The Latest in Bellhop Fashion: Cast Member Uniforms

A photo reference of the Tower of Terror cast member uniforms, posted to the micechat forums.

            Naturally, Disney themed the Cast Member uniforms to go with the ride environment of the Tower of Terror.  Given that the theme was a haunted hotel, the employees dressed as bellhops.  Advertisements and promotional photos often emphasized a "creepy bellhop" type character, complete with ghostly makeup, but as far as I understand the actual ride operators never wore such makeup as part of their uniform (it would probably be way too time-consuming and budget-unfriendly to outfit every Tower Cast Member in such a fashion!).  Ghost-makeup-wearing bellhops were present at the DCA Opening Ceremony, however.

             As you can see in the photo, male and female cast members wore basically the same uniform, with the exception of the coats opening in opposite directions.  I never noticed that detail before!

            While on the subject of bellhops, here’s a video about them that the official Disney Parks YouTube posted in October 2012:

            And while we’re on the subject of cast member uniforms, here’s some preview art of the CM uniforms for the GOTG Tower, designed by Walt Disney Imagineering Associate Costume Designer Christine Burchett, according to the Micechat post that released the image:

            I actually think the GOTG costumes are quite stylish. They’re certainly the nicest-looking design to come out of this remodel mess so far.

Special Feature: An Account of the 13th Hour Closing Day Party

            Unfortunately, I was unable to attend any closing festivities for the Tower of Terror.  However, one of my blog followers, Mrbellcaptain from Tumblr, attended the 13th Hour Party that marked the end of the DCA Tower.  It was a special event that cost $95 per ticket.  He graciously provided photos and a description of the event.  The following text and photos are what he sent me, with some minor editing.

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          The event was nice and really well planned. I arrived at Mickey and Friends at 8 PM and was parked on the roof. After getting through security and riding the tram, the check-in desks were located at ticket booth 8 in the esplanade. There were four lines, organized by last name. They asked for ID for all party members, and gave either a pink or lime green wrist band for quick identification for alcoholic drinks. They let in groups at 10PM and gave vouchers to anyone who wanted to be able to purchase a commemorative paper weight.

Editor's note:  Yes, you read that right, the voucher gave you the chance to buy the paperweight.  The souvenir wasn't even included in the extra ticket price!

            Walking down Hollywood Boulevard (the main street of Hollywood Land), there was a line for a photo opportunity in front of a painted picture of the Tower. Turning right onto Sunset Boulevard (the cross street at the end of Hollywood Land) there was a red carpet with "photographer" characters who snapped your picture and commented as you passed by. 

The Tower photo backdrop

Photographer characters and red carpet

             The Hyperion courtyard had the majority of service tables and standing tables for the guests to enjoy the desserts and drinks. Soda, water, coffee and tea were all available for free, and a few select mixed drinks such as a Roy Rogers were also included. DCA's event department ran the services, and they appeared to use a lot of wedding ceremony things, such as the tables for guest use.  The desserts included a fudge brownie and a banana foster cheesecake, among other selections.

            The second photo opportunity was at the fountain with either Bellhop Goofy or Chip and Dale with bellhop hats.

Photo op with Bellhop Goofy

            The attraction wait time never got beyond 30 minutes and all elevators were running.  While the Bellhops said the required "no pictures or video" speech, they frequently turned the other way when people were recording. Although the event focused on the Tower, at the beginning of the night event organizers also announced a bonus: Soarin' Over the World stayed open as well.  It had very little wait time.

            The gift shop was a nightmare until closing. They even brought in cast members from Cars Land and Hollywood Land to help! They sold a ton of merchandise. Of note, there was some Marvel merchandise in the gift shop already. (Ed. Note: For some reason, when I last went to the Tower in May 2016, a good 3/4 of the shop was Nightmare Before Christmas.  At least Marvel is vaguely more relevant, especially for the closing event!)

            The event also featured music. The emcee played a nice collection of swing and big band music along with a few Disney songs, particularly toward the end of the night. The Silver Lake Sisters were wonderful and even went around taking pictures between sets. Their stage was set up in front of the "Valet Parking" door/parade gate. A further photo opportunity opened up in the lobby. You could wait in one line and get photos in the lobby before riding the ride, or you could just walk in through the Fastpass door and bypass the photo op.

The Silver Lake Sisters

Tables with the stage in the background

            The cast members were all absolutely wonderful and very friendly. They had their A+ teams out in force. The bellhop (Ashley) I had in the final elevator of the night was crying as we were leaving. A few of them seemed really choked up through the night. It was emotional and bittersweet. Everyone was in high spirits, but there was the deep underlying melancholy of the closing. There was word that the party had about 1200 guests, but it felt a bit smaller.

            Was it worth the $95+ per ticket? Almost. The commemorative paper weight cost $35 plus tax and is really nice and solid, but probably should have been included, with extras being purchasable in the gift shop. They originally had a limit of two per customer but upped it to 4 by closing time. Three hours went by so fast and I felt an extra hour or two would have been greatly welcomed, especially for the price. A few extra dessert options would have been appreciated as well; there were only 4 or 5 dessert choices.

The paperweight

Closeup of front

Rear view

            Overall it was a wonderful party full of people who wanted to celebrate the Tower, and I came to realize that no other attraction at Disneyland could ever have a party like this to celebrate it and send it off. Should this have happened though? Hell no. The Tower belongs here and the turn out and interest in this party proves it. For the group of us who experienced it last night, it will live on forever as The Hollywood Tower Hotel.

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            And now it lives on in blog form as well!

I find it interesting that all elevators were running, considering that in the last few weeks the Tower was running with as few as two elevators/one drop shaft.  Some fans speculated that the others had closed because Disney was starting the interior GOTG conversion.  Also, wow, $35 in addition to the initial $95!?  The paperweight really should have been included with that ticket price...

Closing Day Thoughts

            So here it is: the final day. The DCA Tower of Terror is closing for good. The one thing that still crosses my mind whenever I think about it is how bizarre the whole situation is. It doesn’t do justice to either one of Disney’s top rides or their top movie franchises, and even the marketing department doesn’t seem overly enthused about the change. All I can think is that the Tower of Terror and GOTG deserved better.

            I’ll probably write a better version of this when I write a post covering the entire GOTG debacle, but in the meantime I thought it’d be fitting to post this today.

             Guardians of the Galaxy (GOTG) is a thoroughly enjoyable movie that certainly could make a good ride, but nothing about it seems to go along with the Tower of Terror. As of yet, the movies lacked significant art deco buildings or any particular action sequences that would suggest a drop ride. The aesthetics, plot, etc. don’t really overlap at all. Picking Tower for a re-skin, instead of a space coaster like Space Mountain, or a flight simulator like Star Tours or Soarin’, made the whole thing seem like an April fool’s joke.

             Also, the fact that Disney is introducing a major franchise with a quick re-theme rather than a proper original ride just doesn't seem right. Star Wars got Star Tours, and is now getting its own elaborate original land. Meanwhile Marvel gets introduced with a quick re-theme that also takes out a beloved A-list ride? Marvel is definitely getting the short end of the stick when it comes to Disney theme parks, it seems. I’m a Marvel fan myself, so seeing both Tower and Guardians get shorted is rather unpleasant.

            In terms of improving DCA, the GOTG changeover is a step sideways at best, and not a step forward. There will still be the exact same number of rides at DCA as before, so guest capacity won’t be improved (at least until the rumored full Marvel Land is built) and DCA won’t have any more entertainment options than it currently possesses. There may be a short term surge in popularity from people wanting to see the re-done ride, but Disney is not truly adding anything to DCA.

            The lack of confidence with which Disney seems to be introducing the GOTG Tower has me wary as well. Their description of the setting as a “fortress warehouse power plant” sounds hodgepodge and indecisive. They could have gone with the simpler “Evil Lair” or “Collector’s Lair” and the plan would sound better. After all, an evil lair can encompass a fortress, warehouse, and power plant while not sounding like the developers just had no idea what to call the structure. I find it odd that Disney’s marketing department didn’t consider this.

            The recent small reveal of the building’s new paint job only pushed the redo further into the “cheap re-theme” category. It literally looks like the Tower painted orange—they didn’t even bother to remove the little art deco flourishes from the corners or anything!

             The whole thing seems almost nonsensical enough to have come from the Twilight Zone!

             Like I said, I’ll gather my thoughts better for a full rundown of the GOTG Tower at some later date. In the meantime, though, R.I.P. DCA Tower of Terror.

Music from Regions Beyond: The Exterior and Lobby BGM Loop

            Music is, of course, a very important part of setting a tone and theme for an area, and the Tower of Terror was no exception. The hotel grounds, exterior queue, and main hotel lobby all shared the same music loop. This approximately hour-long music loop consisted of various circa-1930s songs processed with extra echo to sound distant and spooky. The echo gave the sense that the songs were emanating either from some unseen source somewhere in the inaccessible corridors of the hotel, or perhaps even haunting this dimension from the Twilight Zone itself!

            As far as anyone can tell, the same playlist of songs was used for all three Twilight Zone-themed Towers. A few music bloggers I asked made vague assessments of how maybe one or two tracks might be different or in a different order at one Tower or another, but nothing concrete was offered. Indeed, from my own observations, I have no idea if there was even a set track order at all; for all I know the developers in charge of the soundtrack might have simply put all the songs into a playlist, selected “shuffle”, and called it a day.

Here is a playlist with the 20 known exterior/lobby loop tracks: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA073AD8C1E779F8A

            

The tracks included in this playlist are:

I Can’t Get Started by Bunny Berigan

Mood Indigo by Duke Ellington

Remember by Red Norvo

Uptown Blues by Jimmie Lunceford

Deep Purple by Turner Layton

Jeep’s Blues by Johnny Hodges

Jungle Drums by Sydney Bechet

Wishing (Will Make it So) by Vera Lynn

There’s a House in Harlem for Sale by Red Allen

Sleepy Time Gal by Glenn Miller

Pyramid by Johnny Hodges

There’s No Two Ways About It by Frankie Newton

Alabamy Home by the Gotham Stompers

When the Sun Sets Down South by Sidney Bechet

Inside (This Heart of Mine) by Fats Waller

Delta Mood by Cootie Williams

I’m In Another World by Johnny Hodges

Dear Old Southland by Noble Sissle

Jitterbug’s Lullaby by Johnny Hodges

We’ll Meet Again by Vera Lynn

For those interested, here’s a short clip by cthulhufae from YouTube of “We’ll Meet Again” playing in situ:

And for those of you curious about how the songs sound without the processed echo, here is a YouTube posting by SuperHotLarry of the loop with the songs in their original form:

Walkthrough Part 1: The Hotel Grounds

            (And, finally, we arrive at what I plan to be the "main course" of this blog: the detailed walkthrough!)
             The DCA Tower of Terror was built in the “land” originally known as Hollywood Pictures Backlot. In the original version of DCA, this land was meant to represent the Californian movie industry, with the intent being that the “street” would reveal itself to be a studio backlot as you walked further in. After the closure of the Superstar Limo ride[1], this area was lacking attractions, as was the rest of the new park. Thankfully, Disney already had a Hollywood-themed, film-themed ride that would fit right in.
            Despite the land being themed to be a false city on a film backlot, the Tower was not presented as being an in-universe filming location. There was not any indication that it was anything other than a “real” hotel in-universe. This discrepancy was addressed in the massive 2012 remodel of DCA. In DCA 2.0, Hollywood Pictures Backlot became Hollywood Land, which was now meant to represent a “real” city (although portions still remained looking suspiciously like a backlot with unfinished façades instead of buildings).

A section of a 2008 DCA park map showing the Tower of Terror in Hollywood Pictures Backlot.  Image from: http://www.themeparkbrochures.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Disneys-California-Adventure-Map-2008.jpg

            If one entered Hollywood Land from its main entrance on Buena Vista Street (or, in the past, entered Hollywood Pictures Backlot from Sunshine Plaza), one could reach the Tower by traveling all the way to the end of the “street” and turning right. At this point, one  would be greeted by this sight:

Image from the official Disney Parks website entry for Hollywood Land (LINK).  Screenshots taken 10/24/16

            Moving in closer, one arrived at the hotel grounds proper:

Another official Disney Parks website photo from the same link as the previous image; screenshot taken 10/24/16.  This lovely wide shot was taken in the Tower's early years; note the lack of A Bug's Land entrance at the right side of the photo.

            Prior to the installation of the Red Car Trolley, guests entering the Hotel Grounds passed through a set of art deco columns with light fixtures on them.  The fixtures, which you can see in the first Disney Parks website photo, were sconces with three large round lights.  These columns formed an "entry gate" for the area.  They were removed when the Red Car Trolley necessitated a wider entryway.

            The area around the Tower was quite compact, which led to some unintentional comedy. The area around the ride is basically the concrete “road” circling around the front, some themed street lights, banners with the hotel logo, and sparse hotel signage. The signage was the main source of unintentional comedy here. The signs were similar to some found at the original Florida attraction, being simple signs reading “Pool”, “Valet Parking”, and “Tennis Court”, with arrows specifying the direction in which a guest would theoretically find said hotel feature. In Florida, the ride had a winding, extensive outdoor queue area filled with deliberately disorienting twists and turns and lush greenery that gave the impression that, yes, a pool or tennis court might be somewhere beyond those trees. In the smaller, sparser California area, it was painfully clear that the signs pointed to another sign (the pool sign), a backstage parade area (the valet sign), and A Bug's Land (the tennis court sign) rather than there being any possibility of real guest facilities being anywhere near the hotel building.

Logo banners at the hotel grounds, May 2016.

The Pool sign, which was closest to the gift shop door.  December 2016 photo by Wandering Optimist of the Micechat forums.

The valet parking sign.  December 2016 photo by Wandering Optimist of the Micechat forums.

            The signs were set in Banhof Regular font, for those curious.  Also, as of this post date, I have no photo of the Tennis Court sign, and it may have been moved or removed when the trolley stop was installed.
EDIT: Mrbellcaptain from Tumblr managed to snap a distant shot of the Tennis Court Sign:

According to him, it was located "along a path that is only connected to an emergency exit and backstage", which is a very strange spot for a sign. /EDIT
            EDIT: As it turns out, a good photo of the Tennis Court sign DOES exist, by Daveland: see [this link] as I'm not sure if I have permission to post it or not.  It's dated April 2007. /EDIT
            An entrance to A Bug’s Land was added to the right (if you were facing the Tower) of the hotel entrance at an undetermined time. Based on internet searches of park maps, my best guess is that the gate to A Bug’s Land was added circa 2010. As you can see in the 2008 map section at the start of this post, there was no connection between the Tower area and Bug’s Land shown on that map. Image searches of 2009 maps also showed no connection. Image searches for 2010 maps showed the connecting path, leading me to suspect that this connection was constructed at that time. This would also make sense given the construction timeline for preparations for the 2012 remodel/reopening of DCA, which was announced in 2007.

            The Bug’s Land Wikipedia page[2] and various fan blog comments have also listed an even weirder connection between Bug’s Land and the Tower. Namely, that A Bug’s Land exists in the Hollywood Tower Hotel’s lawn. The Wikipedia page claims that, story-wise, Bug’s Land was discovered during the construction of the Tower, and Disney decided to open the pleasant little Flik’s Fair to all guests. While this would explain where the rest of the hotel grounds are outside of the compact area that visibly exists (maybe Bug’s Land is the grass of that missing tennis court?) I can’t quite bring myself to accept this as canon. After all, this would mean that a beloved Pixar family film shares a universe with the freaking Twilight Zone. That is, quite frankly, a shift in tone that seems quite incompatible, even in the nebulous canon of a theme park. Thankfully this is an un-sourced Wikipedia claim, so one is free to ignore it.
EDIT: Apparently this isn't just an un-sourced Wikipedia claim.  Trainers told new employees this connection, at least during 2012.  So... strange but true? /EDIT

            On the left side of the hotel grounds was a large gate through which California Adventure's parades entered or exited the park.  The "Valet Parking" sign pointed to it.  Here's a little atmospheric video, taken 30 September 2016, which was kindly donated to this blog by a reader:

Maybe the parade floats are valet parked?
EDIT: Note, if that video looked grainy/poor quality to you, see [here] for better quality /EDIT

            There was also a large gate to backstage on the Bug's Land side of the hotel grounds.  This gate had a mural on it.  The original mural proclaimed the Hollywood Tower Hotel as "The Height of Elegance and Glamour!" and showed the hotel in its heyday, with classic cars and fancy-dressed people arriving in front of the building.  I do not know exactly when this mural was changed, but it was definitely in place in 2007, and photos exist of it coexisting with the Trolley stop.

Undated photo courtesy Mrbellcaptain at Tumblr.

Mrbellcaptain's photo, cropped to show the mural detail.  Hey, wait a second, those are Paris' "round things" on the Tower!  This isn't the only official DCA art to erroneously depict the Paris version (years before Paris' version was even built); the gift shop mural makes the same mistake!

            The Buena Vista Street remodel of DCA brought the Red Car Trolley stop to the hotel grounds.  A stop called the “Sunset Boulevard Stop”[3] for the Red Car Trolley attraction was installed on the right side of the Tower, in between the Tower and the Bug’s Land entrance. The backstage gate with the mural sits behind this trolley stop, with the gate leading to the trolley maintenance area. Sometime around the Trolley installation, the mural on the gate changed to a retro-styled advertisement for the Red Car. I cannot definitively say when the installation and mural change took place, other than that it happened between 2007 and the 2012 official opening of DCA 2.0. My personal estimate would be around 2010, when the Bug's Land path was also opened. When the trolley was installed, it also brought its power cables which cross overhead along the entire trolley route. These cables have an annoying tendency to get in the way of otherwise lovely photos of the Tower, and they also limit the size of the parade floats that can be used at DCA. The trolley also necessitated the removal of the hotel grounds' entry gate columns.

The Red Car Trolley mural, photo by Mrbellcaptain

            Importantly, the hotel grounds also housed the fastpass distribution area for the Tower of Terror ride. The fastpass pavilion was not elaborate at all, even though it matched the Tower theme well. The pavilion consisted of columns and a roof, styled to match the art-deco architecture of the tower. The fencing around the pavilion was of the same pattern that enclosed the exterior queue area. Above the entrance to the fastpass pavilion was a sign set in Banhof Regular font, which read “Disney’s FASTPASS Distribution”, with the word “fastpass” in red. Above the words was a red and gold analog clock showing the current time. Below the sign were flip-number clocks that designated the fastpass times currently being distributed, as well as the current stand-by wait time. Underneath that, set into the entrance arch of the pavilion, was a black and white sign that read “Next Stop: The twilight zone tower of terror” in the Twilight Zone opening titles font. The background of the sign was black and the lettering white, mimicking the opening sequence of The Twilight Zone.

The Fastpass Pavilion, December 2016.  This and the following pavilion photos courtesy Mrbellcaptain

Sign Detail

Warning sign at the entrance of the Fastpass pavilion

Light Fixtures

            Inside the pavilion, there were about six fastpass distribution machines. The machines were designed to look like stacks of old suitcases covered in stickers. I never noticed any particular Easter eggs among the sticker designs, and have not heard anyone mention an Easter egg design, despite it seeming like an obvious opportunity to slip in Disney or Twilight Zone references. However, I admittedly never bothered to thoroughly look for any references in person.  Looking at photos of the machines turns up no Easter eggs either, though.

The suitcase fastpass machines

Exit gate

            The fastpass pavilion was located directly across from the entrance to the ride. The fastpass tickets themselves had a blue header with artwork of the Tower and the words “Twilight Zone Tower of Terror” in the logo font.

An example of a fastpass, scanned from my personal collection

            The last physical part of the grounds was the dried-out fountain and the main attraction sign. The fountain, as far as I can tell, was never functional or intended to be functional; it was supposed to be broken/wrecked to go along with the whole “abandoned, haunted building” theme. There were two planter bowls on the top layer of the “fountain”, filled with plants. Set against a wall of decorative art-deco-patterned tile, the top layer of the fountain was set in concrete with an art deco wave pattern carved into the concrete. The inner part of the lower basin was set in turquoise tile, which was cracked. The outer part of the lower basin had art deco tile matching the top wall. The lower basin also had a thick “ledge” around its border, which made a comfortable seat for resting guests and also a great photo opportunity spot.

            Disney themselves very briefly recognized this great photo angle as well.  After the San Diego Comic Con announcement of the Tower's demise and the ensuing fan backlash, Disney started their "Say goodbye to the Tower" promotional extravaganza.  This included setting up fake luggage as a photo op station in front of the fountain in late September 2016.  However, approximately a mere week after setting up this photo spot, Disney tore down the hotel's sign and started exterior demolition work, thus ruining any photos one might want to take!
             Above the fountain, on the wall of art deco tile, was a dark bronze-colored sign reading “THE HOLLYWOOD TOWER HOTEL”. Every few seconds, twinkle lights embedded in the sign surface would reveal the words “The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror”, done in a Twilight Zone logo-style font. This second light-up sign would slowly fade in and out (with a slight twinkle effect) periodically over the bronze sign.

The upper layer of the fountain and the unlit hotel sign, May 2016

The upper layer of the fountain and the lit Twilight Zone sign, May 2016

Cracked tile in the lower fountain basin.  You can see the shadow from the upper basin at the top of the photo.  May 2016.

Fountain with luggage photo op, December 2016 by Mrbellcaptain.  Disney apparently left this up even after they ruined the view of the building!

Here's a video clip showing the sign lighting up:

The video was filmed by me in May 2016.  EDIT: Once again, if the footage looks bad here, view it in HQ at [this link] /EDIT

            Unfortunately, due to being a nice resting bench and/or a great photo opportunity for guests, it was very difficult to get photos of the entire sign/fountain installation without it being blocked. I personally have no un-obstructed photos of it; Mrbellcaptain's photo of the fountain with the luggage photo op is the closest I have.  Online searching turned up only very poor quality images.

            Here I conclude my tour of the physical aspects of the non-queue hotel grounds. However, there is one more important aspect of theming in this area… The music!  I'll be covering the background music for the Tower of Terror area in my next post.

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[1] This was really for the best.  Experience the horror here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKZ-nf_R8Os .  The Monster’s Inc ride currently resides in this space.

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Bug%27s_Land , which as of 10/28/16 states “The fictional backstory for Flik's Fun Fair holds that Flik and the other bugs were inspired to create their own fun fair when Disney's California Adventure opened next door to them. When the Imagineers set out to build The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, they discovered the bugs in the garden and decided to open up Flik's fair to park guests.” No footnote citation is given for this claim on the web page.

[3] https://disneyland.disney.go.com/attractions/disney-california-adventure/red-car-trolley/ This official Disney Parks website lists “Sunset Boulevard next to the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror” under “Trolley Stops and Schedule” as of 10/28/16.


EDIT: As a bonus, here are some more detailed photos of the Fastpass machines and pavilion interior by Mrbellcaptain.  From what I can tell, there were no Easter Eggs in the stickers.

Recommended Videos

Here is possibly the best introductory video to the Tower I could ask for:

The oddly-titled “Casi Smith ‘Tower of Terror!’ Producer.avi” (henceforth called the “Casi Smith video”) packs a punch for being just over three minutes long. I’m not sure of the context in which this clip originally played, although that label at the beginning makes me suspect that it was an in-room commercial that originally played at the resort hotels. It is a well-done promotional piece for the Tower, that most importantly features a summary of the ride by the Imagineers who designed it. It also highlights a postcard Easter Egg that I’d never noticed or heard mentioned before. Given where the postcard is shown in the video, it may have been difficult or impossible to view from guest areas! Amusingly, a sharp eye can spot some promotional footage clearly recycled from the Florida ride; for example the footage of a group boarding the ride clearly shows the Floridian version of the loading area.


An alternate version of the video, hosted on the same YouTube channel, features Casi Smith herself (given the job description of “Reporter”) introducing the clip, which also makes me think this might have been in circulation as a promotional fluff piece to be distributed by news channels. The version with the Casi Smith intro, titled “Tower of Terror Casi PKG” is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBU4P75r1Mk

Although the title (“Low Light Twilight Zone Tower of Terror California Adventure 1080p 60fps Full Complete Ridethrough” by LMG vids) is a wordy mouthful, this video is the best Tower of Terror ride video I have yet seen for any incarnation of the attraction. Luckily, it’s exactly for the Tower I’ll be discussing here! Though not perfect (the mirror effect on the first “floor” is not working properly), this is the most complete and true-to-life video presentation of the ride I have yet found. It includes a walk through the queue, the pre-show, and the ride itself, all done in high-quality low light video. I may refer to this video as a reference point in the “Detailed Walkthrough”, where I will call it “the LMG vid” for short.

This is “Twilight Zone Tower of Terror WDW HD—Ultimate Tribute” by Martin Smith. I included this as a footnote in my comparison of the four different Towers, but it also deserves its place here. Notably, this does NOT discuss the California Adventure version of the ride (as the title indicates, this is a documentary about the Florida version), so therefore this video is not completely relevant here. However, a significant portion of the documentary instead discusses the origins of the Tower concept in general, which I do not bother to otherwise explain in this blog. Feel free to skip this one if you’re not interested in the concept origins or are uninterested in the Florida version of the ride.

EDIT: Since this video is posted on vimeo and not YouTube, I can only provide a link, and not embed it.  However, that doesn't make it any less recommended.

https://vimeo.com/198340064

This is Martin Smith's Ultimate Tribute documentary for the DCA and Paris Towers of Terror.  It's not a perfect documentary by any means, but it does make a good introduction to those Towers.  Of note is the footage of DCA's opening ceremony, a diagram of how the drop shafts work, and an explanation of how the Paris Tower was planned first, but constructed second.  /EDIT

EDIT: And finally, here is Disney's official theme music for the Tower of Terror.  It was obviously made with Florida in mind, since it contains musical cues from the 5th Dimension scene that DCA and Paris lacked:

The Construction and Opening Ceremony

            In 2002 I took my first trip to Disney World in Florida.  Upon return, I had a certain ride as my #1 pick to add to Disneyland in California: the Tower of Terror, of course!  It was an instant favorite of mine, and I thought it would be the perfect addition to the then-new California-themed park in Anaheim.  Upon going to California Adventure, I proceeded to freak out when I saw this rising above the new park's skyline:

Images dated October 2002 and taken by Disneygeek.com (image credit 1) (image credit 2)

            "No way," I thought.  "That looks like... no... I hope it is!..."  Basically, I freaked out with enthusiasm the way one might expect a then-very-young thrill ride enthusiast to do.  I asked my parents about the conspicuous new construction so much that they finally asked an employee about it.  The employee, of course, confirmed that it was indeed the Tower of Terror.  I remember jumping around with excitement for the rest of the day, which probably annoyed people a bit.

            Apparently, plans for the Tower had been officially announced on February 8, 2002, DCA’s first anniversary.[1]   The same announcement stated plans for the addition of A Bug's Land.  This was the first ride where I really watched the construction progress and excitedly awaited the results.  I couldn't wait for it to open for previews.

            Here is a video tribute from YouTube that shows a slideshow of the construction process:

             The Tower had a variety of pre-opening riders. In addition to employees being used as test riders, there was at least one “preview day” for Annual Passholders, which I attended (although I do not remember the exact date). We had to pick up special tickets and line up in the abandoned "Hollywood and Dine" food court before being led past construction walls to experience the ride. I may have received that promotional doorknob hanger at this event. I also vaguely remember there being other “soft openings” to the public before the May 5th official date. However, I so far have been unable to find exact dates for when these events or soft openings took place.  Maybe readers can help me out here?

             Here is the only clip I could find of the DCA Opening Ceremony:

            EDIT: Much more footage of the DCA Opening Ceremony has turned up in Martin Smith's DCA and Paris Tower documentary, viewable [HERE] /EDIT
             According to the official Disney Parks Blog, there was also a red carpet premiere down the Hollywood Pictures Backlot’s main street. The ceremony itself was hosted by Carol Serling (wife of the late Rod Serling) and “Buddy the Bellhop”, a character from a 2004 ad campaign promoting the Tower.[2] 

              I also recall there being at least one TV spot (part of an actual special, not a commercial) pre-opening that promoted the Tower’s addition to California Adventure. I specifically remember that it involved a comedian previewing the Tower and joking about how Disneyland lines always did a ton of crisscrosses before entering the ride. Since the exterior queue hadn’t been fully fenced in yet, the comedian walked back and forth repeatedly in front of the door to simulate the presumed “Disneyland line” experience. I have no idea what this TV clip was called and do not know if it is available online.
            EDIT: Mrbellcaptain at Tumblr provided some more information on pre-opening events.  According to him, in Mid-March 2004 Disney held a sign-lighting ceremony featuring watermelon-smashing comedian Gallagher.  The crowd was encouraged to scream to "power up" the sign (Monster's Inc. style?).  There was also a preview dinner on 23 April 2004 where attendees recieved a gold pocket watch and a decorative tile depicting the Tower. /EDIT

             For those who wish to see a really elaborate Opening Ceremony, Tower fans might also enjoy the ceremonies for the Paris version, which are readily available in HD on YouTube. What a difference a few years in video recording and sharing technology makes!

            On a side note, it’s amazing to see how early in DCA history those DisneyGeek Tower construction photos are. In the second one, you can see part of the Soap Opera Bistro signage towards the bottom of the photo. That restaurant was a very early feature of DCA that was quickly swapped out for Playhouse Disney and later Disney Junior (indeed, the Bistro would close a month after this photo was taken, and be gone completely before the Tower opened). For those curious about it, see here: http://www.yesterland.com/soapopera.html

[1] http://www.yesterland.com/farmmural.html

[2] https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2014/05/a-look-back-grand-opening-of-the-twilight-zone-tower-of-terror-at-disney-california-adventure-park/  I HIGHLY recommend readers look at this link!  It has really nice pictures of the DCA Opening Ceremony events.