Twilight Zone Tower of Terror - A Thrillseeker's Perspective
by ferres - Written: May 26 '05 (Updated May 27 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Amazing freefall, amazing creepy theme!
Cons: Somewhat low-capacity by nature
The Bottom Line: This is THE freefall for thrillseekers! If you get scared easily, prepare to be terrified!
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| ferres's Full Review: The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror |
At nearly 21 years old, this avid park-goer finally made her first trip to Disney World. In our May 17-20, Tues-Fri stay, I ended up snagging the famous FREEFALL TOWER first thing in the morning on Thursday. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is located in the park "MGM Studios", and a very far 3 o'clock from the park's center. On Wednesday, the day before, I had found the Magic Kingdom to have a pleasant lack of lines early in the day for the thrillseeking class, but I was still very wary of ToT lines since 1)This is one of the most popular rides in all of Disney and 2)It is relatively low-capacity.
My mom and I weren't ready to go to the park until 8:30am and so decided to take the taxi hanging outside our lodge instead of waiting for the MGM Studios bus to arrive. We ended up getting there at 8:45am (15 minutes before park opening), whereas the bus would have not arrived quite in time. Although the taxi from Animal Kingdom Lodge to MGM was a whopping $8, it was a good thing we opted for it, because the Tower of Terror actually had a RUNNING OF THE BULLS.
There was a thick crowd waiting at the boundaries in the MGM plaza, similar to what I see at Six Flags New England. I tactfully threaded my mom and myself through a store with double doors to get as close to the front as possible before the stampede started. I heard someone shout "...Rock & Roller Coaster or Tower of Terror. If you are going to either of these two things first, follow the bellhops." These apparently were the pace-guards! The migration wasn't quite as ruthless as that toward Superman Ride of Steel, but it still required some pretty tactful ballet and fast walking to keep your position.
WELCOME TO THE BEST-THEMED QUEUE LINE I HAVE EVER SEEN
I was the eighth person to enter the queue line...or should I say creepy hotel garden? From far away, the Tower looks as seen on TV: Broad, enclosed, 13 stories tall, brownish with "HOLLYWOOD TOWER" in large letters at the top. Close up, one finds a long lattice walkway covered in vines. Overall it looks like a REAL hotel you might accidentally book, take a look at first-hand, and then cancel your reservation.
The queue winds inside the hotel itself, and woooow it is actually big enough to BE a hotel...tables, telephones, creepy statues and other cobweb-covered props decorate the architecturally-gifted interior. After my ride, I guided my mom through the queue just so she could see it, and I saw many people taking pictures!
There were bellhops at the desk to welcome groups of people into a separate room(s), where we watched a brief Twilight-Zone style introduction to the experience. It resembled a library and I remembered a tip from the WDW Unofficial Guide: "Go to the far corner of the library". Sure enough, that was where the door opens to let you onto the ride, so you can get first pick of seats. But keep in mind that the bellhops try to organize you so to fit the maximum people in the ride vehicles. Since I was a single, they let me stay in my first choice of back-center (where the lone seatbelt-only seat was supposed to be). After getting settled, I realized that EVERY seat had only seatbelts, not just mine! Musta been modified.
QUICK SUMMARY: The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is without a doubt THE most fun and thrilling freefall ride I have ever ridden. You never see this on TV...but this is not just a freefall ride; it also includes outstanding special effects to completely scare the twilight out of you! They have greatly modified it to include SEVERAL large drops, and I could hardly believe that a freefall ride could satiate a thrillseeker like this! For a non-thrillseeker however, it IS very terrifying. It also matches the theme of a creepy elevator perfectly, which I greatly enjoyed since I am a fan of creepy elevators as well as freefall rides.
WARNING, THE REST OF THIS REVIEW DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS
Each of the two elevators has a few rows of seats, all facing the same way auditorium-style. There is an aisle in the middle leading to the back-center seat where I was, so I had a very good view. I would expect the front seats also to have the best view, although it might be good everywhere, and the back allows one to feel higher throughout the ride. The vehicles were just like elevators, with a floor (no hanging feet) and a ceiling, so I never had the feeling of falling out.
The major special effect that caught me by surprise even before any dropping started was violent and hair-raising shaking and shifting of the vehicle! When you expect a freefall that will drop straight down some kind of track, what you do NOT want is rattling as though it is going to break down! But...THAT'S THE IDEA!! Then we see this view in our window...a view of a creepy room, probably one of the floors of our "hotel". But then, the elevator lurches and we move forward straight INTO the room, and the scene then changes over into a starry night as seen on the Twilight Zone! I am assuming it is some sort of amazing simulation but my god, it seemed so real. The environment is made more creepy by the Twilight Zone music playing. Quite a few times I had asked myself why this seemed so creepy, and then I realized it was because this was the TWILIGHT ZONE Tower of Terror!
We feel the G-force as we move up, and up onto the 13th floor of the haunted hotel. We can see that this is real progress, since the windows in front of us are open and we see the actual MGM Studios landscape...no simulation here. At one of our stops, we suddenly plummet! I raise my arms and allow the stomach-wrenching feeling to chase a scream from my throat. The drop occurs in complete darkness so there is no way to tell how far you have to drop, just like in a real broken elevator (not that I've been in a broken elevator, but I HAVE ridden NYC elevators that take 10 whole stories to accelerate down, and they are FUN). After the initial freefall surprise, the thing keeps accelerating, removing the pressure from under your gut even more severely.
Screams erupt as smaller bounces occur, as well as several more full-fledged 13-story freefalls. Up, and plunge again, the terror never ends. It is awesome how scary the freefall feelings were, with their size and the minimal seatbelt restraints, all the while knowing you were not going to fall out (b/c of the ceiling). I was thoroughly thrilled.
By the time I finished my ride, the line had built up to a maximum of only 10 minutes.
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Families
Best Time to Travel Here: Mar - May
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