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IcDkRy16
08-05-2005, 10:09 PM
I searched around on the board to look for a similar thread but was unable to find one. So if their is already a thread like this, sorry for posting another one. But anyways, I'll be going to Disneyland in October. My last trip was in July of 2004 and I chickened out and didn't go on ToT lol. I really regret it now, and want to go on it during my visit in October. So I just wondered what it's like. I don't really like heights so that's another reason why I'm kind of scared. I've been on the Maliboomer and hated the beginning, but once I get to the top I was fine. So I just wondered what this ride is like. Is it anything like Drop Zone at Great America in Northern CA? TIA.

ktgd03
08-05-2005, 10:13 PM
It lifts you up on an elevator (don't worry, you are all saftley strapped in at this point in the ride). You see the opening of the Tower and are very high up...after some movie scenes from the screen, it litterally drops the elevator quickly downward....it stops momentarilly, than drops you again....you get a nice adrenalyn rush, (like when you are walking down the stairs, not looking, and you put your foot down thinking it will decline to another step, but you hit the flat surface).

Does this help you buddy? :)

IcDkRy16
08-05-2005, 10:16 PM
Yes, that helps a lot! Thanks! :)

ktgd03
08-05-2005, 10:24 PM
You are most welcome! :)

Disney Vault
08-05-2005, 10:29 PM
When we were at WDW and went on ToT my dad thought the elevator was in the library. He was waiting for it to drop. It was just me and my dad who went on it. And then later when we were talking about it my mom didn't know you were strapped in for the ride and thought it would be like a real elevator so she didn't go on it. I thought that was very funny.

Leli
08-05-2005, 11:03 PM
Nothing like Drop Zone. Way cooler, without the REALLY big scary drop. I don't like drop rides much, but I love ToT.

uvsc_wolverine
08-06-2005, 12:04 AM
The best way to think about the setup for ToT is to imaging that you're on Star Tours - but the whole ride vehicle drops down the elevator shaft. The elevator is setup like a small room with theater-style (tiered) seating. There is a seat belt and two handles at each seat, as well as a nice sturdy floor. BTW you get a really good sense of free fall if you don't hold on to anything at all, and lift your feet off the floor during the drops.

Kelly Ann
08-06-2005, 12:08 AM
I love ToT, the only thing that was a bit disconcerting to me the first time I rode it is that there are no armrests to grab. I instinctively reached out to grab something on the first drop, and, missing the nonexistent armrest, I grabbed the leg of the person sitting next to me. :P (I apologized afterwards.)

If you want something to grab onto, ask the CM for a seat at the end of the row. At least in the middle row on the left side the edge seat has a bar you can grab; don't know for sure about the other edge seats (plus there's a cool sound effect right next to you if you sit there).

If you're a little uneasy about the ride, it might be nice to sit where you know you have something to hold onto. Alternatively, you can take your SO on with you and hold on to him/her. ;)

I don't know where the handles are... must have missed those.

Disney Vault
08-06-2005, 12:22 AM
I love ToT, the only thing that was a bit disconcerting to me the first time I rode it is that there are no armrests to grab. I instinctively reached out to grab something on the first drop, and, missing the nonexistent armrest, I grabbed the leg of the person sitting next to me. :P (I apologized afterwards.)
I am sure it was an "accident." ;) :p

Kelly Ann
08-06-2005, 12:29 AM
:P Considering it was another woman, it was an accident, believe me. Now, if I had been sitting next to, say, Hugh Jackman or Shahrukh Khan, it might have been less accidental (but then I wouldn't have noticed anything happening on the ride, anyway). ;)

tbminnie
08-06-2005, 05:55 AM
I rode TOT at WDW in 1998 and swore I would never ride it again because I did not like the drop. In March this year we went to DCA and after eyeing it for a looonng time and after my 4 year old came off it with no problem, I decided to ride it. I rode all the way at the end of the row because there is a handle on the side of the elevator and in between you and the other passenger. I never let go of either from the time I sat down. The amazing thing is I LOVED IT! The drop sequence is completely different then WDW and I found it less scary. I ended up riding it 8 times that day. I hope you will try it and like I tell my daughter, if you don't like it, you don't have to do it again. :D

geoffa
08-06-2005, 06:21 AM
Having ridden both the one at WDW and also the one at "California" Anaheim I can assure you this is a "must not miss" ride. I'm from U.K. and at Anaheim I persuaded two Scottish members of Parliament to join me and my friend. It's all done with the world's fastest winding gear with added "wind" to give that extra sense of speed. (Am I giving away secrets here?) They claim each ride is different and to some extent that is true. I like the WDW one where the lift also moves along a corridor towards the Twilight Zone effects - I'll let you figure out how that is done. Don't miss the opportunity to ride TOT - I'd rate it second after the Indiana Jones ride. :fez:
p.s. Remove any hat you may be wearing - they collect dozens at the bottom of the lift shaft every night!

BellhopMicah
08-06-2005, 06:57 AM
I see someone has already posted what happens at the HTH in California, so I'll post what happens at the HTH in Florida, incase you ever venture there as well, in a spoiler.

After winding around the entrance, you enter the lobby, which then leads to two libraries. You are taken to one of the libraries, see the preshow inside of it, and then exit to the boiler room. You are taken to one of the four service elevators and load. (You are sitting down the entire time, strapped in firmly.) You begin to ascend a few floors, and then stop. You then see one of the Hotel's corridors, and the five ghosts appear. They beckon you to join them, and they disappear. You see a window in the back of the room floating, which then cracks. The room turns dark and fills with stars, and then the elevator doors close once again. You ascend a little bit more, which now you are taken to a very bizarre room, known as the Fifth Dimension. This is when your elevator actually MOVES FOWARD, unlike the Californian version. So you move through the room, various Twilight Zone symbols appear, stars swirl about, yada yada. Then a door opens in front of you, the elevator enters it. It gets silent. Then...

YOU DROP! MUHAHAHAHA! Multiple times. Usually the bigger the drops are mean you'll drop less times, and the smaller they are you'll drop more times. Wow that was hard to type.

Anywho, there's a little bit after the drops, but it's just Rod Serling's farewell. (I certainly hope you know who Rod Serling is!) You then unload, see your picture on the screen, purchase it, whatever. Then you exit through the gift shop. (This part can be the real horror of the Hotel. :eek: )

So yeah. That's it. I didn't do the Hotel justice at all, and I probably left out something. But I hope not.

Hakuna Makarla
08-06-2005, 07:34 AM
OMgoodness, micah, that sounds awsome!! But you know what, I have been on tot 3 times and do not think I can go back on. I was terrified so I had to do it, I did not want to be afraid and so I conquored my fears. But I think I will not be doing tot again, I am just " scared again " ha ha ha

The Genii
08-06-2005, 08:01 AM
There are some major differences between the Towers in Orlando and Anaheim. The one in California Adventure benefits from having been built 10 years later and the ride is MUCH smoother. Also, because your elevator car does not leave the original shaft in order to roll into the drop shaft, in DCA the moment when you drop is a bit more unexpected. In Orlando you know exactly when you're going to drop.
Some of the visual effects are also different as well.

phillyorig
08-06-2005, 08:15 AM
I searched around on the board to look for a similar thread but was unable to find one. So if their is already a thread like this, sorry for posting another one. But anyways, I'll be going to Disneyland in October. My last trip was in July of 2004 and I chickened out and didn't go on ToT lol. I really regret it now, and want to go on it during my visit in October. So I just wondered what it's like. I don't really like heights so that's another reason why I'm kind of scared. I've been on the Maliboomer and hated the beginning, but once I get to the top I was fine. So I just wondered what this ride is like. Is it anything like Drop Zone at Great America in Northern CA? TIA.


I too is afraid of heights but I kept my eyes semi closed when we get to the top :D .
I was NOT GOING ON! but i told my youngest daughter if you went on Screaming, Iwould go on TOT( she had a problem with screaming in 2003).
I went on TOT and I LOVED IT!!!! Went back another time..
For me its not so much the height but the dropping!!!!
Like someone said, there is no handrails and the seatbelt,well.... There are little holes under your seat to hold to but its uncomfortable(imho). I was lucky I was next to my family, so grabbing body parts.... :D

GO FOR IT!!!!!

BellhopMicah
08-06-2005, 08:24 AM
OMgoodness, micah, that sounds awsome!! But you know what, I have been on tot 3 times and do not think I can go back on. I was terrified so I had to do it, I did not want to be afraid and so I conquored my fears. But I think I will not be doing tot again, I am just " scared again " ha ha ha


I said the same thing, yet I kept on getting persuaded to ride it. :D

kohl
08-06-2005, 08:44 AM
I don't like the straight drops, but this one isn't like that. The last drop is the most, but it isn't that bad. There are places to hold on in each chair. You share it with the chair next to you, just like an airplane armrest. I KNOW there is a place to hold on because I hold on EVERY TIME! :D

CrazyTrain
08-06-2005, 09:36 AM
I get scared every single time I ride it... the build up is horrible... but once it starts moving, I don't want it to stop. :D I don't know if I'd like the WDW version... it sounds like there's a whole lot more build up! :eek:

mraw
08-06-2005, 09:46 AM
When we were at WDW and went on ToT my dad thought the elevator was in the library. He was waiting for it to drop. It was just me and my dad who went on it. And then later when we were talking about it my mom didn't know you were strapped in for the ride and thought it would be like a real elevator so she didn't go on it. I thought that was very funny.

Most (if not all) of the advertisements for Tower of Terror show people standing up like it's a regular elevator. Those ads are keeping a lot of people away from the attraction. That's a misrepresentation of the ride anyway.

Vegitabeta
08-06-2005, 09:55 AM
I searched around on the board to look for a similar thread but was unable to find one. So if their is already a thread like this, sorry for posting another one. But anyways, I'll be going to Disneyland in October. My last trip was in July of 2004 and I chickened out and didn't go on ToT lol. I really regret it now, and want to go on it during my visit in October. So I just wondered what it's like. I don't really like heights so that's another reason why I'm kind of scared. I've been on the Maliboomer and hated the beginning, but once I get to the top I was fine. So I just wondered what this ride is like. Is it anything like Drop Zone at Great America in Northern CA? TIA.

I chickened out of the Florida one three times. But I went on the DCA one last August and loved it. It's great and I think you should give it a try!

crazi4dlr
08-06-2005, 11:05 AM
Been to Great America many many times and would never ride Drop Zone. I am so very afraid of heights that I could not stand being at the top waiting for the drop to happen. I get panic attacks going over the mountains to So Lake Tahoe and want to get out and walk. It's pitiful. Having said that....

We went to DL last July and my kids rode ToT and I was way to scared to do it. Another of my big phobias are elevators, I have a fear of an real elevator dropping many stories and knowing that I'm gonna die. So to ride a ride that simulates that sounded insane to me. But I didn't want to come home and regret not trying it. It was great. We got the front row and the build up really prepares you. When the doors open at the top you feel very secure and the view of DL is amazing. Then the drops....they are in the dark and you can lose track of which direction you are going...next thing you know you're at the top again and the doors open. The drops are smooth. It's a great ride. You gotta try it and this is coming from one of the most paranoid people you would ever meet. Just ask my family. ;) BTW - I went on it twice during that trip.

Doug
08-06-2005, 11:36 AM
What?! The elevator moves into the drop shafter after the initial corridor scene?! Wild, so, the car does not move back initially like here in CA?

Also, you said there are only 4 cars? Not 6 like here in CA? Well, here the 6 cars share the 3 shafts, so, the one in WDW has 1 shaft for each car?


I see someone has already posted what happens at the HTH in California, so I'll post what happens at the HTH in Florida, incase you ever venture there as well, in a spoiler.

After winding around the entrance, you enter the lobby, which then leads to two libraries. You are taken to one of the libraries, see the preshow inside of it, and then exit to the boiler room. You are taken to one of the four service elevators and load. (You are sitting down the entire time, strapped in firmly.) You begin to ascend a few floors, and then stop. You then see one of the Hotel's corridors, and the five ghosts appear. They beckon you to join them, and they disappear. You see a window in the back of the room floating, which then cracks. The room turns dark and fills with stars, and then the elevator doors close once again. You ascend a little bit more, which now you are taken to a very bizarre room, known as the Fifth Dimension. This is when your elevator actually MOVES FOWARD, unlike the Californian version. So you move through the room, various Twilight Zone symbols appear, stars swirl about, yada yada. Then a door opens in front of you, the elevator enters it. It gets silent. Then...

YOU DROP! MUHAHAHAHA! Multiple times. Usually the bigger the drops are mean you'll drop less times, and the smaller they are you'll drop more times. Wow that was hard to type.

Anywho, there's a little bit after the drops, but it's just Rod Serling's farewell. (I certainly hope you know who Rod Serling is!) You then unload, see your picture on the screen, purchase it, whatever. Then you exit through the gift shop. (This part can be the real horror of the Hotel. :eek: )

So yeah. That's it. I didn't do the Hotel justice at all, and I probably left out something. But I hope not.

Doug
08-06-2005, 11:43 AM
Haha... did a search for "tower of terror" to find out more about the WDW version, and found this:
Tower Of Terror (not what you would expect) (http://www.ultimaterollercoaster.com/thrillrides/towerterror/)

The Genii
08-06-2005, 11:44 AM
Four load shafts in Florida, six in California.
Two drops shafts in Florida, three in Florida.

In Florida, your elevator rolls forward out of its lift shaft, through the black room with the glass cases all around you (called the Fifth Dimension Room) and then rolls into the drop shaft. As soon as you lock in place, down you go.
California is completely different. Your elevator pulls back after the initial door is closed, then goes up in the shaft and comes down in the shaft, stopping on the way up for two special effects.

Buildings are very much different.