The first major expansion of Disney's California Adventure saw the May 2004 addition of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Located in its own mini neighborhood just around the corner from the Hollywood Pictures studio, the attraction brings to life the glamour of the Golden Age of movies in the form of the Hollywood Tower Hotel.
Based on the original Tower of Terror at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida, this version of the attraction is unique in many ways. To better fit its surroundings, the hotel was designed in the Pueblo-Deco style, a fusion of Southwest, Mission and Art-Deco influences. The structure was also sunk 40 ft into the ground to avoid visual intrusion on adjacent Disneyland. Operationally, the attraction features a two-level boiler room loading area, allowing for needed capacity requirements, and three drop shafts, containing all the elements of the show.
Just as in the Florida original, details abound which help tell the story of a once-grand Hollywood hotel that has fallen into disrepair since the mysterious events of Halloween night 1939. A billboard on a nearby gate is faded but recalls the elegance of a bygone era, filled with "Dancing nightly at the Tip Top Club." The fountains at the hotel entrance are dried up and decaying. Inside, the lobby gives the appearance that it was abandoned in an instant. It's almost as if everyone just suddenly disappeared and stepped over into... The Twilight Zone.
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