Walkthrough Part 7: The Ride!

"You are the passengers on a most uncommon elevator..."

Rod Serling's voice (henceforth done in blue text for clarity) echoed through the room as the ride vehicle suddenly began moving backwards.

"About to take the strangest journey of your lives."

Lightning crashed, and the room transformed from a generic industrial elevator chamber into a dark star field with the Twilight Zone spiral projected over the door.  During the early years of the ride, the spiral was somewhat blurry, possibly produced by just putting a cutout over a light.  In the later years (circa 2010 onward), it was a crisp projection that looked more true to the TV show's design.

Low notes of the Twilight Zone theme started playing as the ride car settled back into the elevator carriage that would carry it throughout the drop shaft.  The carriage contained a Twilight Zone Easter egg that was very difficult to see, both because basically only one seat could see it clearly and because riders were likely so absorbed in the ride's show scenes and experience that they wouldn't notice it.  The hidden content in question was the elevator permit.

Photo from didyouknowmagic.tumblr.com

The only seat that could see this clearly was the person sitting to the farthest right in the front row (the seat in row 6 that was against the wall, according to the seating chart).  It wasn't visible during load and unload, as the permit was stuck to the wall of the drop-shaft carriage and not the cage of the vehicle.

The permit referenced the episode "Escape Clause."  The permit number "10259" also referenced the air date of the first Twilight Zone episode, which was October 2, 1959.  The inspector's name, Cadwaller, is the name used by the devil in the episode.  So, yes, the Hollywood Tower Hotel's elevator inspector was the devil.  No wonder it had issues.

The narration continued: "Your destination: unknown, but this much is clear..."

As this narration played, the drop shaft doors closed in front of the car, rendering the view completely black.

"A reservation has been made in your name... for an extended stay."

The elevator suddenly moved upwards in the darkness, before stopping at a floor and having the doors open with a "ding."

Guests saw a small room with a mirror and a table, not unlike the kinds of elevator waiting areas one finds in real-life hotels.  On one side of the room was a window with curtains, and on the other side was a cutout with a background meant to suggest an opening to a hallway.  If I recall, which side the window and the narrow hallway were on differed by drop shaft, but I don't have any record of if this was the case or which configuration was in which drop shaft.  The HTH logo was above the mirror.

"Wave goodbye to the real world."

As guests waved at their reflection in the mirror, lightning struck and the reflection changed to a blue "electrified" appearance.  The electrified reflection would continue to actively reflect the guests' movements.  The curtains on the window billowed as if wind was blowing through them.

The electrified reflection.  Photo by Dusty Sage of Micechat.  Original Article

A second lightning bolt struck, and the guests' reflection disappeared altogether, with the mirror showing an empty elevator.  Often, but not always, the elevator car shook violently with this second lightning bolt.  I have no idea why this effect was not consistent.

I'm not entirely sure how the mirror effect was done.  I am, however, sure it involved some sort of one-way glass and projections (possibly a screen behind the glass?).  If one held up a bright light in the elevator (like a cell phone screen) after the reflection disappeared, the mirror showed what appeared to be a floating light/cell phone in the middle of an empty elevator!  A camera above the mirror recorded the image of the guests in the elevator and digitally compared it against a default image of an empty elevator, using that to project the electrified reflections and then the empty image.  When the camera wasn't working properly (which was often in later years), the entire mirror would appear "electrified" and then show the blank elevator rather than showing electrified silhouettes of the guests.

Apparently, the billowing curtains had actual false windows with a purple/blue skyscape behind them, despite guests not having the ability to see this at any point during the ride.

"You have just entered The Twilight Zone."

The elevator door closed and the elevator moved to the next floor.  In the left and middle drop shafts (if one were looking at the front of the building), the elevator went down to the next scene.  In the far right drop shaft, the elevator moved up to the next scene.  This was because the effects equipment needed for the second scene took up much more space than just the "on-stage" view, and thus three of the scenes could not fit together in a row, necessitating one being staggered.

When the doors opened at the next scene (once again accompanied by the elevator's "ding"), guests saw one of the hotel hallways, done in forced perspective.  Two potted plants sat on both sides of an arch, and abandoned shoes and room service trays littered the hallway.  Another elevator was on the back wall of the hallway (which was actually a screen), directly opposite the ride car.

In the Tower's last few years of operation the back screen was unnaturally bright, making its nature as a screen very obvious.  From what I can tell, this was the result of a technical upgrade that wasn't properly calibrated, such as a new screen or projector being installed and not having the brightness adjusted correctly.

"What happened here to dim the lights of Hollywood's brightest showplace is about to unfold once again."

As Rod Serling continued to narrate, lightning arced along the hallway and wind started blowing the plants around.  The lightning consolidated in the middle of the hallway, forming five blue figures--the unfortunate characters from the pre-show who were the elevator's first victims.  The little girl ghost's voice echoed through, singing "It's raining, it's pouring." (Or so I've read.  I never was quite able to make out what she was singing, and in fact for a while I thought it was a warped voice saying "Warning.").  She also still clutched her Mickey Mouse doll from the pre-show, thus providing the Tower's Hidden Mickey.

The ghosts were created using a variant of the Pepper's Ghost effect, hence the need for extra space beyond the "on-stage" hallway.  The ghosts were being reflected onto carefully-angled glass across the middle of the hallway, to produce a transparent appearance.

The ghosts in the hallway.  Note the unnaturally bright rear screen.  The original article in which this photo appeared surmised that the screen issue was due to the anticipated shift to Guardians of the Galaxy, but the problem was in place long before Guardians was announced. Photo by Dusty Sage of Micechat.

The ghosts gestured at the guests, waving their hands as if beckoning the guests forward.  After a moment, lightning began arcing between the ghosts' limbs, they reverted to electricity, and zapped back toward the second elevator.

Ghosts disappearing.  Photo by Dusty Sage of Micechat.  Original Article

The ghost-electricity zaps back toward the other elevator.  Photo by Dusty Sage of Micechat.  Original Article

"One stormy night long ago, five people stepped through the door of an elevator and into a nightmare."

After the ghosts reached the elevator, the lighting changed, making the hallway disappear into a starscape, leaving only the other elevator behind.  The hallway actually had small lights embedded in it, so that when the main lights darkened the building would appear to melt away into space.  The effect was somewhat ruined by those potted plants if you were sitting in certain seats.  If you were sitting towards the sides of the car in the front row, some of the plant leaves would stick out and be visible against the elevator projection on the rear screen, thus interfering with the illusion.

The other elevator appeared to float and tilt, opening its doors to reveal the ghosts inside before they suddenly dropped down.

"The door's opening once again, but this time--it's opening for you!"

Immediately, the elevator dropped, sending startled guests downward in the darkness.  Just as suddenly, the car paused and the lights flickered, before sending the "unlucky" passengers plummeting again.

After another quick pause, the elevator surged up to the top of the Tower, the exterior doors opening to reveal a wonderful view of Disneyland and the surrounding areas.

Two views out of the top of the elevator.  Photos by Dusty Sage of Micechat.  Original Article

Those lights you can see in the photos were for the on-ride pictures.  The cameras flashed just as the elevator shook and sent guests dropping to the lowest of the exterior-view doors.

One could see out that view for only a brief moment, however, as the elevator paused there for less than a second before going into possibly the best part of the ride: the airtime element.

The airtime element consisted of one long drop, then surging upward only to suddenly switch to dropping again, with the result being an awesome two seconds of flying "weightless" out of your seat (hence why I've termed it "airtime").  I believe this was the longest drop in the Tower's sequence, dipping a little into the actual basement area below the loading levels.

At the end of the airtime drop, the elevator paused a final time, lights flickering and making a distinct "engine revving" sound.  It surged all the way up to the top doors again, providing one last view of Disneyland.  Then, it shook before dropping all the way back down to the loading level, braking in the darkness as the sound of a pipe falling down provided a humorous final statement to the chaos of what occurred.

After a second, the doors reopened, revealing the star field spiral again, as the Twilight Zone theme music played.

"The next time you check into a deserted hotel on the dark side of Hollywood, make sure you know just what kind of vacancy you're filling, or you might find yourself a permanent resident of... The Twilight Zone."

As the elevator moved out of the drop carriage and forward into the unload, the area transformed back into an industrial elevator station.

With a clunking noise, the elevator doors opened, with the bellhop cast member greeting the guests and welcoming them back (sometimes jokingly counting the passengers to see if they'd "lost anyone").

The same creepy voice that recited the other safety spiels then stated, "Ladies and gentlemen, please gather your belongings and watch your step as you exit through the elevator doors.  We trust your stay at the Hollywood Tower Hotel has been a pleasant one, and please, do come back and see us again!  Thank you."

Unfortunately, I do not have a recording of this spiel.

At this point, guests unbuckled their seat belts, and proceeded to the exit hallways.

But wait!  I can't leave coverage of a thrill ride to mere text and still photos!

Here is the entire source audio for the DCA Tower of Terror, posted by SuperHotLarry on Youtube:

Listening to the source audio actually provides auditory details one probably couldn't hear on an actual trip through the ride, as most of the musical cues and sound effects were drowned out by the guests' screaming!  Note, however, that the source audio does not include any pre-recorded screams. Florida's Tower soundtrack included a couple pre-recorded screams to enhance the experience.

Here's a great low-light video of the ride by LMGvids on YouTube:

The video should start at the right place, but if it starts from the beginning skip ahead to 3:27 and watch until 5:35 to see the ride itself.  Note that the mirror effect is not functioning properly in this video (it electrifies the whole mirror rather than showing the guests' silhouettes), and that this was filmed when the "bright screen" issue was already happening in the hallway scene.  However, this is still the best, clearest, and most "true to life" DCA Tower video I've yet seen, so it is well worth the watch.

Unfortunately, part of the Tower's nature as a thrill ride meant that it was experiential; it couldn't be completely captured completely in any way besides actually riding it.  Hopefully, between the video, audio, and text, this post has managed to impart at least some feeling of what it was like.

Although this marks the end of the actual "ride" portion of the Tower of Terror, it's not the end of the Tower experience!  In the next post, I'll be covering the hidden details of the exit hallways and the gift shop!

Walkthrough part 6: The Loading Area and Boarding Sequence

After the bellhop cast member asked guests the number of people in their party, the cast member directed the guests to the proper part of the loading area.  Whether on the upper or lower level, the loading area had the same layout.

Not to scale

There were three waiting areas for the three elevators available on each level.  The left and middle elevators were closer together, and separated by a black wrought iron spiral staircase that wound up between the lower and upper levels.

The spiral staircase as seen from the upper loading area.  Photo by Mrbellcaptain

A view of the spiral staircase and the left-side waiting area, as viewed from the middle waiting area in the upper queue.  Photo by Mrbellcaptain

The middle and right-side waiting areas/elevator entrances were farther apart and separated by a generator.  This makes sense given the layout of the building.

That generator gap corresponds to the exit stairwell seen on the exterior of the building.  May 2016 photo.

The generator looked different depending on whether one was on the upper level or the lower level.

The lower level generator was housed between concrete columns, with a metal grate in front of it.  This generator also had some gauges and a "safety check" chalkboard on the columns next to it.

Left column of the lower generator, as seen from the lower queue.  Photo by Mrbellcaptain

The middle and right sides of the lower generator (including "safety check"), as seen walking past it in the loading area.  May 2016.

The lower generator also had a small caged-in storage area with a ladder extending off of its right side.

Photo by Mrbellcaptain

The upper generator was not bounded by concrete columns, but instead was entirely housed in chain-link fence material.

The upper-level generator, May 2016.  This generator also had a small storage area with a ladder on its right side, but I don't have a photo of it.

The upper generator had an additional special effect!  Periodically, the grates along its lower portion would flash and sparking noises emanated from the machine, as if there was a power overload.

Here is the source audio for the sparking noises: [Link]

I do not recall the lower generator having the spark effects or making any noise.

The walls of the loading area were the same concrete as the rest of the boiler room, and various dials and gauges decorated them.

The layout of each waiting area was the same: a square section with brass numbers embedded in the concrete floor, with the maintenance elevator doors at the front.

Number plaque in one of the lower queue's waiting areas.  Photo by Mrbellcaptain

After the cast member at the end of the queue directed guests' parties to the proper waiting area, another cast member directed the guests to stand on a particular number plaque.  The left three rows of plaques (numbered 6, 5, and 4) had plaques for four guests, while the right three rows (3, 2, and 1) held three guests.

Above and to the side of the elevator doors was a seating chart, explaining which numbers corresponded to which row in the ride car.

The loading instructions sign showing the layout of the waiting area and the ride car.  It's best if you open this image in a new tab and zoom in to read the sign.  This sign was in the upper queue, but all the signs in all the waiting areas were identical.  Photo by Mrbellcaptain

The dial above the elevator doors actually moved!  If guests paid attention, they could see that, as soon as the previous group loaded into the elevator and the doors closed, the arrow moved from "B" all the way past "12"--into the mythical thirteenth floor.

The elevator doors.  May 2016

Detail of the dial indicating basement level.  Photo by Mrbellcaptain

Elevator dial at "floor 13."  You can't see the 12 from the photo angle, but you can see that the indicator is clearly beyond where any of the floor numbers would be.  May 2016.

After a minute or so at the "13th floor", the dial started to rotate back towards "B."  As it did so, guests heard a creepy announcer (the same creepy voice that had warned about the library doors) recite this spiel:

"To our valued guests:  For your safety once on board, please remain seated with your seat belt fastened, keeping your hands, arms, feet and legs inside the elevator at all times, and do take special care to supervise your children. Thank you."

A Spanish translation of the spiel then played, read by the same creepy voice.

To hear a live recording of the DCA safety spiels, recorded by Commander Corn of Micechat, see here: [Link]

So far, a source recording of the DCA (English/Spanish) spiels has yet to appear, and that live recording unfortunately misses the beginning of the English spiel.  Thus, for completeness, I'll include this YouTube posting of the Paris Tower's source audio, which utilizes a French translation and then the English spiel:

As the spiel finished, the dial on the elevator paused, usually around the "3" or "4" mark.  I assume this pause was for when the ride car had returned to the load station, but the previous riders were still unloading.  My reasoning for this is that, after a minute of being paused, the dial moved back down to "B", and the doors opened immediately to an empty elevator as the arrow reached the "B" level.

When the doors opened, a bellhop greeted the guests and directed them row-by-row (starting with rows 3 and 4, which formed the back bench of the vehicle) into the ride car seats.  Particularly enthusiastic cast members would stay in character, acting amusingly creepy in the same way some Haunted Mansion employees act.  One memorable bellhop I encountered even figured out how to stick his fingers between the elevator doors, surprising the guests and making it look as if he was prying the doors open!

As one boarded the elevator, one was likely to notice the very large gap between the elevator doors and the actual ride car.  Since the DCA/Paris layout of the Tower involved guests loading and unloading from the same place, the exit hallway ran in between the entry doors and the ride car itself.  There were actually two elevator doors for each ride car: the one guests waited in front of in the loading area, and the one through which they actually entered/exited the ride vehicle.  During loading, the hallway was darkened in an attempt to make it less noticeable.  It remained very noticeable, however, and probably was one of the most illusion-breaking aspects of the DCA/ Paris Tower's design (yes, it was somehow more illusion-breaking than a seated elevator).

I don't have any photos of my own that clearly show this gap (probably because I was trying my hardest to ignore it), but this photo gives a good impression of how large and obvious the hallway was: [Link]

The ride car itself was a rectangular metal cage-like structure, with 21 metal (or at least metal-looking) seats arranged in three rows.

Photo by Mrbellcaptain

The back wall of the ride car was solid metal and read "Maximum Load: 3 Tons.  Do not stack above this line" in unidentified fonts.

Photo by Mrbellcaptain

For some reason, the ceiling had two square cutouts above the farthest left-front and farthest right-front row seats.

Left cutout.  Photo by Mrbellcaptain

With the exception of the solid center aisle, the floor of the ride car also was made of metal grating, albeit finer grating than the walls or ceiling.

Photo by Mrbellcaptain

As guests situated themselves in the elevator, they got to hear a unique ambient background soundtrack.  It consisted of mechanical hums, punctuated by distinct wind-like "dropping" noises accompanied by screams.  I believe that the "dropping" and screams were in fact the actual sounds of the neighboring drop shafts, although I suppose they could have been part of the background track too.

One can hear a December 2016 live recording (by Commander Corn of Micechat) of this background sound, along with a snippet of the bellhop doing the safety check here: [Link]

EDIT: Thanks to SuperHotLarry on YouTube, here is the source ambient audio for elevator loading:

This recording confirms that the "dropping" sounds and screams were, in fact, in the BGM and not from the neighboring drop shafts.

/EDIT

After guests all reached their seats and fastened their seat belts (often with the bellhop having to remind people that the belts buckled from left to right), the cast member did a safety check, ensuring that all belts were securely fastened, starting with the back row and moving forward.  When that check finished, the cast member exited the elevator and closed a small sliding gate at the front of the car, occasionally with a joke about how dangerously fast the gate closed (it moved at a snail's pace).

The gate in its open position.  Photo by Mrbellcaptain

With the gate closed and the seat belts checked, the cast member then recited another spiel:

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are glad to inform you that your rooms are now ready!  Hotel management would like me to remind you that there is no flash photography, and to please keep your hands and arms inside the vehicle at all times!  Also, make sure you hold on to your hats, glasses...loved ones... or any other loose articles you wish to keep in this dimension!"

Bellhop giving the final spiel to an elevator.  Photo by Dusty Sage of Micechat.  Original Article

Note that I'm recalling this from memory; people generally edit out things like safety spiels from their ride videos, so this is approximate.  The spiel also varied slightly from bellhop to bellhop, but the important information was the same, as was the emphasis on "loved ones" and the "in this dimension" reference.  At this point, some cast members would ask if it was anyone's first time riding the ride, or if anyone was a new visitor to Disneyland, or if there were any questions.  The spiel concluded:

"And if you need anything else... just scream!"

With the ding of a bell, the elevator doors closed, and one's ride on the Tower of Terror began.

Walkthrough Part 5: The Boiler Room--Part 2, the Upper Queue

While guests from the King's Library went to the lower queue, guests that viewed the pre-show in the Queen's Library funneled to the upper queue of the boiler room.  At the end of the boiler room hallway, the queue fencing directed them left and up a flight of stairs.

Looking back at the library exits from the Queen's side of the hallway.  Photo by Mrbellcaptain

The layout of the upper queue was similar to the lower queue, with the exception, of course, of being upstairs.  The upstairs queue was on a catwalk of sorts over the lower queue, with the open air space on either side of the line being open to view the lower queue and have some set elements (such as pipes and dangling chains) extend between the two.

Here's the basic (not to scale) layout of the upper queue.  Note that what's not outlined was open space to the lower floor:

The stairs consisted of two sections with a landing between them.

Looking back at the end of the boiler room hallway from the landing.  That's the "man in boiler" boiler in the rear left of this photo.  Photo by Mrbellcaptain

View of the lower queue from the landing.  This photo's view is almost directly behind the previous photo's view.  By Mrbellcaptain

Directly at the top of the stairs was a storage area, surrounded by chain-link fencing material and filled with dusty objects.  The most conspicuous thing about the storage area as one approached it, however, was likely a small plaque with a poem on it.  Guests directly faced this plaque as soon as they ascended the stairs.

Photo by Mrbellcaptain

If for some reason that image doesn't load, the poem read:

It's easy enough to be pleasant

when life hums along like a song.

But the man worth while

is the man who can smile

when everything goes dead wrong.

Strangely, this does not appear to be a Twilight Zone reference.  I've not found any lists or blog posts identifying this poem with any particular episode.  It certainly fits the ominous mood of the Tower, but it seems somewhat odd that something so conspicuously placed just came from nowhere.

EDIT: Apparently, this was the first few lines of the poem "Worth While" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox.  The full poem is significantly longer.  There still seems to be no connection between this poem and The Twilight Zone, however, despite it appearing in all three Twilight Zone themed Towers. /EDIT

The storage area was filled with a variety of junk.  There were two especially large, noticeable props in it.  One was a cabinet for holding the hotel keys, like the one behind the check-in desk in the lobby, which stood against the wall, partially draped by fabric.  The other, on the left side of the storage against the other wall, was a work desk with a bunch of clocks and trinkets on it.  On the wall to the left of the work desk was a vintage-styled pinup calendar, which had a photo of a blonde woman in a black bathing suit.  I can't give a definitive list of all the smaller props in the storage area, but they were things like bits of broken machinery, with the occasional fancy ashtray or other item that looked like it would be placed in the lobby after its theoretical repair.

Work desk on the left side of the storage area.  You can see the calendar on the wall under the light.  Photo by Mrbellcaptain

A flash photo showing the whole storage area.  May 2016.  This also gives a view of the pipe-like fencing that bordered the catwalk of the upper queue.

The key cabinet.  Photo by Mrbellcaptain

I haven't heard of any specific Twilight Zone references hidden in the storage area.

Past the storage area, guests saw the upper portion of the "man in boiler" machine.

The upper portion of the "man in boiler" boiler.  Photo by Mrbellcaptain

From there, like in the lower queue, guests caught a look at the farthest-right elevator loading area.

Photo by Mrbellcaptain

The upper queue felt much more "open" than the lower queue.  Rather than the imposing row of valves and pipes in the lower queue, this section of the upper queue had a few chains dangling from the ceiling and a couple pipes running up from below.  The result was a relatively unobstructed view into the upper loading area on the right and a concrete wall with an industrial fan on the left.

Some dangling chains and pipes, with a clear view of the upper loading area's generator behind them.  Photo by Mrbellcaptain.

Looking down the left side of the queue.  Note the open space to the stairwell and the lower queue area.

A photo looking back over the upper queue, with a view down to the end of the boiler room hallway.  The fan in this photo is the same one as in the previous photo.  May 2016.

Now feels as good a time as any to mention the ceiling of the upper queue.

The upper queue's ceiling was comprised of some dark metal grating meant to hide the show lights and other "unrealistic" set elements.  Unlike in the lower queue, where the ceiling was too far away to see clearly unless it was the underside of the upper queue's catwalk, the ceiling in the upper queue did much more to potentially break the "realistic" illusion.  The blue and orange show lights were rather clearly noticeable through the metal grating, and one could see the faucet that fed the dripping pipe.

Speaking of the dripping pipe, the upper queue got to see it as they rounded the corner toward the loading area (see diagram).

The upper part of the dripping pipe, in the upper queue.  Note how visible the show lights are in the ceiling above it.  May 2016.

If one looked above the upper part of the dripping pipe, one could see a black pipe (clearly meant to be hidden) that drained water into the pipe every so often to make it drip water.

Another view of the upper pipe with clearly visible show lights.  Photo by Mrbellcaptain

If one looked down the draining pipe toward the lower queue, one got another amusing view.  Guests apparently liked to toss coins from the upper queue into the basin below.  While waiting in the upper queue, one could watch the water drip down into a sometimes rather substantial pile of coins.

Looking down into the basin from the upper queue.  In this photo, there are only a couple of coins.  May 2016.

However, the dripping pipe was far from the most interesting part of this section of the queue.  Indeed, directly across from the pipe, in the wall forming the other portion of the turn towards the load area, was one of the creepiest Easter eggs in all of the Tower: the Spooky Wall.

The first thing noticeable about the wall was that part of it was differently textured than the rest of the boiler room walls.  A large rectangular section was smoothed over, as if it had been patched, and there were chalk marks written over it.

May 2016

Chalk mark detail by Mrbellcaptain

If guests kept their distance this wall was just another wall.  But if they got close, and/or leaned against the wall, they could hear these sounds echoing through the concrete:

That YouTube video is the source audio for the Spooky Wall.  Based on the French title, I assume this was taken from the Paris version of the Tower.  However, in this case the Paris Tower used the English dub, and therefore the source audios for Paris and DCA were identical.

The sounds included vague creepy wind-like noises, alongside a melancholy ghost girl searching for her parents.  The chalk-marked wall and the little girl's voice were a reference to the Twilight Zone episode "Little Girl Lost."

This Easter egg was one of the creepiest not only because of its content (that source audio is super spooky, even removed from the ominous boiler room setting), but also because of how unexpected it could be.  I saw many guests walk past it unaware, until one decided to rest against the wall and suddenly heard the creepy soundtrack.

Next to the spooky wall was a warning sign and a light fixture.

Photo by Mrbellcaptain

Detail of the sign.  Photo by Mrbellcaptain

As guests walked past the sign and towards the loading area, they got a view of the face-shaped boiler.

Face boiler from the upper queue.  May 2016.

I already analyzed (and explained why I disliked) the face-shaped boiler in my post about the lower queue.

From here, cast members asked guests the number of people in their party, and sent them to the appropriate part of the loading area.

Walkthrough Part 5: The Boiler Room--Part 1, the Boiler Room Hallway and Lower Queue

Having completed viewing the pre-show, it is now time for our walkthrough to continue into the next part of the queue: the boiler room.

Both libraries exited out into the same small hallway.  The lines exiting the libraries were separated from one another by some metal fencing; the Queen's library would go to the upper queue, while the King's would go to the lower queue.  Note that there were no stairs or anything between the library exits and the boiler room hallway, despite the oddity of those two things being connected in such a manner.

The flooring of the hallway was concrete with some metal plates running lengthwise along the floor, contrasting the hardwood floors of the library and the fancy tiles of the lobby.  The walls were also rough gray concrete, the industrial style contrasting the luxurious-but-now-ruined look of the previous environments.  The concrete flooring and walls continued throughout the boiler room.

Neither the classic tunes of the lobby or the rain sounds of the library provided the BGM of the boiler room.  Instead, the background "music" of the boiler room consisted of deep mechanical hums that faded in and out, rattling chain noises, and maybe some faint orchestrated notes here and there.  The lights in the room dimmed and flickered in a way that matched the sounds.

Thus far I have been unable to find a source recording of the boiler room BGM.  The best sample I have is this live recording from December 2016, courtesy of Commander Corn of Micechat.

EDIT: Here is the boiler room BGM, courtesy SuperHotLarry on Youtube:

Oddly, despite supposedly being source, this track does not sound accurate to how I recall it sounding in situ.  I distinctly recall the boiler room having a deep, rumbling bass hum which this track seems to lack.  Of course, this could be due to the differences between a home audio setup vs. whatever advanced speaker system Disney likely used in the attraction. /EDIT

The boiler room hallway itself was rather small.  Exiting from either of the libraries, there was a set of emergency exit doors at the end of the hallway to the right.  From farthest right to farthest left, the wall opposite the library exits featured a row of electrical boxes, a cork message board, an old-style wall phone, a sign, a "days without accident" listing, a time-card punch device, and a set of gauges.

The back of the King's Library exit slider, as seen looking back on it from the boiler room hallway.  Note the emergency exit on the left (which would be to your right as you exited the library).  Photo by Mrbellcaptain

Electrical boxes on the right side of the wall.  This view is approximately opposite the previous photo.  By Mrbellcaptain

Cork message board.  Although this seems ripe for Easter eggs, I've never heard anyone mention any appearing here.  Sadly, this is the best photo I have of it, and it's not quite clear enough to read any of the entries to look for hidden content.  Photo by Mrbellcaptain

EDIT: Nope, as it turns out, that bulletin board was full of Easter Eggs!  See "Secrets from the Van Eaton Gallery" for a full explanation! /EDIT

Sign, "Days without Accident" sign, and card puncher.  Photo by the-magic-sets-us-all-aglow

The sign read:

Boiler Room

Laundry

Maintenance

Basement Level

Exit

All with arrows pointing left.  I'm not sure of the font used for this sign.  Despite the implication that the hallway led to the basement, there was no change in elevation at all in the boiler room (aside from climbing up the stairs if one was going to the upper queue).

The "Days without accident" sign indicated 13 days without accident, continuing the "13" theme of the Tower.

Detail of the "Days without accident" sign, by the-magic-sets-us-all-aglow

The time card machine was stopped with a time of 8:05, matching the other clocks in the Tower.

Gauges next to the time card puncher.  Photo by Mrbellcaptain

The boiler room hallway ended with a glowing boiler featuring a sign reading "Man in boiler" on it, with another emergency exit door to the right.  This boiler appeared to be operating, with the dirty and scratched glass glowing as if red-hot.  I found this to be one of the creepier set elements in the Tower, due to the juxtaposition of the clearly operating machinery with the indication that some unfortunate person was inside it.

Sadly, I do not have a close-up photo of the sign itself.

EDIT: While not a closeup of the sign in particular, here is a photo that clearly shows the sign in place:

Photo by deror_avi at Wikimedia Commons

/EDIT

"Man in boiler" boiler.  Photo by Mrbellcaptain

The second set of emergency exit doors.  Photo by Mrbellcaptain

Pipes in between the boiler and the emergency exit doors.  Photo by Mrbellcaptain

Here the queues diverged.  Both turned left, but the Queen's library queue went up a flight of stairs to the upper queue, while the King's Library queue continued left in the lower queue, passing directly in front of the "man in boiler" boiler.

In the LMG vid on my recommended videos page (the second video listed), one can see a quick sweep of the boiler room hallway from 2:54 to 3:07.

For this entry, we'll follow the lower queue.  Here's another out-of-scale diagram:

Readers should note that the boiler room was a very detailed and atmospheric area that doesn't necessarily lend itself to text easily.  Hopefully the photos provided give a decent feel for it.

As guests walked past the "man in boiler" machinery, they got their first glimpse of the loading area and one of the maintenance elevators.

The farthest right elevator of the lower loading area.  Photo by Mrbellcaptain

Simple, pipe-like fencing delineated the queue and kept with the industrial theming.  Photo by Mrbellcaptain

The row of valves, pipes, and gauges.  You can see the lower queue's generator behind it; I'll discuss the generators in my entry on the loading area.  Photo by Mrbellcaptain.

Detail on some of the valves.  Some actually turned; guests waiting in line would often play with them.  Photo by Mrbellcaptain

Lighting and ceiling of the lower queue.  Photo by Mrbellcaptain

Peeking up at the upper queue.  Photo by Mrbellcaptain

The ceiling had a very industrial feel, being made of metal grating that concealed primarily blue and purple (but with a few orange highlights) atmospheric show lights.  For the lower queue, the ceiling was in some cases the floor of the upper queue.

As guests made their way past the row of pipes on their right, the stairway to the upper queue ascended on their left.  Partially under the stairs, and extending out from under them, was a small work area, staged as if a chair was under repair.  Tools and paints were strewn about, and one paint can was even knocked over, paint dried in a puddle on the floor where it spilled from the can.

December 2016 photo by Commander Corn of Micechat

December 2016 photo by Wandering Optimist/Optimist Zero

Approximately across from the work area under the stairs, wrapped by the turn of the queue, was a pipe dripping water.

Photo by Mrbellcaptain.  Note that you can see part of the upper queue above the dripping pipe in this photo.

Presumably this was supposed to represent rain water draining in from a gutter somewhere, but the amount of dripping water never really matched the raging thunderstorm presented by the ride's narrative.  At most, a trickle of water here and there dripped from the pipe into the basin below.

Various dials on the wall that marked one edge of the turn in the line (see diagram), along with a safety warnings sign.  Photo by Mrbellcaptain

As guests rounded the corner with the dripping pipe on their right, on their left stood one of the most recognizable features of the boiler room: the face-shaped boiler.  It was a giant set piece that stood as tall as the upper queue, and, well, looked like a creepy face.

The boiler with some pipes and an industrial vent.  Photo by Mrbellcaptain

Photo by Mrbellcaptain

The open "mouth" even flickered like a fire was burning in the boiler.

Video by Mrbellcaptain.

In front of the face-shaped boiler was a gate in the fencing labeled "emergency exit".  This led to a path under the boiler; the actual exit door was in the wall to the left behind the boiler (see diagram).

Emergency Exit gate.  Photo by Mrbellcaptain

Emergency Exit path under the boiler.  Photo by Mrbellcaptain

The face-shaped boiler represented the long-running horror trope of using "hidden faces" to make objects seem creepy.  Many excellent examples of this trope can be found in the Tower's older sibling, the Haunted Mansion (see Long Forgotten's "Walls and Stares" for a great examination of "hidden faces" with regards to the Mansion).

Personally, I didn't really like the face-shaped boiler.  Despite being part of a horror tradition, its design seemed a little too obvious and cartoonish for the otherwise realistically-styled Tower (it personally reminded me of some of the cartoon machinery in Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin).  However, I also know several people who thought this was the best thing in the boiler room, so it's very much a matter of individual taste.

Just past the face-shaped boiler was the last boiler room set element in the lower queue before one went into the loading area: the mechanic's desk.

The mechanic's desk was a work desk strewn with tools, old magazines, a newspaper, two photo frames, and an antique radio.

December 2016 photo by Commander Corn of micechat

Photo with flash, December 2016 by Commander Corn of Micechat

Detail of the newspaper prop, December 2016 by Commander Corn of Micechat

That newspaper prop appeared to be a copy of the same prop newspaper used in the lobby.

The most interesting part of the mechanic's desk was that antique radio, which would randomly play static and creepy voices, as seen in this video:

Also, here is a live audio recording of the radio, by Commander Corn of Micechat.

EDIT: Thanks to SuperHotLarry on Youtube, you can now hear the source audio for the boiler room radio:

/EDIT

You might have noticed that the photo on the desk in the video is of a different woman than in the 2016 photo of the desk.  At an unknown date, the photo of the short haired woman was switched out for the photo of the long haired woman.  I have no idea why this change occurred, and have no timeline for the change aside from that video being dated 2013 and the photo dated 2016.

The radio was a reference to the Twilight Zone episode "Static," where an old radio tuned in to programs from the past, according to one of Disney's official website listings for the Tower.  However, the Tower's radio seemed to be broadcasting the voice of the same little girl heard at the "spooky wall" in the upper queue, which was a reference to the episode "Little Girl Lost".

Apparently, those old magazines sticking out of the desk were issues of Popular Mechanics, which according to TowerSecrets referenced the episode "I Sing the Body Electric."

At this point, guests reached the end of the lower queue.  A cast member bellhop asked the number of people in their party, and then directed them to part of the loading area.

One can see a quick trip through the lower queue from 3:07 to 3:25 in the LMG Vid on my recommended videos page (although the video cuts to the ride a bit early, before clearly showing the mechanic's desk or the loading area).

Before our walkthrough proceeds to the loading area, however, we'll take a look at the upper queue.