Although the ride ended when your elevator pulled back into the station, the actual guest experience at the Tower of Terror certainly didn't end there.
Upon leaving the ride car, guests entered the exit corridors. Stenciled signs reading "Exit Guest Areas" sent guests in the right direction.
There were actually two sections of exit corridors: the main one, and a small hallway dedicated only to the farthest-left lower-level elevator. All of the details were in the main one; the small hallway had nothing special about it other than the fact that it only served one ride car.
All of the exit corridors had two-tone walls, with a sort of dull beige-yellow for the upper section, a faded green for the lower section, and a dark wood stripe separating the two colors. The floors were plain concrete. In the main exit corridors, the occasional floor section was marked off in yellow with stenciled letters reading "Cart Parking" in unknown font. Some of these "cart parking" areas had benches in them.
Unique background music played in the exit areas: a haunting, dramatic tune that wouldn't be out of place in a
episode. Here is the source audio, posted by Dlp Sounds on YouTube:
The main exit corridors naturally had upper and lower levels to accommodate the upper and lower elevators. However, rather than having completely split levels like the queue, there were individual staircases going down from each upper-level elevator to the lower exit floor. In between the middle and right elevators there was a gap, which housed a wide hallway through which the middle and right lower-level elevators exited. For ease of writing, I'll call this the "double staircase." The left upper-level elevator exited down a single staircase farther down the exit area.
The most interesting part of the double staircase area, however, was the fact that it housed one of the more hidden Easter eggs in the Tower.
The sections directly under the staircases were enclosed with black metal grating, as can be seen in the previous photos. Behind the grating were various crates and junk, indicating that the place was being used as a storage area.
If one looked closely at the storage area under the middle elevator's staircase, however, one saw that it wasn't just crates and old furniture stored under the stairs!
Yes, some feet and shoes sticking out from behind a crate indicated that someone had stashed a body under the stairs! Sometimes the shoes were down like in the photo above, other times they were tilted upward (more like they were on someone's feet). The dead feet were relatively difficult to see in person; the above photo was taken with a flash and it took several tries to get one where the feet were clearly visible. It was very dark under that part of the stairs, and most people would be rushing by to get to the exit. This was an Easter egg you really had to look for--probably with a flashlight.
episode "Dead Man's Shoes," in which a homeless man takes the shoes off a corpse in an alley, only to find himself becoming the dead man.
As guests came down the stairs or out of the middle of the double staircase, they saw a wall with a stenciled sign directing them to the left, with a plain bench in front of it.
If guests looked to the right from here, they saw a hallway with a sign above it, reading
in Rubens font. Oddly Rubens font was only used here and for the "Directory" sign in the lobby. The other stenciled signs around the exits and boiler room were in a different unidentified font. Apparently down the "Kitchen Scullery" hallway was a backstage exit, but obviously guests were not meant to go that way.
As guests walked in the direction indicated by the exit signs (that is, away from the "Kitchen Scullery" sign), they came across two enclosed announcement boards on the wall to their right.
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| The first board. Click photo to see a larger version for the details. Flash photo taken May 2016. |
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| The second board, which was a short way down the hall from the first. Once again, click for larger version. Flash photo taken May 2016. |
From what I can tell, none of these posters contained any specific Easter eggs or
Twilight Zone references. They did, however, keep with the vaguely creepy atmosphere, with advertisements for plays titled "Mystery Boardwalk Asylum" and "Devil's Disciple". The visuals for the "John is not dull" and the "Industrial Arts" posters were vaguely unsettling as well.
In between these two message boards was a green door. This led to "backstage" employees-only areas.
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| Photo by Mrbellcaptain |
Directly across from this green door was the stairwell down from the far-left upper-level elevator.
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| Photo looking backwards towards the "Kitchen Scullery" sign, showing the general arrangement of the exit halls thus far. The "Devil's Disciple" message board was to the left of the photographer in this picture. Photo by Mrbellcaptain |
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| A view up the far-left elevator's stairs, featuring a bellhop. Photo by Mrbellcaptain |
Walking past the stairs, door, and second message board, one arrived at the end of the hall, which had an emergency exit.
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| Photo by Mrbellcaptain |
During the first year or so of the Tower's existence, a cast member stood by the emergency exit doors and handed stickers reading
"I took the dare!" to young riders. The slogan on the sticker referenced the "Drop in if you dare!" tagline used for advertisements in the Tower's early years.
For the normal exit, guests made a sharp left turn to go through some ornately carved wooden doors into the photo viewing room.
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| Going from the exit corridors to the photo room. Photo by Mrbellcaptain |
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| Fancy carvings on the wood doors. Note how the carvings match the wood carvings back in the lobby. Photo by Mrbellcaptain |
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| Art deco detailing above the entrance to the photo room. Note the second entrance from the lower-left elevator. Photo by Mrbellcaptain |
The sudden shift from the minimalism of the exit corridors to the ornate stylings and tile floors of the photo area made it clear that guests were no longer in the fictional "backstage" of the hotel and instead had returned to the main areas.
The photo area was an oddly-shaped room (it was vaguely hexagonal) with a dark tile floor and a geometric light in the ceiling. Angled along one wall was a row of six television screens, displaying the on-ride photos taken the first time the elevators dropped from the highest point in the ride (that is, the part with the exterior view over Disneyland). Below the screens were three display cases, each containing
Twilight Zone Easter eggs.
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| May 2016 photo. I was standing approximately in front of the entrance from the small exit corridor. |
The farthest-right display case had a metal "HTH" logo, an art deco statue of a woman and a dog, a display of electric razors, and a red toy telephone.
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| May 2016 |
The card by the telephone read "Perfect for the children's room and those late night calls from grandma." It was printed in Banhof Regular font.
Both the razors and the telephone referenced
Twilight Zone episodes. The telephone and its description card referenced "Long Distance Call," in which a young boy held conversations with his dead grandmother via a toy telephone. The razors referenced "A Thing About Machines," about a man named Finchley who poorly handled appliances and eventually had the machines in his house (including his electric razor) turn against him.
"A Thing About Machines" had a second reference in this section of the Tower, specifically in the middle display case.
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| May 2016 |
The middle display case was larger than the other two, and had the text "Modern Wonders: Experience New Dimensions of Sight and Sound" painted across the top of the glass in an unidentified art deco font. This case held a collection of radios and typewriters.
One typewriter in the center of the display had paper threaded through it, which read:
"GET OUT OF HERE FINCHLEY"
"GET OUT OF HERE FINCHLEY"
"GET OUT OF HERE FINCHLEY"
A card in front of the typewriter read "Practically writes by itself." This was the second reference to "A Thing About Machines," where the main character's typewriter angrily typed "GET OUT OF HERE FINCHLEY" at him.
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| The typewriter. May 2016 |
The card on the radio read "Static-free reception. You'll be surprised at what you hear."(1) This referenced the
Twilight Zone episode "Static" where a man who yearned for the past heard old radio programs on his radio while others heard static. The radio in the boiler room may or may not have also referenced "Static."
Disney's
own official listing of the "Static" Easter egg(s?) was quite confusing. It specified that an antique radio from "Static" tuned in to programs from the past, but the boiler room radio had the voice of the little girl from "Little Girl Lost" and this radio in the display case was silent!
The left side display case had a selection of antique cameras and an HTH logo.
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| May 2016 |
One camera in particular had a card in front of it, reading "A most unusual camera" in Bahnof Regular font. This camera was a replica of the one from the episode "A Most Unusual Camera," where the device in question created photos of future events.
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| Close-up of the camera. May 2016 |
Other cameras in that display included what appear to be Kodak Beau Brownie cameras and a Kodak Bantam Special camera (or similar models).
Across from the screens and display cases, along the back wall in between the openings from the two exit corridors, was another reference to
The Twilight Zone.
In the back of the room was a large display window, although it always had a thick red curtain drawn across the inside and never actually displayed anything (as far as I know). However, painted across the top of of the window was an advertisement: "Willoughby Travel."
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| May 2016 |
This referenced "A Stop at Willoughby." I'll avoid spoiling the episode's ending, but I'll just say I certainly wouldn't want to take a vacation from "Willougby Travel" anytime soon!
In between the small exit corridor's end and the gateway to the gift shop was a lighted poster that constituted yet
another reference to the TV show.
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| The location of the poster. That's the small exit corridor's opening on the left, and of course the gift shop entrance to the right. Photo taken May 2016 |
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| The poster itself. May 2016 |
It read:
"The Tip-Top Clup proudly presents
Anthony Fremont and his Orchestra
Now Appearing at the Top of the Tower"
This referenced the episode "It's a Good Life." In that episode, Anthony Fremont was a six-year-old with superpowers that allowed him to malevolently control his entire hometown. In the episode, he hated it when people sang--maybe that's why he conducted an orchestra at the Tower?
"It's a Good Life" also lent its opening narration to the Tower's
pre-show video.
From here, guests made their way into the gift shop.
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| Exit to the gift shop. May 2016 |
Tower Hotel Gifts was a fairly standard (albeit properly themed) post-ride retail space anchored by two desks: the checkout desk and the photo purchase desk.
The checkout desk was visible right from the photo viewing area entrance, and was characterized by a large Hollywood Tower Hotel mural flanked by Egyptian-styled statues.
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| The checkout desk and mural. May 2016 |
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| Detail of Egyptian-styled statue. Photo by Mrbellcaptain |
Those of you looking closely might notice that the mural depicted the Tower with the round fins on the side that differentiated the California Tower from the Paris version. What? Another official artwork accidentally depicting the Paris Tower? you might ask. However, I think I have figured out the root of this apparent mistake.
In Martin Smith's
DCA/Paris Tower documentary, Smith explained that this version of the Tower was originally designed for Paris, but then Paris' construction got delayed and Disney decided to copy the plans for California Adventure to help out the floundering new park. This meant that the entire design/artwork, including those round fins, were already in place for the DCA version. For some reason, the fins were never put on the California Tower, even though they were
supposed to be there (to the point of being in the pre-show video and the official artwork) and not something added for Paris. Of course, this just brings up the question of why the DCA Tower lacked fins, and I have no answer for that.
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| A view of most of the gift shop, showing the two desks. Photo by Mrbellcaptain |
The photo desk was at a right angle to the checkout desk, and was situated along the building's front wall. A lighted sign above it read "Picture if you will..." in Banhof Regular font. This was, of course, a reference to Rod Serling's monologues in the television show. Here, guests could purchase their on-ride photos.
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| The photo desk, by Mrbellcaptain |
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| Old-looking photographs and vintage cameras on the wall behind the desk. Photo by Mrbellcaptain |
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| Photo purchase prices as of late 2016. Photo by Mrbellcaptain |
According to Optimist_Zero/Wandering Optimist of Micechat, photo envelopes circa 2004 had the
original exterior gate mural on them.
To the left of the photo desk was a refrigerator with sodas, with four photos above it.
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| Photo by Mrbellcaptain |
The photos above the refrigerator depicted the characters from the pre-show video.
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| Photo by Mrbellcaptain |
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| The queue area for the photo desk, with the photos and refrigerator behind it (and a good view of the carpet). Photo by Mrbellcaptain |
In terms of merchandise, what you'd find in the shop varied significantly depending on when you were there. In the years just after opening, there was a LOT of Tower of Terror-specific merchandise, including merchandise that specifically depicted the California version (i.e. T-shirts and name tags that showed the actual facade of the ride, or things like the mirror scene that were at the time unique to DCA).
After a couple years, however, a lot of specific merchandise disappeared. Tower-themed merchandise that remained tended to be generically "Hollywood Tower Hotel" branded, presumably so Disney didn't have to bother making unique items for the different iterations of the ride in Florida, California, and Paris. At that point, a
significant amount of shop space inexplicably became dedicated to
Nightmare Before Christmas merchandise, despite that film having no connections to the Tower whatsoever.
When Disney announced the Tower's closure, unique Tower merchandise returned, this time themed around the "Final Check-out." However, large amounts of shelf space remained dedicated to
Nightmare Before Christmas, along with a little bit of Marvel merchandise.
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| "Final Check-out" merchandise, December 2016. Photo by Mrbellcaptain |
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| Lots of Jack Skellington merchandise, December 2016. Photo by Mrbellcaptain |
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| When the Tower first opened, this rotating pin rack held personalized name tags that showed the DCA Tower facade. Photo by Mrbellcaptain |
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| "Hollywood Tower Hotel" branded merchandise on a display table near the shop's exit. December 2016 photo by Mrbellcaptain |
I cannot recall what, if any, music played in the gift shop. I posit that it either had no music, or used the same loop as the lobby and exterior hotel grounds.
Once ready to leave the shop, guests left through metal-and-glass doors that had geometric designs on them.
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| Could that eye design be a reference to CBS, The Twilight Zone's original network? Photo by Mrbellcaptain |
The gift shop's exit/exterior entrance had a lighted sign reading "Tower Hotel Gifts" in Banhof regular font. The exit was set under an overhang with a beautiful chandelier.
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| Photo by Mrbellcaptain |
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| The ornate chandelier and an overall look at the overhang. May 2016. |
If guests turned left after exiting the gift shop, they entered the small rest area with benches I mentioned in
my post about the Tower exterior. Sandwiched in between the exterior standby queue and the building, the area had a few plain benches and two shop display windows.
The window closer to the gift shop door was an actual display window featuring merchandise from the gift shop.
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| The shop display window in December 2016. Note that ALL the merchandise in the display is Nightmare Before Christmas, despite this being in the middle of the "Final Check-Out" promotion! Photo by Mrbellcaptain |
The other display window, rather than featuring actual merchandise, displayed a fancy dress and various vintage-looking luxury goods. This window appears to have been meant to approximate the kind of luxury goods the shop would offer in-story, as opposed to the theme park souvenirs available in reality.
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| May 2016 |
The items in this display got shuffled around a bit throughout the years, and there were also seasonal variants of the display (such as Halloween and Christmas versions).
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| Streamers in the window for a Christmas display, December 2016. Note how the dress is in a slightly different place. Photo by Mrbellcaptain |
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| The photo is blurry, but you can tell that gift boxes were added to the display, too. December 2016, Photo by Mrbellcaptain |
At this point, guests returned to the hotel grounds. From there, they were free to exit to the rest of California Adventure, sit around and enjoy the atmosphere... or re-join the queue for another trip through the Tower!
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Thus ends our main walkthrough of the Tower of Terror at Disney's California Adventure. However, this is FAR from my last post on the subject! After all, there's still other aspects of the ride to cover, including its special Halloween mode, so stay tuned!
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(1) Many thanks to Mrbellcaptain for figuring out what this card said! I couldn't find a clear photo of the card, and it took much work to find what it was.
