulevard (the main street of Hollywood Land), there was a line for a photo opportunity in front of a painted picture of the Tower. Turning right onto Sunset Boulevard (the cross street at the end of Hollywood Land) there was a red carpet with "photographer" characters who snapped your picture and commented as you passed by. 

The Tower photo backdrop

Photographer characters and red carpet

             The Hyperion courtyard had the majority of service tables and standing tables for the guests to enjoy the desserts and drinks. Soda, water, coffee and tea were all available for free, and a few select mixed drinks such as a Roy Rogers were also included. DCA's event department ran the services, and they appeared to use a lot of wedding ceremony things, such as the tables for guest use.  The desserts included a fudge brownie and a banana foster cheesecake, among other selections.

            The second photo opportunity was at the fountain with either Bellhop Goofy or Chip and Dale with bellhop hats.

Photo op with Bellhop Goofy

            The attraction wait time never got beyond 30 minutes and all elevators were running.  While the Bellhops said the required "no pictures or video" speech, they frequently turned the other way when people were recording. Although the event focused on the Tower, at the beginning of the night event organizers also announced a bonus: Soarin' Over the World stayed open as well.  It had very little wait time.

            The gift shop was a nightmare until closing. They even brought in cast members from Cars Land and Hollywood Land to help! They sold a ton of merchandise. Of note, there was some Marvel merchandise in the gift shop already. (Ed. Note: For some reason, when I last went to the Tower in May 2016, a good 3/4 of the shop was Nightmare Before Christmas.  At least Marvel is vaguely more relevant, especially for the closing event!)

            The event also featured music. The emcee played a nice collection of swing and big band music along with a few Disney songs, particularly toward the end of the night. The Silver Lake Sisters were wonderful and even went around taking pictures between sets. Their stage was set up in front of the "Valet Parking" door/parade gate. A further photo opportunity opened up in the lobby. You could wait in one line and get photos in the lobby before riding the ride, or you could just walk in through the Fastpass door and bypass the photo op.

The Silver Lake Sisters

Tables with the stage in the background

            The cast members were all absolutely wonderful and very friendly. They had their A+ teams out in force. The bellhop (Ashley) I had in the final elevator of the night was crying as we were leaving. A few of them seemed really choked up through the night. It was emotional and bittersweet. Everyone was in high spirits, but there was the deep underlying melancholy of the closing. There was word that the party had about 1200 guests, but it felt a bit smaller.

            Was it worth the $95+ per ticket? Almost. The commemorative paper weight cost $35 plus tax and is really nice and solid, but probably should have been included, with extras being purchasable in the gift shop. They originally had a limit of two per customer but upped it to 4 by closing time. Three hours went by so fast and I felt an extra hour or two would have been greatly welcomed, especially for the price. A few extra dessert options would have been appreciated as well; there were only 4 or 5 dessert choices.

The paperweight

Closeup of front

Rear view

            Overall it was a wonderful party full of people who wanted to celebrate the Tower, and I came to realize that no other attraction at Disneyland could ever have a party like this to celebrate it and send it off. Should this have happened though? Hell no. The Tower belongs here and the turn out and interest in this party proves it. For the group of us who experienced it last night, it will live on forever as The Hollywood Tower Hotel.

********************************************

            And now it lives on in blog form as well!

I find it interesting that all elevators were running, considering that in the last few weeks the Tower was running with as few as two elevators/one drop shaft.  Some fans speculated that the others had closed because Disney was starting the interior GOTG conversion.  Also, wow, $35 in addition to the initial $95!?  The paperweight really should have been included with that ticket price...