Shocking as it might be (I know I was surprised!), it’s
time for another Tower of Terror update—with yet ANOTHER returning California
Adventure Easter Egg, and two more mysteries!
Once again, news of these updates comes from
@chunkecheeks. The first round of
updates was as of January 29th, 2026, just after the first ones I
posted about this year.
First of all, there is a new/updated display on the
extended bit of desk behind the photo purchase counter. It’s the far right side of the desk, in the
corner that you first see when you walk out of the photo viewing area in the
exit. A display has shown up with a new
Halloween sign and a bunch of luggage marked 10/20/39. There is also a 1020 key, next to some glasses in this same area.
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| The 1020 key. You can see one side of the glasses at the right. Photo by @chunkecheeks, 2026 |
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| The 10/20 luggage, with the labeled Most Unusual Camera above it. Photo by @chunkecheeks, 2026 |
And yes, as you can see, on top of the luggage is another prominent returning DCA Easter Egg: The Most Unusual Camera, from the episode "A Most Unusual Camera." It's even labeled on its tag!
The date seems intentional and significant, given its prominent placement and repetition, but as of yet
neither @chunkecheeks nor I has any idea what it means. The original air date of the first Twilight Zone episode was 10/02/59, so I do wonder if 02 got typo’d to 20… but that would have been easy to catch and
fix. Indeed that date is referenced elsewhere, with a 1002 key atop some envelopes on one of the library desks.
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| This photo was also in the last post. We now know the meaning of the key number, but it's unclear if the dates/places on the envelopes have any meaning. @chunkecheeks, 2026 |
There was exactly ONE original Twilight Zone episode aired on an
October 20th, episode 71 “The Mirror,” but it doesn’t seem to have
any connection to the luggage display.
Likewise, it doesn’t seem to be any of the Tower of Terror rides’
opening dates, or Rod Serling’s birthday, or any other obvious date to make a
prominent display about. Does anyone
have any ideas?
From what @chunkecheeks and I can tell looking back on photos from different
years, this whole display is very new, being at OLDEST from 2024.
Also in this area, above the photo counter, is a small
monkey statue that is apparently an official nod to Mystic Manor the Society of
Explorers and Adventurers (SEA) multi-park mega-theme. This furthers my pet theory that both the
Hollywood Tower Hotel and Hotel Hightower exist in the same continuity. Let’s face it, Hightower’s downfall would go
PERFECTLY in a Twilight Zone episode. I
can practically hear the Rod Serling narration.
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| Mystic Manor monkey, above the photo purchase counter. @chunkecheeks, 2026 |
There are also two new references to the episode “Eye of
the Beholder” in the gift shop, in the form of faux-advertisements for a
fictional beauty product line. These are
apparently behind the gift shop counter.
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| @chunkecheeks, 2026 |
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| @chunkecheeks, 2026 |
On the ride itself, the lightning flashes in the drop shaft
have been completely repaired, and are now working properly.
An even more shocking (heh) update to the drop shaft,
though, is a major update to the “mannequin scene.” No longer appearing as the obscured
mannequins with billowing cloth I remembered, the ghosts now clearly light up
with lightning effects and are more recognizable as the characters. Futhermore, there is an entirely new effect—or,
at least, one that I have not seen nor heard of functioning since I first rode
the ride in 2002—where the riders are BLASTED WITH SCENTED AIR during this
scene! Finally, Tower has (or once again
has?) an official scent! According to
@chunkecheeks, the scent is sharp, musky, and tinged with mahogany and
dust. I’m rather amused by this, since
on multiple occasions I’ve noted that “Tower of Terror” scented candles never
smelled like the actual ride to me (the ride always just smelled like the air in the
environment…hot humid for Florida, hot dry for California, icy sea for Tokyo…),
and now it has one that does indeed match the marketing of those scented
candles.
As I added in an edit to the previous post, but feel I
should mention again here, @laffiteslanding solved the mystery of the
“porcelains of Europe” note in the right-side library—per a backstage tour, it was an
in-joke among imagineers about props arriving broken. However, there is still no explanation for
the desk display in the OTHER library, which has a similarly deliberate note on
a different subject.
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| @chunkecheeks, 2026 |
In case you can't read it clearly in the photo above, it says, "Warm climate of California should accept introduction of many subtropical plants unknown in this area. Most varieties should eventually naturalize with proper soil amendments and irrigation."
The note isn't the only plant reference around; the whole desk
scene is plant themed. The opened book
is a botany book with plant illustrations.
Even the desk itself has a face on it that apparently resembles a “green
man” nature spirit character.
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| The book is in pretty poor shape, but you can just about tell it has illustrations of plants. @chunkecheeks, 2026 |
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| Wider view of the left-side library's desk, with the plant book and plant spirit desk carving. You can also see some mail, which also may or may not include a reference. @chunkecheeks, 2026 |
@laffiteslanding’s tour did not mention anything about plants or explain
this display the way it did the porcelain one.
Anyone have any ideas about what this references? Is there a prominent botanist character in a Twilight Zone episode that I just can’t
recall?
Given that the other library desk was a real-world reference to Tower's development, explaining cracked props, I wonder if this is also a real-world reference. It mentions subtropical plants adapting to California. Florida has a subtropical climate, thus necessitating the park being landscaped with plants from there, despite the story of Tower of Terror taking place in California. I wonder if this is to over-explain the landscaping (as if most people would even notice the difference in plants...) the same way the other note over-explains the cracked porcelain (why WOULDN'T porcelain be cracked in a building that had half of it blasted off by magic lightning?).
What do you think? Development gag, or show reference I haven't gotten yet?
There are also some further details on this desk where we are unsure if they have deeper meaning. The first is this key, which I think is for room 908 (upside down in the picture), but may also be 806 (if the picture has the key oriented correctly). Obviously neither could be an episode of the 5-season original run, so perhaps it is a date?
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| @chunkecheeks, 2026 |
There is also another pair of mailed letters, one stacked atop the other.
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| @chunkecheeks, 2026 |
The bottom letter is from Irwin, Pennsylvania and dated June 11, 1939, with the address obscured by the letter above it. The top letter is from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and dated May 14, 1939. It is addressed to:Frank J. Resch, M.D.
3750 S. Spaulding Ave.
Chicago, Ill., USA
I don't personally recall a Dr. Frank Resch from The Twilight Zone and a quick search of the name + the show doesn't seem to turn up anything relevant... is this random? The name/hometown of an imagineer?
@chunkecheeks also transcribed the ALL OF THE bulletin boards
from the exit, but that DEFINITELY deserves its whole own post!
So, that was already a lot, but then as of February 8,
2026, THERE’S EVEN MORE!!
At long last, the broken glasses from “Time Enough at Last”
have returned to the library, albeit in a new spot next to a statue of Beatrice
from Dante’s Inferno instead of on a
stack of books. According to
@chunkecheeks, the glasses were initially removed for safety concerns, as they
were real broken glass that guests could potentially reach. They were resin-stabilized by a Tower cast
member who was a dedicated fan, and thus finally able to return to their
rightful place in the ride. Apparently, a
lot of these restored Easter Eggs are a result of the efforts of CMs who are
dedicated fans, taking it upon themselves to keep the ride in shape! While the new placement might not be as
spot-on to the episode as the old placement atop the books, I can’t help but feel it’s still
thematically appropriate. A character
from Dante’s Inferno makes a lot of
sense for an episode where the main character ends up in his own personal hell.
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| The Beatrice statue; you can see the broken glasses behind her. @chunkecheeks, 2026 |
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| A better look at the glasses themselves. @chunkecheeks, 2026 |
An even stranger Easter Egg, or perhaps a previously unknown aspect of an Easter
Egg, has also appeared in the library.
The Rod Serling and Victoria West envelopes now have something hanging
out of them. To me it looks like reel-to-reel
audio recording tape, although it’s possibly some other kind of film. Once again, according to @chunkecheeks this
tape/film was in the envelopes all along, just tucked inside never shown to
guests. This is an insane detail to me, as it never
occurred to me that the envelopes would be anything but empty props. If it is audio tape, that’s a nice reference
to Rod Serling’s voice (well, an impression of his voice) being used as the
voice of the Tower.
UPDATE: Having re-watched the episode these envelopes reference, "A World of His Own," that is almost certainly audio tape. The plot of the episode is that an author can bring characters to life by describing them on audio tape, and keep them alive so long as he has the tape reel section stored in a safe in his house. So that solves what's hanging out of the envelopes! Although I do wonder if it was in there for 30 years, or recently added to strengthen the reference to the episode.
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| The Rod Serling envelope with the tape/film hanging out of it. @chunkecheeks, 2026 |
On less exciting and concrete grounds, in part of my recent Twilight Zone rewatch I may have
found some inspiration for certain scenes in Tower.
In S1E20 “Elegy,” the main characters come across a
frozen-in-time party scene, with the camera initially focusing prominently on a
champagne bottle in a bucket next to a table, as seen here:
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| Screenshot from S1E20 "Elegy" |
I think this may be the inspiration behind the similar
lobby scene.
The fact that (SPOILER
ALERT) all the people in the episode's party scene are dead and it’s part of an elaborate
cemetery may or may not hint at a grim fate for the hotel guests that weren’t
in the elevator during the fateful lightning storm.
The very next episode, S1E21 “Mirror Image,” likewise opens
with some really familiar-sounding lightning and rain effects. It’s possible they’re drawn from a basic
stock library, but given the obsessive levels of detail Tower’s designers
sometimes displayed, I wouldn’t be too surprised if these were the exact same
sounds sampled for the ride.
So, barely a month and a half into 2026 and there’s so many great
updates and new mysteries already! Let
me know if any of you have any explanations, or have spotted anything else!
