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View Full Version : Tower of Terror at Disneyland [DCA] vs Disney World [studios]



Jimmy
05-30-2007, 08:42 AM
Are these ride the same? I say a snippet about the one in Florida and it made mention of the car traveling not only vertical but horizontal.

kennythepirate
05-30-2007, 08:56 AM
Are these ride the same? I say a snippet about the one in Florida and it made mention of the car traveling not only vertical but horizontal.

Not the same. The elevators in WDW do actually go horizontal through one scene before locking in and doing multiple drops. The drops are "randomized" at WDW too.

Drince88
05-30-2007, 08:58 AM
Without getting into too much detail - they are similar, yet different.

In Florida, you DO go forward to the drop shaft. You also have a random-sequence of drops, so, in theory, no two rides would be the same. I believe California still has one pre-programmed drop sequence. California replaced the 'going forward' part with something else that Florida doesn't have - I think the 'shadow image' of your car.

My personal opinion - I like everything about Florida better except the boiler room.

Quinten27
05-30-2007, 09:03 AM
The ride is much better in WDW, it is true that it moves forward and backward as well as doing the whole drop part. I was truly disappointed when I rode the DLR version for the first time and the elevator stayed in the shaft the whole time.

Also, in the WDW version, they make use of 3D projection technology (similiar to what you see in the HM) as you make your way down the hallway.

I think the real treat to the WDW version is that first drop though. You are "secretly" taken up in an elevator while watching the movie while waiting in line, then eventually you get in your elevator in what looks like a basement, it goes up maybe one floor, takes you down a hallway, then BAM you drop 100 feet without ever realizing you are up that high. I really wish the ride was the same at DLR.

AngelInside
05-30-2007, 10:37 AM
I also wish they had the "special seat" like at WDW. I trully like WDW way better than DCA.

PinkFloyd
05-30-2007, 11:16 AM
I also wish they had the "special seat" like at WDW. I trully like WDW way better than DCA.

I've been on both versions and I don't remember the "special seat". What is that?

KDR
05-30-2007, 04:16 PM
I think the real treat to the WDW version is that first drop though. You are "secretly" taken up in an elevator while watching the movie while waiting in line, then eventually you get in your elevator in what looks like a basement, it goes up maybe one floor, takes you down a hallway, then BAM you drop 100 feet without ever realizing you are up that high. I really wish the ride was the same at DLR.

Huh? Gee, I think I missed that part when I rode it 13 times in a row.

Quinten27
05-30-2007, 04:19 PM
Really? That was the biggest suprise for me.......I was waiting and expecting the elevator to start its climb up to go up.......dreading the fall.....and then I was falling before I knew it.

Quinten27
05-30-2007, 04:32 PM
OK, guess I have to eat my words..........after getting curious and doing a little research on the topic, I guess the video room isn't a secret elevator like I thought it was.

I guess the real deal is that you actually drop underground on the first drop, thus allowing you to drop further down then you would expect from your assummed hieght.

Either way, it was still a surprise to me. :)

geoffa
05-30-2007, 08:31 PM
At neither ride does the library move. You enter from the hotel lobby to watch the specially made black & white film starring Rod Serling. You then exit at the rear into the "lines" area - the boiler room. Note the huge boilers have a "face". At WDW the elevator's doors will close and will rise one floor and you will then see the corridor and the disappearing ghosts. The doors will close and you will rise one more floor. This is where you enter the Twilight Zone. The elevator disengages from the shaft and travels forwards. (It does it by following an electronic line on the floor - See History Channel's Modern Marvels for more details). The elevator then locks into the second shaft for the drop sequences and they are supposedly "random" as determined by the computer. You are NOT dropping. You are in fact being wound down and up the shaft by the world's largest and fastest winding gear. Wind and recorded screams are added to enhance the feeling of falling.
At DCA they do the shadow picture where you start to disappear. The doors close - note the letter and symbol form "13". The elevator then travels back away from the doors into the drop shaft. It does not travel down any corridors. The drop sequence is constant.
The new ToT at Disney Paris Studios is presumed to be a copy of the DCA one in sequence. We shall see when it opens next year.
The story of the ToT at Tokyo Disney is totally different and involves some rich businessman - Japanese people were not familiar with Twilight Zone stories and so the theming had to be adapted.

Don't rush into the library - spend a little time looking around - the notice board by the side of the damaged elevator has plastic letters, some of which have fallen off into the bottom of the case. They form a dire warning about not riding the elevator!

Outside at WDW, whilst in line check the balconies - one has a row of hidden Mickeys in its stonework. Another, more subtle one is: When you enter the lobby of the hotel, if you look to the right you will see a desk with a pair of wire rim glasses one it. The arms of the glasses which hook around the wearer's ears have been over bent and cross each other to make one large circle. When you get directly in line with the post holding the chains which form the line and the chair behind the desk, the glasses form a hidden Mickey with the arms being the head and the two round lenses becoming the ears. There's more on the chandeliers too!

KDR
05-30-2007, 08:55 PM
Don't rush into the library - spend a little time looking around - the notice board by the side of the damaged elevator has plastic letters, some of which have fallen off into the bottom of the case. They form a dire warning about not riding the elevator!

Unfortunately, while I saw the warning at WDW, to the best of my knowledge it was not duplicated at DCA. It was one of the first things I checked when I rode the attraction. Even worse, last time I was at WDW (3 1/2 years ago), I looked for the warning and it was gone!

geoffa
05-30-2007, 10:18 PM
It was 2000 when I last rode the ToT at the Studios so maybe there have been some changes.

Autopia Guy
05-30-2007, 11:12 PM
The new ToT at Disney Paris Studios is presumed to be a copy of the DCA one in sequence. We shall see when it opens next year.
The story of the ToT at Tokyo Disney is totally different and involves some rich businessman - Japanese people were not familiar with Twilight Zone stories and so the theming had to be adapted.

From what I gather, that is true for Paris. However, from what I know, the reason that the TDS ToT is different from the other ones is that the OLC did not want to have to pay royalties to CBS in addition to Disney, so they rehashed the story so that it has none of "The Twilight Zone" story in it. At least that is what I gather.


I've been on both versions and I don't remember the "special seat". What is that?

I think that is the seat belt seat that is the middle of the back row. The one in Florida if I remember correctly is lap bars and not individual seat belts.


I guess the real deal is that you actually drop underground on the first drop, thus allowing you to drop further down then you would expect from your assummed hieght.

Either way, it was still a surprise to me. :)

Remember, in the Florida one, you come into the drop shaft about half way up. There is plenty of room for a drop or two in that with the mechanics of that ride. As for the DCA one, those first 2 drops are not that extreme, so they can easily be done in the distance that the elevator has gone up. And what it does go up seems to be way more than just 2 floors. Again, you probably end up about half way up the tower before the drop portion of the ride starts.

Mr.Abominable
05-30-2007, 11:51 PM
I do agree that WDW version of TOT is definatly better. The 5th dimension room makes a huge difference and I love seeing the little girl in the drop shaft...SCARY!!!:eek:

Drince88
05-31-2007, 04:07 AM
I think that is the seat belt seat that is the middle of the back row. The one in Florida if I remember correctly is lap bars and not individual seat belts.

They've changed it - they're all seat belts now.

Jimmy
05-31-2007, 05:49 AM
we have only been to the dca TOT and my boy was so afraid to get on this ride the first time. Someone in his class told him there were ghosts which was the build up to the drop show in the ride. So he was hanging onto my arm the entire ride.

It was one of our top 5 rides of the trip

The old man
05-31-2007, 11:25 AM
I believe, from my last visit last year, that the TOT at DCA is now randomized.

Another Dimension
05-31-2007, 02:54 PM
I believe, from my last visit last year, that the TOT at DCA is now randomized.


Nope. Not yet. :(
It's the exact same drop profile every ride at DCA... and has been the same since just after opening... when the middle drop/floater was added.



Disney is still making DCA wait for it's drop profile changes.

snappy
05-31-2007, 04:11 PM
MGM-Tower Of Terror is Superior to the DCA version. DCA version is good, but if you've ever rode the MGM version they don't compare! The 5th Dimension room is AWESOME and caught me by surprise! DCA version I would say is the cheaper version of the 2, +/- a million dollars:eek:

Another Dimension
05-31-2007, 08:21 PM
DCA version I would say is the cheaper version of the 2, +/- a million dollars:eek:

It was about $20-$30 million cheaper.. at least.

But the DCA Tower won't need the expensive infrastructure update the WDW had to get for Tower 4... the DCA tower was pre-designed for it.

The WDW Tower was essentially shaking itself to pieces on the inside from the more intense and longer Tower 2 and Tower 3 profiles, before the Tower 4 'whole-tower upgrades'. Which most certainly weren't just new FX and additional drops, then 'randomized'.


The DCA Tower will never have the frequently breaking-down, yet legendary 5th Dimension forward movement... but the drop profiles will eventually get closer to the WDW Tower. Sooner or later.


Sooner or later ... also with Tower 5 now being delayed back East. :(


There was absolutely no room for the WDW Tower at DCA... and early on that design wasn't at all in favor at TDA with it's increased cost of building, increasing cost of extra maintenance, it's additional CM labor costs and of it's frequent breakdowns due to the extensive forward movement compared to the cheaper Tower.

TDA didn't choose the cheaper and smaller Tower to make Disney fans mad.
Like some, on other websites, have suggested.
:rolleyes:

snappy
05-31-2007, 11:37 PM
It was about $20-$30 million cheaper.. at least.

But the DCA Tower won't need the expensive infrastructure update the WDW had to get for Tower 4... the DCA tower was pre-designed for it.

The WDW Tower was essentially shaking itself to pieces on the inside from the more intense and longer Tower 2 and Tower 3 profiles, before the Tower 4 'whole-tower upgrades'. Which most certainly weren't just new FX and additional drops, then 'randomized'.


The DCA Tower will never have the frequently breaking-down, yet legendary 5th Dimension forward movement... but the drop profiles will eventually get closer to the WDW Tower. Sooner or later.


Sooner or later ... also with Tower 5 now being delayed back East. :(


There was absolutely no room for the WDW Tower at DCA... and early on that design wasn't at all in favor at TDA with it's increased cost of building, increasing cost of extra maintenance, it's additional CM labor costs and of it's frequent breakdowns due to the extensive forward movement compared to the cheaper Tower.

TDA didn't choose the cheaper and smaller Tower to make Disney fans mad.
Like some, on other websites, have suggested.
:rolleyes:

Great information on both rides! DCA version and WDW version. I only wished like many others that TDA would have gone that extra mile and installed the WDW version instead. It's only human nature to compare and contrast attractions at both parks and make the comparisons. Both rides are fun in their own special ways.

squirrel44
06-02-2007, 06:25 AM
The special seat at WDW was in the middle of the back row and it was the only one to have a seatbelt, this was in 2000. Not sure if this has been changed.

Does the DCA one have seatbelts? Would anyone recommend letting an almost 4 yr old ride the DCA ToT?

kiki
06-02-2007, 09:07 AM
The special seat at WDW was in the middle of the back row and it was the only one to have a seatbelt, this was in 2000. Not sure if this has been changed.


Does the DCA one have seatbelts? Would anyone recommend letting an almost 4 yr old ride the DCA ToT?

ToT at DCA does have seatbelts. In regards to a 4 yr old, it depends on them. Let him/her see it first and let them decide. I have two 4 yr olds, one loves it and the other wont have anything to do with it.:)

AngelInside
06-02-2007, 10:15 AM
I've been on both versions and I don't remember the "special seat". What is that?

the one in Florida had only lap bars in the rows, then in the very back row there was a middle seat where the aisle is, and that was only a link chain. For our honeymooon the CM gave the "special seat" to my hubby and it was so great to see his face on the picture.
That's too bad in they changed it, I wish it were the same, we're planning on taking our daughter next year, and wanted to let her sit there.

Malcon10t
06-02-2007, 02:33 PM
Does the DCA one have seatbelts? Would anyone recommend letting an almost 4 yr old ride the DCA ToT?I took 2 nieces on it. One was 4, having just turned 4, while the other was 4 close to being 5. Older one loved it, the younger one did not. The younger one is the more outgoing. I think it would be up to your child. As long as they make the height requirement. BTW - Is that the same at WDW? 40"?