After the pre-show, guests leave Hightower’s office and go into what I call “Artifact Storage,” or “the boiler room.” Technically, this version is not at all a boiler room the way it is in the other Towers, I just have a tendency to slip and call it such because of its equivalent function. Instead, this is the dusty, disorganized back storage room where Harrison Hightower leaves all his loot. It’s rather striking, that he’s stolen so much that he can leave all this stuff back here, presumably after already outfitting the rest of the hotel.
Like the California Adventure and Paris versions of the Tower of Terror, this room is two-storied, albeit with a unique floor layout and a very unique presentation of the loading zones. It is extremely visually dense, and some photos I have are difficult to place. There are, inevitably, details I didn’t note. If you know more, please let me know! By my best guess, the approximate layout is thus:
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| You might really benefit from clicking this one to enlarge it |
In sharp contrast to the elaborate wallpaper of the office, guests funnel from the pre-show into a hallway with gray textured concrete walls. These are lined with even more photos of Hightower and his artifacts. Alas, I seem to only have one example here in my collection, but its implications are pretty significant. It’s labeled “EUROPEAN COLLECTION ROOM—Rm. 17A Level 2b.” Given how full the room looks, and the numbering system, what we see in the hotel and artifact storage barely scratches the surface of what Hightower has stolen!
@idreamofthemeparks, 2025
After leaving this hallway, depending on which pre-show room the guests entered, their queue divider funnels their line into either the downstairs or upstairs level of artifact storage. My notes indicate I rode the lower level elevators more often, suggesting that was the floor that funneled from the right-side pre-show room. I’ll attempt to tour both levels as best as I can.
In the crook of the stairs is a large Mayan/Aztec looking statue. Next to it is a pair of crates, stacked atop each other. The lower one warns, “Danger! Sharp objects, handle with care”—a questionable warning, given that the box appears to be on its side. The upper one appears to say:
Louis St. Croix
Island of St. Domingue
Contents:
Voodoo [unreadable]
Great, nothing like something related to voodoo, on top of improperly stored sharp objects!
Improperly stored voodoo/sharps crates, with large Mayan-style statue behind them. @idreamofthemeparks, 2025
More artifacts in this section encased by the stairs. In this and the previous photo, you can also see past into the doorway into the Lower Floor Tour A cubicle. @idreamofthemeparks, 2025
Both sides of the artifact storage room are divided into alcoves. While the front alcoves house the ride loading areas, the back alcoves house the queue and more displays. Guests move past what seems to be a setup of an old camera taking a photo of an Indiana Jones-style idol as they go into these back alcoves. Here a clear-fronted display case houses various items. I believe this is where guests can see a crystal skull in Hightower’s collection. This is a further tie to Lost River Delta, as the Indiana Jones Adventure there is the Temple of the Crystal Skull. This is not the most significant connection to DisneySea Indiana Jones we’ll see in this room, however.
View looking down from the stairs towards the area in question. Note the idol set up in front of a white backdrop, and the display case behind it. @idreamofthemeparks, 2025
Another view into this area, taken from the stairs. @idreamofthemeparks, 2025
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| A blurry look at some of the items in that cabinet. My photo, 2019 |
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| Crystal skull in the cabinet. My photo, 2019 |
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| Another photo from this area. In this picture, my back was facing the cabinet, and that's the rear of the idol's photo backdrop in the foreground. You can see the stairs beyond the columns. My photo, 2019 |
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| Another angle from the previous location. You can see the camera that was set to photograph the idol in this one. Obviously, this was before I had a camera with low-light capability. My photo, 2019 |
After this cabinet, I believe there is a scene depicting an old photography dark room/development area.
My photo, 2019
Another look back at the stairs artifacts and old camera, this time from the other side of the display, having looped around it. I think my back was to the end corner of the photography studio/dark room display. My photo, 2019
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| More lower floor artifacts, location unknown. I know they're lower floor due to their location in my camera roll, but I can't place exactly where. My best guess is between the photography displays and the next main display, the Egyptian scene. My photo, 2019 |
Moving further into the room, in what might be considered the main central display of the Artifact Storage, is the Egyptian display. It basically spans two floors, with how huge the main statue is. The larger cutout of the upper floor also gives a perfect view into this scene from above—the designers definitely wanted you to notice this. Below the main statue are mummies, likely the ones we saw Hightower stealing in the mural above the check-in desk. One has their coffin lid open, the body slumping over. In a nearby crate, which I believe is just before the mummies as you walk through the room, there are canopic jars (that is, sacred containers intended to hold a mummy’s internal organs after the mummification process), one of which is knocked over. There’s no overt spilled-organ gore (unlike Mission Breakout…how did that get past the censors?), just spilled sand. However, it’s still clear that Hightower has no respect, not just for other cultures, but also for dead individuals. It doesn’t matter that these mummies were people, or were likely royalty that’d outrank Hightower himself; he’ll just toss them in his storage room!
Spilled canopic jar. My photo, 2019
Heading into the Egyptian scene in a crowded queue. My photo, 2019
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| A much clearer look into the Egyptian scene, showing the mummy with the open casket. Photo angle is from about halfway up the stairs to the upper floor. @idreamofthemeparks, 2025 |
At the end of the room is the other significant multi-floor display. On this ground floor is a pile of crates. Above them, suspended from the ceiling, is the giant stone dragon head that the lore newspapers dubbed “The Beast of Tamas.” I thought at least some of the crates were marked as coming from Lost River Delta, but none of the photos I have available can confirm this. What is definitely real, however, is that a noticeable rippling blue light shines from the crates onto the dragon above. It is an identical effect to that used for the Fountain of Youth water in the DisneySea version of Indiana Jones Adventure. Yes, Harrison Hightower has water from the Fountain of Youth just in his storage room!
There’s more to the Beast of Tamas display, but I feel like I should get to the tour of the upper floor first, where we’ll end at the upper half with the dragon head. The only clear photos of it that I have access to are from the upper floor anyways...
When you first go up the stairs, you’ll encounter an “endcap” display of sorts on this wall, showcasing various “exotic” statues. An emergency exit is apparently in the corner up there too.
@idreamofthemeparks, 2025
Going right into the alcoves, guests pass a display of loot featuring rugs (draped over the railing that looks down into the Egyptian display), a statue of a royal-looking Asian man (a Chinese emperor?), and a fallen…body-shaped bundle of some sort. I think it’s supposed to be a statue, but given that Hightower already has bodies in the open on the lower level, there’s a nonzero chance this could be a corpse too. Crates in this area are marked “Purple Mountain Expedition, Mount Baigong, Qingahi, China.”
@idreamofthemeparks, 2025
Marked crate. Note that the contents are marked as "?". @idreamofthemeparks, 2025
A better look at the wrapped statue. @idreamofthemeparks, 2025
More crates next to the statues. One is marked "Hotel Hightower, New York, USA." @idreamofthemeparks, 2025
Another view. @idreamofthemeparks, 2025
Guests wind around this display, going into the alcove, where the wall is covered in Hightower’s filing cabinets. Each drawer is labeled, and there are certainly some… interesting things he keeps organized. Known labels include: Diseases of the South Seas, Black Magic Rituals, Head Shrinking Procedures, Cups & Chalices, Diseases of the Nile Basin, Shipping Agents—Africa, Bribes and Gratuities, Techniques of Mummification, and Dragon Eggs. Yeah, this guy just straight up has a bribes file.
Overall look at the filing cabinets. @idreamofthemeparks, 2025
"Diseases of the South Seas." @idreamofthemeparks, 2025
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| "Black Magic Rituals." @idreamofthemeparks, 2025 |
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| "Head Shrinking Procedures." @idreamofthemeparks, 2025 |
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| "Cups and Chalices." @idreamofthemeparks, 2025 |
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| "Diseases of the Nile Basin." @idreamofthemeparks, 2025 |
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| "Shipping Agents--Africa," and "Bribes and Gratuities." @idreamofthemeparks, 2025 |
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| "Techniques of Mummification." @idreamofthemeparks, 2025 |
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| "Dragon Eggs." @idreamofthemeparks, 2025 |
On the end wall of this alcove is a display that prominently features a winged statue. I can’t quite tell, but I think this might be the one he stole from the ziggurat in the lobby painting. It’s not exact, but it would fit with other lobby painting artifacts showing up prominently in this room.
Winged statue. @idreamofthemeparks, 2025
Beyond this is essentially a wall of crates, with some of them open. There's a good view over into the Egyptian scene on the lower floor on your left.
View into the Egyptian scene from the upper floor. @idreamofthemeparks, 2025
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| Detail photo of open mummy casket from upper floor. @idreamofthemeparks, 2025 |
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| One of the wall crates. Its inscription reads, "Seitro[?] Trading Co. Kathmandu, Nepal, Contents: Copper Goddess Statue, assorted artifacts and paintings, Gilt[?]-Bronze Monastery [unreadable], 3 of 3." @idreamofthemeparks, 2025 |
Among the wall of crates is an open box that has three fancy end tables in it. One has a dragon motif, fitting with Hightower’s office indicating his love of dragon-themed décor. (Dragons are known for hoarding things…) However, it was the other two smaller tables that initially caught my eye. They look VERY similar to tables that have shown up as part of the set dressing of Leota’s séance circle in the Haunted Mansion. At first I thought they might be identical, as an intentional reference, but this old post about Leota’s tables by LongForgotten seemingly debunks that. I guess Hightower couldn’t quite steal from The Haunted Mansion.
Dragon table and not-quite Madam Leota tables. @idreamofthemeparks, 2025
Looking backwards at an empty upper queue while standing next to this particular crate. My photo, 2019
Beyond this, in another opened crate, is a pair of skulls. Yeah, more corpse parts. It’s a wonder this hotel isn’t more haunted. There’s also what looks to be a horse statue, vase, and some sort of rolled up and wrapped item. Perhaps it’s a carpet or tapestry.
@idreamofthemeparks, 2025
BUT WAIT, there’s even more! Marked on another crate in this area (based
on location in the camera roll), is:
Contains mummified human remains
Store in a cool, dry, place
Kindly report all vaporous or fluid emissions immediately
Human remains crate inscription. @idreamofthemeparks, 2025
How many human remains can one guy collect!? Maybe that bundle earlier really wasn't a statue...
Finally, we reach the second large floor cutout at the end of the room. Here hangs the Beast of Tamas, with the blue light of the Fountain of Youth shining up upon it.
The Beast of Tamas. In this photo, you can just barely see the blue tint on it, from the implied Fountain of Youth crates below it. @idreamofthemeparks, 2025
Another look at the Beast. Note the presumed emergency exits behind it. @idreamofthemeparks, 2025
One very special detail lies hidden in the dragon’s mouth. If you watch it for a while, Shiriki Utundu’s eyes appear in the darkness!
Shiriki Utundu's eyes appearing in the mouth of the Beast of Tamas. View is from the lower floor. My photo, 2019
The next photo in the camera roll, showing the same view but with the idol's eyes having disappeared. My photo, 2019
I actually recall this effect happening elsewhere in the room too, with those lit eyes popping up in dark spots among many artifacts. This definitely thematically matches Hightower’s exclamations about the idol’s eyes, and the idea that it’s watching and judging us guests as we make our way through (and perhaps are tempted by?) Hightower’s collection. However, I only have photographic evidence of the eyes appearing in the dragon’s mouth, and this “hidden eyes” detail generally doesn’t seem to be mentioned/noted elsewhere. The only other video I found that mentioned this detail (alas, I no longer have the exact link) likewise only provided footage of the eyes appearing in the dragon. It’s entirely possible that I’m misremembering the eyes also appearing elsewhere.
On the far wall behind this last display cutout are what I believe are two emergency exits. The lower floor one looks like a metal sliding door, while the upper one is a regular door with bricks and cracked plaster that bring to mind DCA Tower’s lobby. The upper floor one definitely has an exit sign that I can see in photos; I’m not as sure about the lower one.
A look back at the upper queue from the "bridge" between the cutout to the Egyptian display and the cutout with the Beast of Tamas. I believe you walk across this bridge as cast members direct you to your assigned tour on the upper floor. @idreamofthemeparks, 2025
You may have noticed that, by this point, I have not made any mention of seeing the elevators yet. This is in sharp contrast to DCA and Paris, where that iconic elevator loading zone is one of the first things you see after leaving the pre-show hallway. Instead, the loading areas are walled off, as you can see in the previous photo, creating distinct cubicles marked as “Tour A,” “Tour B,” and “Tour C.”
Since each tour is supposed to be taking us on Hightower’s secret elevator to his penthouse, the designers have made a point to disguise the elevators from each other, so there’s no question of “why does he have SIX secret elevators to his room?”
I believe these cast members are standing between Tour B and C on the upper floor, directing guests from the incoming queue to the various tour groups. This gives a nice look at the "historical tour guide" uniform. @idreamofthemeparks, 2025
Interestingly, given that this setup would suggest that there is only one canonical elevator, and thus one canonical loading zone, each of these loading areas has its own unique, elaborate themeing of artifact display cases housing a collection of a specific type. According to @laffite’slanding, there is apparently a Hightower pastiche worked into the artwork/artifacts hidden in each area, but I don’t have direct photos of those. I've decided to name the themes as follows:
Lower floor, Tour A: Paintings
Lower floor, Tour B: Armor
Lower floor, Tour C: Tapestries
Upper floor, Tour A: Swords/weaponry
Upper floor, Tour B: Stone tablets with skull painting (confirmed by this YouTube video)
Upper floor, Tour C: Mayan masks/artwork (theme confirmed by @laffite’slanding, location confirmed by process of elimination)
I personally went through the Paintings, Armor, Tapestries, and Swords elevators on various ride-throughs. It was frustrating trying to see all the different themes, only to end up sent to one I’d already been through! At least I did get to try each drop shaft, which led to some interesting observations for the upcoming post about the drop sequence.
Lower floor, Tour B, "Armor." My photo, 2019
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| Lower Floor, Tour B. "Armor." My photo, 2019 |
Upper Floor, Tour A. "Swords." @idreamofthemeparks, 2025
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| Upper Floor, Tour A. "Swords." @idreamofthemeparks, 2025 |
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| Upper Floor, Tour A. "Swords." @idreamofthemeparks, 2025 |
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| A cannon, in what I also believe is the "swords" room. @idreamofthemeparks, 2025 |
Upper Floor, Tour C. "Mayan masks." @laffite'slanding, date unknown
Upper Floor, Tour C. "Mayan masks." Is that the Raging Spirits temple again? @laffite'slanding, date unknown
I prefer to use photos I have explicit permission to use, but I did take a few YouTube screenshots in the process of confirming the location of every theme. Alas, footage of Lower Floor Tour C/Tapestries still eludes my search. If anyone has pictures they're willing to lend to the cause, let me know! Videos are credited in the screenshot caption.
Lower Floor, Tour A. "Paintings." I think that giant painting of the "knight" might be one of the Hightower pastiches that @laffite'slanding mentioned? Still from video by Marcus Cheng
Upper Floor, Tour B. "Stone Tablets." Helpfully, this same video explicitly showed that this was Upper Floor Tour B. I also wonder if the giant skull painting is another tie-in to Indiana Jones Adventure. Still from video by YamatoStyle
Once a cast member has directed you to your respective tour room, you’ll stand on a bronze number plaque corresponding to the seating chart for the elevator. These have a unique design compared to other Towers, using a font that is very bold and swirly in that late 1800s/early 1900s way. I have no photos of them, but did do a sketch back in 2019:
The seating chart in Upper Floor Tour A. @idreamofthemeparks, 2025
Fitting with the idea that this is a hidden, private elevator to Hightower’s suite, the door to the ride entry is initially hidden as something like an especially large painting or display case that eventually slides out of the way to allow access to the ride vehicle. Therefore, unlike other Towers, there are no visible elevator doors or dial from the loading zone. In the preceding photos and screenshots, I believe that the "hidden" doors are:
1. The display case with the red armor in it
2. The glass-fronted sword case
3. The Raging Spirits [?] temple painting
4. The giant painting of the "knight" (confirmed by video)
5. The giant skull painting (confirmed by video)
I recall that, after everyone took their assigned place in the waiting area, a cast member would once again deliver a specific live spiel. So far, I have found ONE video that seems to include what MIGHT have been the contents of this spiel [here] and it translates it as follows:
“What happened the night Hightower III disappeared? The truth is hidden in the dark. But it is certain that he took the elevator to the top floor that day. We will take you to the top floor through the service elevator soon.”
After the cast member finished their spiel and left (...assuming I'm remembering correctly and it was a live spiel...), a more traditional recorded safety spiel would play in both Japanese and English. In most footage I could find, the Japanese narrator sounds female, while the English one sounds male (and also different from any other Tower narrators). The English safety spiel states:
“In a few moments, we will be taking you to Mr. Hightower’s private penthouse on the top floor. Once on board the elevator, for your safety, remain seated with your seatbelt fastened, keeping your hands, arms, feet, and legs inside, and take special care to supervise your children. Lastly, please secure hats, glasses, and other loose items in the elevator. Thank you.”
Note that, based on what sparse YouTube footage there is of the boarding process, it seems like the announcements may have changed slightly over the years. Some seem to have a male Japanese narrator and female English narrator, or have what I noted as a live spiel as part of the recorded spiel (but only in Japanese, not repeated in the English portion). This video (the same one that seems to be the only record of the extra spiel I remember) provides an example of this switch. Yet others (like this one, the same one I cited for the stone tablet room) do show a cast member delivering a live spiel, but it does not appear to translate to anything thematic, and is instead just a basic reminder for guests to take off backpacks, secure loose items, and so on. Yet other footage indicates the safety spiel is also delivered in a third language (Chinese?) after the English translation.
Given these discrepancies, take what I’ve said about the pre-boarding spiels with a grain of salt. I’m doing my best with notes from 2019 and a sparse scattering of YouTube footage from over the years, with the majority of footage in a foreign language. If anyone has any clarifications, please let me know!
At some point during all of these spiels and announcements and waiting, the lights very pointedly and dramatically dim in your tour group’s cubicle. It’s so deliberate that I suspect it is some sort of timing signal to cast members and observant guests, similar to the elevator dial’s function at DCA and presumably Paris. Since there is no dial to indicate whether the vehicle is loading, unloading, or in the ride cycle, perhaps the light dimming indicates that the CMs should prepare to cycle this round of guests.
After the spiels (whatever they may actually be) conclude, the hidden door will slide away, allowing guests into the "service hallway".
Knight painting slides away to reveal the doorway to the ride vehicle. Still from video by Marcus Cheng
Unlike DCA/Paris, the exit hallway is never hidden as guests board. Rather than trying to make it seem like the two elevator doors are the same (and you should just conveniently ignore that dark hallway you’re crossing…), here the hidden door leads to a fully lit “backstage”-looking hallway. The upper parts of the walls are cream colored, with a sort of turquoise/mint/greenish lower half. The words “Service Elevator” are on a sign over the actual open elevator doors to the ride vehicle. There’s still no dial, meaning that the only elevator dial in this version of the ride was on the crashed lobby elevator!
Still from video by Marcus Cheng
There’s a bucket outside the elevator where guests are instructed to place their umbrellas before entering the ride vehicle.
The bucket even appears to have an HH logo on it in this footage! Still from video by Marcus Cheng
There's some metal plate flooring in the hallway right in front of the elevator, same as there was/is at DCA Tower/Mission Breakout and presumably Paris. Given this consistency, I suspect it's some kind of actual maintenance hatch.
Just like at other iterations of the ride, cast members call groups row by row, directing them into the ride vehicle…and eventually, their fateful encounter with the curse of Shiriki Utundu.
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