Alternate Tower Spotlight: The Paris Tower of Terror, Part 1-- The History, Hotel Grounds, and Building Exterior

Ah, Paris--the city of Light.  Home to great culture, historic sites, art, food...and La Quatriéme Dimension.

"The Fourth Dimension?" one might ask.  "What does that have to do with anything on this blog? Or Paris, for that matter?"

Well, the French dub of a certain famous television show translated the title as "The Fourth Dimension", and for the next few posts, this blog's focus is going directly to: The Twilight Zone... Tower of Terror at Disneyland, Paris.

(Special thanks to Pyrokenesis of Tumblr for providing photos and information for this series!)

EDIT: As of January 2022, commenter Kurokori has provided a MASSIVE update full of photos, details and a few explanations of changes to the area around Paris' Tower.  Thank you so much!

From what I can tell, this is the official poster for the Paris version of the ride.

(Note: as of this writing, the Paris Tower of Terror is very much up and operating; however, I have chosen to use past tense in this post for grammatical ease and consistency with my other posts)

2022 Update: So far, Paris Tower has even survived the announcement and initial construction of the Paris version of Avengers Campus, with their version of Rock n Roller Coaster getting the unfortunate re-theme treatment instead.  In fact, Paris even got new drop profiles in the form of the New Dimension of Chills update.  However, projection shows do sometimes temporarily transform the Tower into Mission Breakout's themeing, using lights.

To begin with, the French version of the Tower had a surprisingly complicated history.  According to Martin Smith's documentary, when Disney opened up its second gate at its Paris property in 2002, it had always planned to include a new version of the Tower of Terror attraction at the park.  Disney even left a large chunk of land in the middle of the park cleared and prepped for the construction, and included at least one "HTH" logo on a coffee shop near the future Tower site.  However, budget prevented immediate construction on the attraction.

Meanwhile, back in the United States, Disney's California Adventure opened in 2001, and was experiencing its share of trouble.  One of the major guest complaints was the lack of attractions at the new park, and someone at Disney realized that they now had plans for a Hollywood themed attraction ready to go.  Thus, the plans for the new Tower design and construction moved to California, where the DCA Tower officially opened in 2004.

Paris' Tower, meanwhile, would not welcome guests until 2007, with the official opening celebration occurring in 2008.  The especially long soft-opening period has seemingly led to confusion over when the Paris Tower opened, with various blogs listing one year or the other.

Interestingly, this situation means that the DCA Tower was technically cloned from the Paris Tower, despite the Paris version opening 3 years later than DCA.  Paris was also the newest Tower to be constructed.

Walt Disney Studios Paris park map (credit)

Likely due to being actually planned for its home park, the Paris Tower had a much more detailed surrounding area.

To get to the hotel grounds from the park entrance, guests walked through the large Disney Studio 1 (a gigantic warehouse-like structure that I can best describe to U.S.-based fans as a concentrated indoor DCA 1.0, with lots of neon, exaggerated architecture, gift shops, and restaurants) and into Disney Brothers Plaza.  The Disney Brothers Plaza was the location of the famous "Partners" statue, which most fans likely recognize from the hub at Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom.  From there, guests basically just had to walk slightly forward and left to get to the hotel grounds.

It was very, very hard to miss the hotel grounds, given that they were marked by a gigantic Tower surrounded by what appeared to be a slice of 1930s Los Angeles.  Amusingly, the proximity to Disney Brothers Plaza meant that it was easily possible to get a picture of the iconic "Partners" with the Tower looming in the background... certainly a unique combination.

A small "Hollywood street" area surrounded the Tower, which featured forced-perspective art deco buildings and a few "quick bite" food locations.  The forced perspective fell apart to reveal studio sets in a manner similar to California Adventure's Hollywood Studios Backlot, but on a much smaller (and arguably better done) scale.

The area around the hotel building felt more "open" than its Californian counterpart; rather than being in a sort of pocket courtyard, there was a wide boulevard to the left of the Tower that continued onward towards the Paris versions of Rock n' Roller Coaster and Lights Motors Action.  The entrance to the Studio Tram Tour was on the right of the Tower grounds.  The Tower was in the middle of the park, rather than at the end of one road like Florida and California's Tower locations.

The Tower and its grounds, as seen from that wide road on the left.  The screen and stage in this photo were for the Star Wars projection show displayed on the Tower.  April 2017 photo by Pyrokenesis.

View of the grounds from the right side, through some trees.  April 2017, by Pyrokenesis

Like the other Towers of Terror, however, the Paris version had themed lampposts and a background music loop comprised of older music played through a ghostly-sounding filter.  From what I can find, this Exterior/Lobby music loop was the same as the version that played in Florida and California.

Themed lights and banners, April 2017 by Pyrokenesis

Unlike at DCA, the Paris fastpass stand was situated to the right of the Tower entrance, along the right side of the building.  Like its DCA counterpart, the fastpass machines were themed as suitcases.

Fastpass stand, April 2017 by Pyrokenesis

The display above the front of the fastpass stand featured digital displays rather than California's flip-number displays.  The sign, like almost all signs around Disneyland Paris, was in both English and French.  Interestingly, the sign above the entrance read "Next Stop: The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror" in English, but only "Prochain arrêt: La Quatriéme Dimension" (Next Stop: The Fourth Dimension/The Twilight Zone) in French.

Front side of the Fastpass stand, April 2017 by Pyrokenesis

A better view of the signs, April 2017 by Pyrokenesis

Fastpass machines, April 2017 by Pyrokenesis

The fastpass ticket design for the Tower was relatively plain, listing the name of the ride in a brown bar across the top of the ticket.  "The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror" was written very lightly in the logo font, almost like a watermark, along the length of the ticket.

A Paris Tower fastpass ticket.  April 2017 by Pyrokenesis

From what I can tell, Disneyland Paris fastpasses all followed the same design, having the name of the ride on a colored band on top of the ticket.  Also note that the times on Paris fastpasses used a 24-hour clock rather than a 12-hour one.

2022 Update: According to Kurokori, as of 2022 fastpasses are no longer in use at Disneyland Paris, thus making the fastpass ticket above and possibly the fastpass stand defunct unless repurposed.

To the left of the Tower entrance, in between the Tower and the road leading to Rock n' Roller Coaster, was a rose garden, labeled as such with a sign in Banhof Regular font.

April 2017 photo by Pyrokenesis

Statue in the garden, April 2017 by Pyrokenesis

Broken fountain in the garden, April 2017 by Pyrokenesis

Readers might notice that the rose garden sign matched the style of the "pool" and "tennis court" signs at the DCA version of the attraction.  While I don't have any evidence concerning the tennis court sign, Pyrokenesis was able to confirm that the "pool" sign was located in the fastpass garden rather than the Tower grounds at Paris.

2022 Update: As of the (still in progress, as of this writing) construction of Avengers Campus, it appears the rose garden might be gone, in favor of a rerouted walkway into the new land.  The following screenshots were provided by Kurokori, and show the difference before and after construction began.

Before Avengers Campus construction

Jauary 2022, with Avengers Campus construction

Just behind the rose garden was another unique feature of the Paris Tower: bathrooms!

Unique and convenient.  April 2017 photo by Pyrokenesis

Like DCA, the Paris Tower had a dried-out art deco fountain with a sign that switched between "The Hollywood Tower Hotel" and "The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror."

April 2017 by Pyrokenesis

Unlike the Californian version, the fountain didn't have anything planted in the two planter bowls next to the sign.  Indeed, the landscaping foliage was a significant difference between the DCA and Paris Towers.  California's featured lots of palm trees and Californian-style landscaping, while Paris used plants more suited to the more varied and cold French weather, where snow is a very real possibility in winter.

I personally rather like the Parisian landscaping; while it is less accurate to the in-story Hollywood setting of the ride, its sparser look in winter (especially when paired with snow) really captures a "haunted" feeling for the setting.

Parisian Landscaping.  April 2017, Pyrokenesis

Regarding that fountain, another difference from the California version involved the bronze "HTH" plaques.  In Paris, the plaques were on the columns bordering the fountain, as circled in this picture sent to me by Pyrokenesis:

Detail of plaque, April 2017 by Pyrokenesis

In California, the plaques were on the columns bordering the entrance to the queue, and the fountain columns were blank, as seen here:

DCA photo showing lack of plaques

The plaque in the detail picture also looks shinier/newer than its Californian counterparts.

2022 Update: Here is Kurokori's photo showing Paris' fountain with the plaques

Kurokori, 2022

As for the building itself, the Paris Tower featured the same pueblo deco design as DCA, with one very quickly identifiable difference.  Under the "T" shape at the top of the building, Paris had round architectural details that DCA lacked.

I tend to informally refer to these details as "round things," but maybe "fins" would be the more appropriate term?

It's actually a mystery why DCA's building didn't have these fins, as they appeared in all official artwork and the pre-show video for both the DCA and Paris versions of the ride.

2022 Update: Budget.  The answer to the "mystery" was budget.  I cannot find the original source at the moment, but I recall an interview with an imagineer that implied the existence of DCA Tower was something of a budgeting miracle, with them having to shave off dollars on every tiny place they could to make it fit in DCA.  The California Adventure team did everything it could to keep costs down, and that included cutting architectural details.  Guardians of the Galaxy's paint scheme even revealed that multiple dimensional-looking elements in DCA's façade were actually painted illusions, while Paris' details are all apparently real.

Despite having the same appearances, the two buildings were also constructed out of different materials.  Paris' was made out of concrete, while California's had steel beam construction.

These Towers also had slightly different paint schemes.  In addition to apparent variations in the color tones around the exterior (although these could be tricks of the light/weather/camera), Paris' Tower had one additional paint detail that DCA's lacked.  This detail was only visible from the air.

Screenshots from Google Earth.  Left is Paris, Right is DCA

In Paris, the roof of the building in front of the drop shaft openings was painted to look like the floor of the broken-off parts of the hotel, while in California the roof was painted flat exterior brown.  It's a nice detail in Paris that was likely to go unnoticed by guests, due to this section of roof only being visible for a split second as the elevator dropped.

2022 update: Based on further photos, it really does appear that the buildings were painted with different color schemes.  The paint on the signs were also slightly different, as seen in these photos provided by Kurokori:

DCA sign

Paris sign, Kurokori 2022

Fun fact, those ridges above the sign are DEFINITELY painted illusions in California (revealed via the Mission Breakout paint scheme), but presumably real in Paris.

Oh, and those aren't the only different details.  In general, Paris has a different, much more detailed burn area than the DCA version.  Whereas the DCA version was done entirely in paint, Paris has three-dimensional sculpted details to add realism.

Overall view of the burned area, Kurokori 2022

Closeup of the elevator doors.  Note the extreme detail on the doors, burnt floor, and ripping "wallpaper" in the hallway.  Kurokori, 2022

Another photo showing the detail in the destroyed zone.  Note the realistic brick texture as well as raised "flakes" that help sell the illusion of a destroyed building.  Kurokori, 2022

Another view of the sign.  I love the subtle paint variations that simulate smoke damage to the right of the sign--yet another finer detail on Paris' paint scheme.  Also, this photo also helps show that the ridges above the sign are real, not illusions like DCA's.  Note how the change in angle between this photo and the bit of the ridges you can see in the previous photo indicates that they really are three dimensional.  Kurokori, 2022

Furthermore, there was yet another detail difference between DCA and Paris that Kurokori mentioned, which oddly enough I'd never heard mentioned anywhere else in all this time.  In an unusual twist, DCA had an extra detail that Paris did NOT.  DCA had one balcony suite door open on the Bug's Land side, while on Paris the balcony suites all have their doors closed.

Closed balcony doors in Paris.  Note once again the sculpted details and elaborate paint work.  Kurokori 2022

The equivalent side on DCA, with open door detail, unknown date and photographer

Detail of above pointing out open doors.  Note the different burn details on DCA.

The back side of the Tower was mostly the same as California's, with the exception of having different backstage configurations and for having the back side of the building visible from within the park due to the central location.

At night, the Paris Tower lit up with the same dark blue and purple color scheme that DCA also used.  The sign flickered in the same manner as California's Tower as well, with the "W" flickering, the "O" usually dark, and other flicker sequences happening at rare intervals.  Unlike DCA, someone actually managed to film one of the different sequences (albeit from a non-optimal angle), as seen in this instagram clip (not my video)

Halloween 2016 picture by Pyrokenesis

Starting in January 2017, the nighttime Tower also became the host of the “Star Wars: La Celebration Galactique” projection show, as seen in this video from YouTube:

2022 Update: The Tower has since become the platform for numerous projection shows at Disneyland Paris, including some that half-amusingly half-alarmingly transform it into Mission Breakout for Marvel themed shows.

Kurokori also informed me that, once again, DCA unusually received a detail that Paris did not, albeit one only visible at night.  Paris lacks the spooky flickering lights in the topmost windows of the Tower, and also lacked nighttime lighting in several windows by the standby queue, as will be shown in that post.

Nighttime photo taken from the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse.  Note the lack of lights in the windows.  Kurokori, 2022

Overall night exterior.  Kurokori, 2022

For comparison, here's my 2016 photo of DCA from a similar angle:

DCA night exterior, photo by me.  Also note how one of the suites in the lower right seems to be lit in DCA, but I cannot tell if it is also lit in the Paris version.

It seems fitting that our tour of the hotel grounds end where it would if we were actually at Disneyland Paris: the entrance to the queue.

The front gates had the same general appearance as their DCA counterparts, albeit with digital rather than flip-number displays.  However, rather than having planters on either side of the entrance, there were pay phones to the left of the entrance, and some sort of utility cabinet to the right.  From there, guests entered either the left side of the gate for standby, or the right for fastpass.

Photo April 2017 by Pyrokenesis

This view shows the right side of the entrance.  April 2017, by Pyrokenesis

Enough hanging around outside, let's get in the queue!

2022 Update:  Hey, wait!  While we're here, why not enjoy some more photos from Kurokori?

Overall exterior, with stage.  Kurokori, 2022

According to Kurokori, it seemed like repainting was in progress during his trip.  I wonder how much of Paris' paint variation is due to the weather.

And finally, a view of the Tower with the Walt Disney Studios Paris water tower.  Kurokori, 2022