The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at DCA

TERROR DROPS INTO ANAHEIM

etixland's Review of DCA's Transplanted Tower

THE ONLY WAY TO GO IS UP . . . AND DOWN

Leaving the library, guests enter the service basement of the Hotel: a cavernous space crammed with large pipes boasting realistic joints, fittings and gauges. While non-functional, the combination of decor, layout, sound effects and lighting make this basement a solid improvement over the Orlando version.

Of the many design elements, I think the skillful use of show lighting makes the greatest contribution to the scene's effectiveness. Imagineers did yeoman's work on this space, dramatizing the full expanse by exploring every nook and cranny of the basement, horizontally and vertically: steel grate catwalks disguise the ceiling area as well as the stage lighting, blending practicality with artistry; and the forest of ductwork inevitably guides guests' eyes either up or down (depending on which level they wait) to play with the Tower's theme of ascent and descent.

Other detailed set pieces anchor the basement queues, such as a gated supply locker and a bulky power breaker cabinet, which inevitably sparks and moans under the Tower's electrical surges. These "wienies" successfully draw guests' attention as they move along the winding queues, so there's always new information and new perspectives on the basement space during the wait — making this holding area a doubly winning design.

In all my visits to the Hotel so far, I've always been directed to the leftmost library which loads guests onto the upper basement walkway. I'll try (or ask) to "take the lower" on my next visit, but I can surmise the bottom level is as entertaining a line as the top. One nice Twilight Zone callback from the series which graces the upper walk: the previously mentioned photo of the chalk outline portal on the cement foundation wall. It's one of those touches apparent only to those who remember the "Little Girl Lost" episode which featured this supernatural gateway into another dimension, and a highly relevant dramatic reference to the TOT's own theme.

It's small and subtle elements like this that plus the guest experience in cumulative ways, paying off far beyond the physical effort required to include them. Indeed, simple feats like this prove the entertainment value of good, clear-headed thinking in attraction design, a trait that used to be common currency among Imagineered shows, but one which fans see less and less of in today's cost cutting era of "balance sheet" ride-building. [Which is not to say today's Imagineers lack the capacity for such inspired creative treats — slashed budgets and "descoped" projects simply fail to celebrate or exploit these "profit-less" elements.] Still, it's encouraging to see such inclusions, and very worth noting and applauding on the rare occasions when they happen.

On a more practical note, the entire basement queue design, which doubles the line space by split-level layers feeding each level's guests into three elevator shafts, keeps the ride wait short and the feet moving quickly. In fact, one might say that the ride system and loading cycle is so efficient, Disneyphiles almost have too little time to absorb all the scene's details — as it should be, though! Another hallmark of good Disney designing, and rare enough of late to mention specifically. Thus each shaft runs two cycles, loading one group of riders on the top level, then cycling through the attraction to stop one floor lower and load the next group on the bottom level. This keeps the wait time quite short and capacity quite high, with the talented, enthusiastic Bell Hop staff keeping guests delightfully entertained while they wait to board their elevator car to the Tower summit and beyond.

Which leaves this review at the Tower of Terror's raison d'etre: guests' journey to pit of their fears and the summit of the Twilight Zone, strapped into the Hotel's high-flying and freefalling service elevators. As good as the Orlando TOT was and is, I think DCA's new interpretation of the ride succeeds (however slightly) beyond the original.

I readily admit that by this point, such a review boils down to personal preference — no doubt there are as many definite opinions of the ride as there are riders — but heck, you kindly came to my site to read about DCA's Tower, so you're going to get my take on it:

The main difference in our Anaheim attraction is the reinvented (and I say improved) ride system, both in the increased number of car shafts to boost capacity while shortening lines, and in the single-shaft design, wherein cars rise and descend in the same conveyor space.

Yes, this change eliminated the Fifth Dimension floor as seen in Orlando, but it also deleted the need for that scene, which in nature was a cool but high-tech solution to a system requirement — not a great show idea which prompted Imagineers to include horizontal tracking across the Hotel's span.

While I enjoyed the Fifth Dimension scene on my first visit to Disney/MGM — a horizontal elevator move was certainly a novel, unexpected sensation — after repeated rides I felt it interrupted the vertical and scariest suspense created in rising floor to haunted floor. In the end, the novelty of slowly sliding forward quickly wore off, and I was just waiting for the car to enter the outer drop shaft and proceed with the ride's dramatic finale.

Here in California, the elevators suffer no such interruption in story or thrill momentum, since the horizontal moves into the drop shaft happen at the very start and end of your ride, not pausing the action in the middle. The backward slide of your car is a slight surprise, as the elevator aligns itself to start your ascent. Watching the basement doors recede into the gloomy darkness offers a nicely spooky view, reminiscent of the floating door image in the Twilight Zone series opening titles — a clever touch (even if it was unintentional).

Once your wild ride starts, it doesn't stop until you've soared and dropped till your heart pounds and your knees weaken. Though some detractors complain that removing the Fifth Dimension makes DCA's Tower ride too short, I find it more exciting and effective... especially since the ride time gained in Orlando's horizontal wandering is, in fact, rather thrill-less by itself. And as I understand it, the Fifth Dimension floor was where most of the attraction breakdowns took place, as the moving cars failed to trigger the right sensors for the ride to proceed. So its omission in DCA should also improve the attraction's service record and decrease down time for repairs — which in the era of diminished park maintenance budgets and manpower, is a welcome cause to praise!

The other floor-by-floor scenes are as well designed, produced and entertaining at DCA as they are in Orlando, and the disappearing hallway illusion with its ghostly guests is executed flawlessly — it simply looks fantastic. Addendum (6/26/04): while I'm on the design topic, a brief shout out to Imagineer Neil Engle, production designer for DCA's Tower of Terror. In my initial review of DCA, specifically the ride-now-turned-smokers'-corner Superstar Limo, I'd given Neil a rough review of his contribution, and a bit of a raw deal it turns out. Hindsight and time revealed that Engle really didn't deserve the lion's share (or is it the Mouse's share?) of the blame for Superstar Limo. Certainly with such past hits as Universal's JURASSIC PARK and now DCA's TOT, the disastrously cursed Limo ride is the exception to his otherwise successful rule of ride design. So Neil, if you're out there, apologies offered for the misplaced blame, and good show on your west coast Tower. Since the Limo is long since defunct, a needed revision of my entire DCA review is in order, and will appear in the near future... erasing this blot on Neil's reputation (at least as far as etixland is concerned).

Speaking of improved designs, the openness of DCA's elevator car structure truly increases the visual and dramatic impact of every haunted and thrilling scene. This is another subtle but successful improvement over Florida's version: the lack of enclosure on the front and side walls, the open grating on the car floor (which makes the air fans much more effective enhancing the drops), all give riders a decreased sense of security and protection, thus leaving them all the more vulnerable to the ride's rapid ascents and falls. Perhaps it's so subtle to be subliminal, but you definitely feel less "safe" in DCA's elevators, which again is a thematic improvement over the east coast Tower.

Another DCA change which has also been applied in Orlando now: gone are the long lap bars locking guests into their seats row by row; in their place individual seat belts keep riders in their chairs, which ensures individual performance as a security measure... and it also keeps young riders from bouncing around on the drops when seated next to thick-thighed adults who wouldn't let the bar pull down to meet kids' laps. These belts also contribute to the thrills since they leave more of guests' legs free to flap and kick in the breeze as the car careens down the shaft, taking full, exciting advantage of the zero-g airtime.

While it's an ever-changing facet to the Florida attraction, and thus hard to compare directly, I liked DCA's drop programming a great deal. The direction changes, especially on the drop-stops, seem much smoother in Anaheim which lends a disorienting fluidity to the ups and downs — it's been a couple years since my last visit to Disney/MGM, but I recall then that the transitions at the top and bottom of vertical cycles seemed rougher and more abrupt by comparison. Again, this amounts to personal preference, but I enjoy the floating sensation created by these dampened turnarounds, which removes the harsh physical reality of the real world and lends the ride a spaceless sensation more representative of the otherworldly Twilight Zone theme.

My favorite drop programming sequence is the final ascent to the Tower summit: rather than just rocketing guests straight up, Imagineers showed a bit of devilish showmanship, programming both the elevator and sync soundtrack effects to dramatize a faltering rise up the shaft. You climb only to stall out as mechanical sounds imply a slippage of lift gears, then cables yank the car upward again, only to stall out a second time before the soundtrack plays a straining symphony of stressed acceleration... you almost wonder if your elevator will actually make it up to the top viewing floor again! This bit of nifty programming fully exploits the g-force effects as your stomach does flip flops from your toes to your throat again and again — the sequence is like three drops in one, and makes a great, dizzying finale to your interdimensional adventure. When your faulty lift finally floats toward the gift shop exit doors, it's a cleverly Zone-ish sight once more that you're happy to witness, having survived the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.

Overall, the Tower is a welcome addition to DCA, boosting its noticeable lack of high-capacity thrill (and dark) rides. For the most part, I've gotten over my disappointment in Disney's choice to transplant a successful Orlando ride instead of the creating a new, DCA-specific attraction: though I'd have preferred an original show, that die was long ago cast, and I can't argue with the positive impact the Tower of Terror will have on DCA's ride lineup. At this stage of California Adventure's life span, almost any new attraction is a welcome addition.

But the Tower may not have crash landed in DCA at all, if the rumors I heard years ago had come true: the scuttlebutt was that Imagineers considered adapting the TOT ride system for a new thrill ride in Disneyland with an interesting twist — instead of a high rise hotel, WDI would have flipped the concept upside down to create a haunted mine ride in Frontierland, dropping guests into the dark, bottomless depths of the earth. Granted, this idea may well have been just ride fan fantasy, and such a show might have been difficult to build in the narrow confines of the Ranch area previously occupied with the Hunchback festival, but the concept remains intriguing even as the TOT stands a reality in the park next door. Of course, the number of proposed, designed and abandoned concepts slated to plus Walt's first Magic Kingdom could fill the lifeless Submarine Lagoon — but Disney fans can always hope "one day...", can't they?

With a great amount of luck — and perhaps a change in Disney management's perception of entertainment value versus short-term profits, if not a management change itself — perhaps the Tower's debut might signal the end of the DCA's underperforming freshman era, and the beginning of its sophomore growth and expansion into realizing the park's potential? Perhaps.

Crowded park footprint and encroaching environment themes aside, the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror gets positive marks for adding needed screams and scares to Disney's California Adventure... and hopefully adding equally needed clicks at the turnstiles. I try to temper my own cynicism as well as that of fellow fans by reminding us all that Disneyland had plenty of rough start years, even under Walt's masterful command. As magical as his kingdom was, Disneyland wasn't built in a day, or a year, or five years: it took time, constant reinvestment and reinvention, plus much patience before it evolved into the inimitable classic it's become. Not likely that DCA will share the same groundbreaking destiny in theme park history, especially since it wasn't created to do so in the first place, but it too deserves some time and patience to become more than it is, and what it can be.

Of course, the key to such creative flowering and innovation is the willingness of the parks' landlords and benefactors to invest the requisite funding, time, talent and creative drive to see that goal realized. That goal, as it's become painfully obvious in recent years, is a long term commitment and the only way to reap such long term profits and product. Such results cannot and will not be realized if the Disney world is viewed only through myopic, shortsighted eyes and short term greed. In that sense, the presence of the Tower of Terror may well be the perfect metaphor for Disney's fortunes as a theme park leader: will it rise again to the heights of creative glory, or suffer the dark ups and downs of an inconsistent hand at the controls.

Thanks for reading this far, my friends and fans, I always appreciate your visits and your kind comments. Clicking on the button below will return you to the main menu page where you can continue your adventures in etixland.