Almost three years of construction and over five years of planning and design finally saw The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror open its gates to guests at Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris on 22nd December 2007. Overseeing everything from lighting to interior design, concept artists, writers, architects and construction was show producer Theron Skees.
With an extensive background in sculpting, thematic painting and design, Theron has worked extensively at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World, notably producing the “Tower of Terror 4″ random drop upgrade for the Floridian Tower in 2002.
Media Magic blog author Jérémie Noyer questions Theron on the mysteries of The Twilight Zone, random drops, Hollywood shops and more…
Theron Skees, Walt Disney Imagineering show producer
Can you tell me about the origins of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror? For example, I know that, at one moment, the idea for the Floridian, original tower was to make it a kind of a walk-through narrated by Vincent Price.
During the concept development stage, many ideas are generated and revised during the process until the very best fit is found.
The creation of the Tower of Terror (TOT) was in response to extra capacity required at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World and the fact that our guests were telling us that they wanted the film genres of horror and sci-fi represented in more thrill attractions. Once The Twilight Zone was agreed to, it was the core storyline that every other idea branched off of.
Going vertical — 20th December 2005
When did the idea of having the Tower of Terror at the Walt Disney Studios (WDS) Paris first come out?
In fact, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror for Paris was developed in conjunction with the attraction concept for Disney’s California Adventure.
At a certain time, we could see a concept art of the WDS showing the TOT behind the “Costuming” section of the Studio Tram Tour, whereas the logo of the TOT was also present on “La Terrasse”, in front of Studio 1. How did the idea of the location for the TOT evolve to its present place?
When an attraction is being located in a park, there are often different locations that could be possible. Imagineers have to consider the best location for storyline consistencies, visual intrusions and operational efficiencies.
Completed Hollywood Tower glows against the night sky
How is the TOT integrated within the storyline of the WDS ?
The WDS is a theme park based on the magical world of entertainment that is represented through: Film, Television, Theatre and Music. Each attraction or show brings the guests either into the world of a character or film or in the case of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, musical fantasy. The TOT attraction is The Hollywood Tower Hotel that is located in our Hollywood Boulevard neighbourhood.
This area is designed to bring guests into an idealized version of the world of Hollywood, “A Hollywood that never was but will always be”… As soon as guests pass through the Studio 1 building, there will be no doubt where they will be located and that they are located in a studio.
The Lobby
Each Disney attraction has a kind of a “backstory”. What is the one of the TOT?
According to Disney legend… The Hollywood Tower Hotel first opened its doors in 1928 and quickly secured a place of honor in the booming Hollywood film community. The elegant and imposing structure, styled in an eclectic Pueblo Deco manner, still dominates the Hollywood landscape. This star among stars was at the height of its popularity in 1939 when a mysterious occurrence forced it to close.
The Library
The Hollywood Tower Hotel was boarded up on the evening of Oct. 31, 1939, and so it remained until its grand reopening in the spring of 2008. Though the grounds are weed choked, the walkways cracked, the fountains dry, within, the hotel seems largely unchanged. Unread mail waits at the front desk. A forgotten set of luggage stands nearby. On a table by a window sits a deck of cards, a dusty wine glass, an unfinished post card. Aside from the layer of dust and the patina of age, the lobby is just as it was on the last night the hotel was open for business, over sixty years ago.
There is something peculiar about the elevators, however. Behind the “Out of Order” sign, the doors are damaged and bent. The force responsible was obviously very great. The elevator indicator registers off the scale, below the Basement level. It was here the mysterious occurrence took place one stormy, rain drenched evening. As the elevator ascended, lighting struck the tower. The elevator plunged, carrying its five terrified passengers to certain doom. But this was no ordinary storm, no ordinary stroke of lightning.
Before it reached the bottom of the shaft, the elevator and its passengers simply vanished, along with a large section of the hotel. The hotel immediately emptied - staff and guests utterly unable to contend with the baffling incident. No one ever came back. The hotel remained as it was, untouched, undisturbed.
Until now…
Boiler Room — Stepping into ‘The Twilight Zone’
How was the Twilight Zone film in the library actually produced? How did you do to integrate Rod Serling with new dialogues? Did you go back to the original episode or did you create effects on your own?
An excerpt from the 1961 Twilight Zone episode “The Good Life”, was used with Rod Serling introducing that episode. A voice actor was used to replace Mr. Serling’s voice with a new introduction for the attraction experience, the ‘Lost Episode’. This adds not only authenticity to the storyline but serves as an homage to the shows creator.
Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) has invented all kinds of new transportation ways, from Doombuggies to People Omnimovers and Monorail… Can you tell me about the technical innovations of the TOT in that matter and how that all works, to allow people plunge into the Twilight Zone?
The ride system is not actually an elevator - but rather a “vertical vehicle conveyance.” The attraction features three of the largest motors ever build for such a conveyance. They are three times larger than the largest high-speed elevator motors and faster than the fastest high-speed elevator in the world.
The two massive motors weighing 132,000 pounds power the vehicles, from on top of the Tower’s framework. The motors can accelerate at a rate 10 to 15 times the speed of a normal elevator.…
Dropping into the fifth dimension, bellhop on hand
Can we hope for a random drop program for Paris, the same way it’s done in California ?
The TOT is an attraction whose ride technology and storyline allow for adjustments within the existing framework. At some point in the future Walt Disney Studios Park will leverage this flexibility and further the storyline and thrill components by creating new ride profiles to give Guests another reason to experience the attraction.
How did you deal with the European specificity of the park to tell the story of the TOT during the ride, to make the story understandable by most people from different countries ?
Imagineers take classic Disney attractions like the Tower of Terror and adapt aspects for other cultures. Since The Twilight Zone was aired in Europe in the 1960’s, there was a good chance that many people would already be familiar with the title and format of the show. So, Imagineers adjusted the language so that the attraction could be experienced in either French or English.
There were also considerations made in the area of prop selection for the Libraries. In general, a European audience has access to more museums, artefacts and items of antiquity that are much older than what Americans can see. Careful consideration was given to the selection of props to ensure that the European audience would find the experience believable and interesting; there were even some original American Indian artefacts that were added since they are not often seen in Europe.
Antiques and bric-a-brac from Europe, for Hollywood
What are the differences between the Parisian and the Californian version of the TOT ? The same between Paris and WDW?
The attraction features the same storyline and thrilling experience that Disney Park Guests love at all our parks. For the Walt Disney Studios Park, Disney Imagineers searched for props at antique markets and flea markets across France, Holland and the United Kingdom to elaborately decorate the aging Hollywood Tower Hotel.
Imagineers were especially fortunate to create this attraction in Europe, with access to the many artisans and skilled craft trades that have built the castles and the elegant places throughout the region. The rich drapes in the lobby were created by the same people who provide fabrics to French châteaux. This type of quality helped us create a Tower of Terror that is particularly authentic and one of the most beautiful.
Can you tell me about the richness of details in Hollywood Boulevard ? Are there any special artefacts or memorabilia?
This part of the story we have also captured by finding props across Europe from private collectors who supplied 1950s style parking meters, embossed road signs, newspaper machines, etc.
Many of the American props, including the road signs, travel posters and mannequins with sculpted hair, came from one collector in Holland.
Hollywood Boulevard
Before the TOT, there was just La Terrasse. Will there ever be real shops and restaurants in that area ?
La Terrace Perrier becomes a new café in the Hollywood Blvd neighbourhood. There are also shop displays, sidewalk vendors, etc. all of the elements you would expect to see in a city. We have added new place-making and enriched the area with architecture and landscaping. New food offerings and merchandise shops will be added as the area continues to grow…
With special thanks to Theron Skees, Laurent Cayuela and Marilyn Waters.
– Discover a full guide to The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror here or full photo tours of the attraction and area at Photos Magiques. The attraction is due to be officially inaugurated on 5th April 2008.
If you missed the first Media Magic interview with Katy Harris, director of Disney’s Once Upon a Dream Parade, click here. Thanks to a generous offer from Jérémie Noyer, DLRP Today is the new English-language home of Media Magic, exclusively presenting a series of translated interviews from the popular French blog, looking backstage at the people behind the dreams.
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