The OTHER DisneySea

So, if you've been in the Disney fandom for even a short while, you've probably heard of DisneySea.  The second park built at the Tokyo Disneyland Resort, it's renowned for its elaborate themeing and high quality attractions, with some even considering it one of the best Disney parks in existence.

What seems less commonly known, however, was that DisneySea was originally intended for California.  Specifically, it was going to be built at the Port of Long Beach, integrated with a port for the Disney Cruise Line.  A lot of what ended up being built in Tokyo-- such as the giant volcano with a Jules Verne E-ticket, and a harbor with a large passenger-liner type ship--was already planned out and ready to be built in Long Beach.

As it turns out, my friend's parents actually worked on this DisneySea project, doing concept artwork.  Unfortunately, no known copies of their art have been released to the public online, and they had to give all of their copies to Disney as part of the project (The last they heard, their oil painting of a cruise ship in front of Long Beach and DisneySea was in the gallery above Pirates of the Caribbean... which is now gone).  Still, they kept a Preliminary Master Plan executive report, dated July 1990, and graciously let me read it and scan it, along with some of their sketches and their copy of the public press announcement.

The front cover

Maybe this is all old news, but it was fun to dive through all this information, despite a lot of it being rather mundane discussions of water usage plans, public infrastructure concerns, and the like. I figured I'd share some of the meatier, more parks-oriented bits I found.  It's a dive into the origins of both one of the most acclaimed Disney parks, and one of the most notorious ones.

[Note: In case you're wondering, my sources say they didn't have to sign any NDAs regarding this, and even if they did, this is a long-dead, long-cancelled project Disney likely doesn't care about.  Plus, most of the Preliminary Master Plan was published to the public as part of the press announcement of the park.]

Alright, starting off: that date.  July 1990.  That's the month when the project was officially announced to the public, to mixed response.  As Anaheim would probably tell you, Disney has a BIG impact on a city, for better or worse.  It's telling that Disney World essentially made its own government (the Reedy Creek Improvement District) to avoid working with another authority.  Disputes between Disney and Long Beach were what eventually killed Long Beach's DisneySea.

The first section is the Executive Summary.  It names the entire resort as Port Disney, and it was set to include not just the DisneySea theme park, but also five hotels, a shopping district, new marina slips, and a port for the Disney Cruise Line.  The inclusion of the shopping district predicts the addition of both Downtown Disney in Anaheim/Florida and the construction of Ikspiari at Tokyo Disney Resort.  In fact, the setup of a second resort, hotels, and a shopping mall seems to have been directly ported (heh) to Tokyo in 2000-2001.


Up next is an aerial site map of the proposed new construction, which would have been reclaimed from the bay--same as Tokyo DisneySea's construction.

After that is a photo of a 3D render of the new park.  Doesn't that volcano seem familiar?  We'll get there in a minute.

Last in this section is this pretty painting of fireworks above the park.  I haven't seen this circulated widely; it's always nice to see some "new" concept art.

The next tab, Port Disney Description, is where fun begins.

Let's start off with a section entitled "Overall Development Concept."  This was the era in which Disney really started to push towards being all-inclusive resorts that tried to keep guests on-property, but notably this section went out of its way to mention a "need to link Port Disney to other Southern California amenities", integrating the resort with the town of Long Beach (to "continue Long Beach's recent efforts towards revitalization"), and suggesting access to water shuttles to places like Catalina Island.  These passages seem an attempt at placating Long Beach's concerns about the resort, and it's an odd feeling reading them while knowing that the city and Disney eventually failed to compromise.

This section also mentions "project unity", which it defines as "All elements of Port Disney...should be experienced by the guests as one interconnected project.  Therefore, uniformity of landscape, signage, lighting, and other means of developing a consistent image are highly desirable."  That certainly does describe the eventual Tokyo DisneySea, and as a fan of well-themed design I certainly enjoyed seeing that line officially in print.  However, it also stings due to the fact that Port Disney's cancellation eventually led to the notorious uncoordinatedly-themed California Adventure.

Speaking of California Adventure's rocky start, this section also says that "retail should be the connective element" in the plan of the overall resort.  I couldn't help but draw a parallel to the complaint that early DCA had too few attractions and too much retail/dining.

Up next is another layout of the site plan.  There's not much I can really comment on, but I do find it interesting that the vaguely triangular shape of DisneySea has similarities to the eventual shape of the Tokyo version.

After that is another concept art, showing the view from the entry drive, looking southeast.  Notable in the background, through the palm trees, is a cruise ship next to a spherical building (which would have been the park's icon, like Epcot) and the Journey to the Center of the Earth volcano.

The next section, entitled "DisneySea", is perhaps the single most exciting page in the whole document.  I'll tackle it paragraph by paragraph.

"The centerpiece of the proposed master plan is a new ocean-oriented theme park concept, tentatively called "DisneySea", that combines a wide variety of Disney-style rides, shows, and attractions with activities directed towards developing a better understanding of the sea.  Disney's Imagineers have focused their efforts on exploring the myths, romance, challenges and mysteries of the ocean--the world's last great frontier.  Both fun and educational, DisneySea would break down barriers between our guests and the sea. 

While the theme park is currently in the early stages of development, some of the concepts under consideration are briefly described below."

Obviously, the theme park eventually would end up being named DisneySea.  What's unique here is the emphasis on education.  It seems, at this time, loftier educational goals (as seen in early Epcot) were still on Disney's mind.  It's also notable that Port Disney would have been near the Long Beach Aquarium, possibly fueling this educational feel.

"Oceana, the architectural focal point for the park, would rise up from the center of DisneySea in a series of futuristic bubbles, luring guests to a fascinating evolutionary journey through the world's seas.  Guests would walk through a state-of-the-art, two-story aquarium.  The curious would journey into the 21st century, visiting a working Future Research Center where scientists from the world's leading institutions would come together to conduct oceanographic studies, in much the same fashion as researchers now gather at the Living Seas and Land Pavilions at Epcot Center in Walt Disney World.  Adults and children alike would learn about the ocean and its diverse marine life in a hands-on exploratorium."

Well, there's our answer to the round building next to the cruise ship earlier!  The Epcot influence is directly stated here, with the focus on education and the futuristic architecture making this sound like an ocean-focused west-coast Epcot, or if the Living Seas became a park.  What I find both humorous and tragically short-sighted is this emphasis on the future and journeying into the 21st century when this was already being announced in 1990.  As in, only 10 years before the actual 21st century happened.  To me, this perfectly encapsulates the shift between Disney's lofty educational phase (best demonstrated by 1980s Epcot) and it's more current, quick-turn-around entertainment phase (California Adventure).  They're still preaching about the future here, while ignoring that the "future" in question is on its way fast.

"At Mysterious Island, Guests would discover the lost City of Atlantis on a modern version of a Disneyland "E" attraction.  Children could follow clues to buried treasure on Pirate Island, while the more intrepid might dare to board Nemo's Lava Cruiser and careen suspended through dangerous caverns."

Well, this paragraph more or less happened, albeit a bit scrambled around.  Tokyo DisneySea has the Mysterious Island, complete with volcano.  Guests can encounter Atlantis in a suspended vehicle on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, or outrun some lava on the thrilling volcanic E-ticket Journey to the Center of the Earth.  Families can also have fun exploring a fortress and ship at Fortress Explorations, near Mysterious Island.  While Fortress Explorations isn't technically pirate-themed, Jack Sparrow does do meet and greets there.

"Aqua-labyrinth, a challenging maze with walls made only of water, would serve as the entrance to Heroes' Harbor, where they myths and legends of the sea come to life.  Here guests would find rides themed to the adventures of Sinbad, Ulysses and other storied adventurers from the past."

Well, the Sinbad ride happened, albeit placed in the Agrabah-like Arabian Coast section instead.

"On the edge of the Bay facing downtown, a boardwalk would recreate the nostalgia of the Long Beach oceanfront in its heyday.  Nearby at Fleets of Fantasy, a harborful of fabled and fanciful ships, including outsized Chinese junks and Egyptian galleys, would disguise exciting rides and dining and entertainment experiences."

Paradise Pier, is that you!?!?  I've read criticism of the Paradise/Pixar pier concept as being one of the poorest Disney themes, due to intentionally mimicking the kind of unthemed amusement park that Disneyland generally replaced.  It's exceptionally odd to read about the "weak" boardwalk theme being originally intended for DisneySea, of all places.

"Shoppers and diners will be intrigued by DisneySea's themed environments--a Grecian village, an Asian watermarket, a Caribbean lagoon.  Here guests might be seen surfing, snorkeling, or wading through tropical reefs teeming with fish.  Some will experience the ultimate underwater adventure--being lowered in a steel cage into a tank full of sharks."

Interestingly, none of the themes in this paragraph ended up in the final DisneySea.  If you're wondering, Tokyo DisneySea has lands based on Italy (Mediterranean Harbor), Jules Verne's novels (Mysterious Island), The Little Mermaid animated film (Mermaid Lagoon), the Middle East (Arabian Coast), South American jungles (Lost River Delta), and New York City (American Waterfront), as well as the SEA headquarters fortress and the steampunk/sci-fi Port Discovery.

It's arguable, though, that the surfing and snorkeling type attractions eventually ended up expressed via Castaway Cay on the Disney Cruise Line.

Then there's the last paragraph:

"At the rim of the American continent and the Pacific Ocean, DisneySea will be a place of magic and wonder offering a unique entertainment experience."

DisneySea totally ended up on the rim of the Pacific Ocean... on the other side of it.

This was followed by the two most familiar artworks from this project.  I've seen these widely circulated as WESTCOT concept art, or even Tokyo DisneySea concept art. Here they are in their true context: artwork for a Californian DisneySea that never happened.

The rest of the text and figures in the document are pretty dry and cover practical matters about assuring Port Disney's road changes won't negatively impact the city, that they'll comply with shoreline access laws, etc.

The last point of interest I found about the parks were figures 10 and 11, which showed a color-coded overview of the whole resort.  At the time, Disney owned both the Queen Mary and the Spruce Goose, and planned on incorporating them into the Port Disney resort.

The SS Columbia, a large passenger-liner shaped attraction building at Tokyo DisneySea, looks suspiciously like the Queen Mary, and was likely included in the Tokyo version as a modification of the original Long Beach plans.  Coincidentally, in 1997 there were plans to potentially send the Queen Mary ship to Tokyo.  As of 2019, the ship is still in Long Beach, albeit no longer owned by Disney.

To announce PortDisney to the public, Disney published a modified form of its Preliminary Master Plan in the Long Beach Business Journal.  As explained in the introduction on the front of the announcement, it's almost identical to the internal document, aside from some different illustrations.

The most significant alteration was the inclusion of a letter from the Walt Disney Company to the Directory of Community Development of Long Beach and the Director of Port Planning of Long Beach.  Most of it was rather standard "we're confident this project will be well received, will be mutually beneficial to the city, and have thought out the practicalities of transportation" spiel, but one paragraph near the end sticks out like a glaring red beacon.  It read as follows:

"As you know, we are also in discussions with the City of Anaheim concerning an alternative project adjacent to Disneyland.  A final decision will not be made for come time, and will ultimately be based on several factors, including community support, governmental approvals, public sector participation, and theme park and resort economics."

Ah, the birth of the notorious DCA.

Here's the whole letter if you wish to view it.  It was difficult to scan due to the size of the newspaper (it had to be done in sections and digitally stitched together), so I apologize for any difficulties in viewing:

Click to view

Page V included a new artwork of a view of the marina from the proposed hotel.

Page VII also included a new section clarifying the proposed fate of the Queen Mary and Spruce Goose.  The Queen Mary would have been moved 700 feet to accommodate construction of a hotel.  Meanwhile, the Spruce Goose was "not included in the master plan", with Disney promising to figure out a use for the plane if the Port Disney project got the green light.

The Spruce Goose is now at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in Oregon, having been sent there in 1993.

The last tidbit of California DisneySea I have to share with you are these marker sketches by the artists who shared all this material with me.  Done on newsprint, they depict the cruise ship docks for PortDisney.  These are the only pieces of their DisneySea work that they still have.

And thus ends my exploration into one of the great What Could Have Beens of Disney Parks.  The Oriental Land Company took over the DisneySea idea when Long Beach rejected it, leading to the brilliant park that stands today.  Meanwhile, Disney went ahead with that Anaheim project, to, well, results of varying quality.  In all honesty, I can't say I'm disappointed in how history played out.  While I would have loved to have had DisneySea as one of my local Californian parks, I doubt that it would have been made into the absolute masterpiece it is had it not been built in Tokyo.  Given the eventual time frame of DisneySea and DCA's openings, we would have gotten a DisneySea built by the decisions and budgets that led to California Adventure.

We dodged disaster on that one.

Happy Halloween!

For my annual pumpkin carving, I decided to honor the other Disney building that's filled with blue ghosts and perpetually beset by thunderstorms.  It is the Haunted Mansion's 50th anniversary year after all!

This is actually the biggest and probably the most difficult pumpkin carving I've ever done.  The pumpkin is huge (easily a foot across), and I had to improvise the carving pattern from a design not intended for pumpkin carving (it would have left "floating" sections that are obviously impossible).

This took me about an hour and a half to complete, including the time it took to hollow out the pumpkin.  I'm pretty proud of the results!

Freshly carved

Lit up at night!

A Mansion Connection?

While browsing the Disneyland Opera House's display in honor of the Haunted Mansion's 50th anniversary, I noticed a certain piece of concept art.  At first it didn't stand out among the more famous pieces, like the bright red painting of the Hallway of Changing Portraits.  However, after reading Long Forgotten's writeup of the exhibit, I realized that the scene it depicted was familiar-- but not from the Mansion.

This was VERY high up on the wall, with a LOT of light glare, so this took quite a bit of digital manipulation to get clear and in proportion!

This artwork by Ken Anderson, as you can see, depicts a line of guests staring at their reflections in a large square mirror on a wood-paneled wall.  Long Forgotten's interpretation is that it is showcasing a proposed effect where "people see their own reflections in a large mirror and are presumably horrified by how pale and ghostly they look".  The informational plaque accompanying this image in the gallery suggests that it is artwork for an early version of the Hitchhiking Ghosts gag that eventually served as the Mansion's finale, but I can't help but notice a significant difference. 

In the Haunted Mansion, guests see themselves in the mirror WITH the ghosts, but, as Long Forgotten pointed out, here the guests are seeing themselves AS the ghosts.

Hmm, where have I seen that before?

DCA

Paris.  Screenshot from here

Tokyo.  Screenshot from here

At DCA and Paris, the wall even has wood paneling!

Now, obviously it's no secret that Tower of Terror borrowed a LOT from the Haunted Mansion.  The fact that the hallway scene runs on the Pepper's Ghost effect Disney perfected with Mansion's ballroom scene is just barely scratching the surface--I even suspect that the reason all the non-Tokyo versions use blue as the "ghostly" color is that it's carried over from Mansion (the source television show is black and white, after all; they could have colored the ghosts any way they wanted)!

I can't help but notice the context in which the mirror scene was added to the Tower of Terror as well.  Imagineers suddenly faced the challenge of finding an effect to replace Florida's 5th dimension sequence in a more compact space that still served as the "things are getting spooky" transition.  It's easy to imagine them looking back in their archives to gather inspiration from the original Ghost-Infested Disney Building.

Of course, it's just as likely it's all a coincidence.  However, it's still an interesting look at how Tower draws on traditional ghostly effects and scenes, to the point that one of its most familiar sequences more or less shows up in an artwork created over 50 years before.

DCA: The Weirdest Tower?

Supposedly, the Towers of Terror at Disney's California Adventure and Disneyland Paris are copies of each other.  They are not.

Of course I wrote about the notorious "round architectural things" that can immediately differentiate exterior photos of the two in one of my very first posts.  Disney Imagineers confirmed that budget cuts led to DCA having architectural details painted on rather than actually built like they were in Paris.  My coverage of Paris Tower in general has been one big list of differences between DCA and Paris.

However, in light of the possibility of Paris getting three new drop sequences, perhaps the most surprising difference between the two is that DCA had two different ride sequences all along... you'd just have to be really observant to notice them.

In my writeup of the ride experience at DCA, I noted something off about the mirror scene: namely, that sometimes the elevator shook violently when the guests turned into ghosts, while at other times the elevator stayed still.  I assumed this was some kind of malfunction, where sometimes the shaking effect wouldn't work.  Since it didn't necessarily affect the overall ride experience, I was content to leave it at that.

Then a group called the Hollywood Tower Hotel Preservation Society sent me an interesting observation: one of the drop shafts (specifically, the one on the far right when facing the building) just... didn't shake at the mirror scene.  Instead, it had a different sequence where the elevator did a sharp jerk as the bell sounded when arriving at the hallway.  Seriously!

For comparison, here is a video showing the far left elevator in action, where it clearly shakes as the guests become ghostly in the mirror scene:

(Fun fact, I can tell it's the far left elevator based on the jagged outline of the building rubble visible when the doors are open at the top)

Meanwhile, here's the far right elevator, with no violent shaking to be found:

You can also see the different ways they enter the hallway scene, with the far right elevator doing a distinct jerk as it parks in front of the opening doors.

Upon reading this revelation and confirming it based on careful video comparisons, I then wondered why this was the case.  My first guess was that it was a construction necessity.  One of the shafts also has the hallway and mirror scenes on different floors from the others, due to the effects equipment necessary for the hallway scenes being too space-consuming for all three copies of it to be built on the same floor.

I figured one way to tell if this was a necessary and intentional part of the ride's operational design was to compare it to Paris.  If Paris also had one elevator different, I felt safe in assuming that it had something to do with a construction necessity, such as lack of space for the shaking effect in all three drop shafts.

Nope!  According to both Laffite's Landing and another user by the name of jimmydiddles13, all the elevators shake at the mirror in Paris!

It's a LOT harder to find onride videos of Paris Tower in action to confirm this, but I think I've found some evidence.  Here's what is definitely Paris' far left shaft running its sequence as expected:

And here is what appears to be the far right elevator... with distinct violent shaking during the mirror scene!

So, to sum it up: DCA had two ride sequences.  In two of the elevator shafts, the ride car would shake during the mirror scene, but in one it would not.  There is no obvious reason for this; Paris shakes in all elevators so therefore it was not any kind of design necessity.

DCA had odd architecture due to budget cuts, was cloned from a ride that didn't exist yet, and had two different ride sequences for no apparent reason.  Oh, and it also got turned into an outer space warehouse that in no way matched the existing building.  What a strange, strange Tower.

Masterpost: The Florida Tower of Terror Full Walkthrough!

Here it is, finally complete, my extensive documentation of my all-time favorite Disney attraction--the original Tower of Terror at Disney's Hollywood Studios!  Utilizing extensive photography, detailed written description, and video content, this gives an intensely detailed impression of the ride as it appeared in summer 2017.

At sunset's "golden hour", July 2, 2017

The Main Walkthrough:
1. Introduction, Sunset Boulevard, and the Hotel Grounds
2. Hotel Exterior, the Tower at Night, and the Exterior Queue
3. The Lobby
4. The Library and Pre-Show
5. The Boiler Room and Loading Areas
6. The Ride!

6b: The DHS Drop Sequences: Explained!
7. Exit and Gift Shop

Bonus Content:
The Sweet, Soothing Blue of the Supernatural: Color as a Storytelling Tool in the Tower of Terror

I hope any readers enjoy this project; it was a lot of hard work, stretched over two years!  I hope my effort is apparent.

Alternate Tower Spotlight: The Florida Tower of Terror--Exit and Gift Shop

Having made it through your fateful journey down the cursed elevators, Cast Members instructed guests out of the ride vehicles.  There were two unload doors--one for each drop shaft, approximately facing each other.  The area was grey and industrial with concrete walls, like the boiler room, but without that warm red brick--just a that little bit much colder, and, in the color symbolism of the ride, more supernatural.  Directly between the two drop shaft unloads, free standing in its own grey column, was a real elevator--the other end of that "chicken elevator" that was cleverly hidden in the loading area.

The exit area, looking back toward the "chicken elevator" exit and the two drop shaft unloads.  June 28, 2017

Walking past the chicken elevator, guests entered a large empty space, void of almost anything aside from some concrete ledges along the walls that served as convenient benches.  Approximately halfway down the left wall of this section (that is, left as you were going toward the photo viewing area), a section of the concrete wall finish had been "scraped away" to "reveal" the exposed brick underneath.  The revealed area had the recognizable "spooky wall" chalk markings around it, and the bricks themselves had some suspicious gaps, as if they were supposed to be concealing a speaker or some other special effect that was supposed to emanate from this spot.

Looking towards the photo viewing screens, while standing approximately in front of the "spooky wall".  June 28, 2017

The "spooky wall", June 28, 2017

I highly suspect that this at one point was Florida's "spooky wall" Easter egg, and that there is a speaker behind those suspicious brick gaps.  Guests sitting on the ledge bench in front would probably get a surprise from hearing the ghostly girl behind them!  That said, as of 2017, this wall did absolutely nothing special.  Furthermore, unlike California's "spooky wall", I couldn't find anyone even mentioning the Easter egg with regards to Florida.  I suspect that, if indeed this wall functioned the same way as DCA's, it hadn't done so for a very long time.  Technically, markings alone still made this unusual wall patch a shout-out to the episode "Little Girl Lost".

The large sitting area had its own special exit music, unique from the music later heard at the DCA and Paris exits.  I have yet to find a clear recording of it, but it sounded very ominous, pulsing, and intense, almost in a manner reminiscent of the Jaws theme.  It had a much more aggressive tone than the atmospherically spooky Twilight Zone-based DCA exit theme.  It was, however, hard to hear over the crowd noise of all the exiting guests.  I was unable to make a live recording of it.

At the end of the large room, opposite the elevator exits, was the photo viewing area.  Two television screens--one for each drop shaft--displayed guests' pictures above a junk-filled office/storage area.  On the front desk of this office/storage area were two sensors where guests could wave their magic bands to claim their elevator's photo.  To the right of this was a cork board covered in announcements, and on the left, hanging from the bars enclosing the storage area, was a chalkboard reading "Picture if you will..." in Twilight Zone font.

June 28, 2017

June 28, 2017

To my extreme surprise, I could not find any specific Easter eggs in the photo viewing area.  The place was utterly packed with tons of random junk, the exact sort of visual noise one would expect a Twilight Zone reference to be hiding in, and yet, nothing!  I also haven't read of anyone else finding anything special hidden here either, so I tentatively have to conclude that, for once, the junk really was just junk.  The only specifically relevant detail I found was that, if you leaned in a bit and looked at the back part of the office that extended to the right, the clock over the desk read 8:05, consistent with all other clocks in the attraction.

Cork board next to photo viewing area, June 28, 2017

The view if you lean in to the photo viewing area and look right, June 28, 2017

To continue towards the exit, guests turned left from the photo area, going through a short hallway.  The door going into this short hallway was a large sliding door in the industrial style of the "storage area" of the exit, while the doors going out were elaborately wood carved in the "public-facing" style of the doors found around the lobby and other such areas of the hotel.

The inner door, June 28, 2017

The short hallway and outer doors, July 2, 2017

Guests then found themselves in the Lower Lobby and the hotel's conference center, which in real life served as the photo purchase area.

Looking back at the doors to the exit area, June 28, 2017

Directly ahead of guests in the lower lobby was a long counter, almost like a second check-in desk, with a lovely mural of the hotel on the wall behind it.  This was where guests could view and purchase their ride souvenir photos.

The right side of the lower lobby counter, seen directly outside of the hallway doors.  June 28, 2017

Left side of the lower lobby counter, with the mural behind it.  June 28, 2017

A closer look at the lower lobby mural, June 28, 2017

Opposite the photo purchase counter was a vaguely Greek fountain.

An overall look down the lower lobby; photo purchase counter is at right.  June 28, 2017

The fountain, June 30, 2017

Moving past the photo purchase/lower lobby desk was the hotel's conference area.  A square area on the left was sectioned off for employees only and had an employees only door within it; it possibly represented a luggage check story-wise.  The doors were labeled "Beverly Room", however, which would suggest a conference room.  Against one of the walls of this square was a machine where you could make personalized Tower of Terror themed dog tags.

The "luggage check", with the side of the dog tag machine on the left, July 2, 2017

Doors to the Beverly Room, July 3, 2017

Directly next to the sectioned off area was another set of employees only double doors, labeled "Fountain Room", presumably a conference room.  Next to these doors was a change machine and a quarter coin press machine.

Fountain Room, July 30, 2017

Opposite the Fountain Room, on an angled wall, was the Sunset Room.  Judging by its grand painted name, I'd assume that this was supposed to be the nicest ballroom in the hotel.  Furthermore, it was having an event at the time of the lightning disaster; it had a menu posted next to the doors.  The menu in question was absolutely brimming with Easter Eggs.

The Sunset Room, July 2, 2017

The Sunset Room Menu, June 30, 2017

In case you couldn't read/don't want to zoom in on the photo, the menu read:

The Sunset Room

Dinner * October 31, 1939

Hors D'oeuvre

Grape Fruit Maraschino

Sweet Gherkins a la Moutarde

Bismark Herrings

Soups

Clear Turtle with Sherry

Potage Ecossaise

Cold Consomme

Fish

Grilled Bluefish

Dover Sole

Whitefish Matheson

Entrees

Mignon of Beef

Rack of Lamb Johnson

Tournedos Nicoise

Grill

Mutton Chops

Spring Chicken

Calf's Liver and Bacon

Deviled Quail on Toast

Vegetables

Fresh Green Peas

Cauliflower au Gratin

New Carrots

Salads

Autumn Salad

Belgian Endive

Polonaise Beaumont

Dessert

Peach Shortcake

Apple Pie and Cream

Gateau Chocolate au Rodman

Tea and Coffee, Liqueurs, Cigars, Cigarettes

You may have noticed quite a few names hidden among those fancy foods.  Those are the names of prominent showrunners of The Twilight Zone, the most obvious being Rodman/Rod Serling.

Past the Sunset Room, guests found themselves at the decorative gates of Tower Hotel Gifts.

Gates to the entrance of Tower Hotel Gifts, July 2, 2017

Honestly, there's not much to say about the gift shop.  It was, well, a gift shop.  Of note, however, were two decorative posters on the wall, and the fact that "Talking Tina" from the episode "Living Doll" was on a shelf above the cash registers.  All photos taken in late June-early July 2017.

Display of Tower of Terror merchandise immediately inside the entrance from the ride.

Decorative item on the back of the previous display.

Wallpaper behind the shelves of the gift shop, with a unique HTH logo variant.

Cash register with "Talking Tina" behind it.

Overall view of the shop, standing in front of the register counter.  That purple shield above the shelves in the background has a banner reading "Tower Hotel Gifts".

View of a different shelf with another "Tower Hotel Gifts" shield, and a partial view of one of the posters.

The poster from the previous photo.

Decorations above a soda display.

Another view of the cash register.  Note the way the cashier is dressed; gift shop workers had their own unique uniforms and did not dress as bellhops.  I also witnessed a guy try to buy the round "Hollywood Tower Hotel" plaque from the top of the shelf in the background; employees had to explain to him that it wasn't for sale.

The second unique poster; this would be one of the first things guests saw if they walked into the gift shop from the outside, rather than from the ride.

Oddly, a lot of merchandise seemed to be leftovers from the DCA version.

This shirt was also sold at the DCA location.  Note that the shirt says "Hollywoodland", which was the land where DCA's tower was located, rather than "Sunset Boulevard" for Florida.

This shirt just straight up had the DCA Tower on it, despite the facade being totally different from Florida's.

Two sets of double doors let guests exit the gift shop into the exit courtyard.  Flanking the shop exit were three display windows, two to the left of the doors and one to the right (if one was facing the exit doors from the courtyard direction).  These were decorated for Halloween, indicating the season of the Hotel's unfortunate demise.  All photos taken late June-early July 2017.

Sign above the exterior doors

The first window on the left.

Detail of the sign in the first window on the left.

Second window on the left.

Detail of the sign in the second window.

The right side window.  No special signs in this one!

The exterior gift shop door was directly below the door where guests entered the lobby going into the ride, just one floor below.  You exited the ride one floor lower than you entered.

Overall view looking back towards the gift shop exit.  Note the lobby entrance above.

The exit courtyard didn't contain much; it was an open space with some benches, drinking fountains under a trellis, a snack/coffee stand, and a penny press machine.

Looking out at the courtyard and coffee stand after exiting the gift shop.

Looking toward the courtyard exit.  Note the penny press machine and the drinking fountains to the left of the machine.

Exiting the courtyard took guests back past the queue entrance and out onto Sunset Boulevard, thus concluding their tour of the Tower of Terror.