The Twilight Zone: Tower of Terror, is a free fall ride inspired by the TV show, the Twilight Zone on CBS. It debuted on July 22, 1994 at Disney's MGM Studios, now called Disney's Hollywood Studios. The ride has four lifts, eight vehicles, and two drop shafts. There have been four other versions of the ride found at other Disney parks: Disney’s California Adventure, Tokyo DisneySea (which isn’t themed to the Twilight Zone), and Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris. The ride is 3 minutes, 10 seconds long and 199 feet high.

After entering the park, turn right after the main street, which leads to Sunset Boulevard. In this area, you may find other attractions, such as Rock 'n Roller Coaster: Starring Aerosmith, the nighttime spectacle, Fantasmic, and the Beauty and the Beast live show. Going past the walkway to the Fantasmic stadium, you will find a passageway to the queue, gift shop, and exit for the ride. Fast passes can be found before going through the passageway.

The beginning to the queue has two entrances, one being the standby entrance and the other being the fast pass entrance. In the main queue, it seems like you are in a nice, calm walk to a hotel. There is lots of luscious scenery and vegetation. Entering the lobby, there is plenty of 1939 abandoned hotel theming. Many cobwebs, red velvet chairs, and sofas dot the room, and even a red velvet handrail separates the standby and fast pass queues. You then enter one of two pre-show rooms, both themed to a library. After everyone enters the room, a 12-inch, 1930’s TV plays the pre-show. [/rightbox] The pre-show talks about the story of the attraction: the Hollywood Tower Hotel was abandoned in 1939 due to five passengers in an elevator disappearing into the Twilight Zone during a stormy night. You are then told to board a maintenance elevator. After the TV darkens, a door to the boiler room opens, and you head out of the library. The line splits into two parts, one going to two of the four elevators, the other one going to the remaining two. One of the lines goes to the corner while the other one cuts through the middle. Once getting through the split queues, you will be asked how many are in your group by the ride attendant and will be assigned a seat number.

Once the door to the elevator opens, you will walk to the seat assigned to you. The elevator’s seating has three rows with an aisle up the middle, separating into two groups of four seats on one side and three on the other. The elevator has tiered seating, so you can see over the people in front of you. Once the thumbs up is given, you begin your ascent to the fifth dimension. Rod Serling, the host of the Twilight Zone TV show announces, “You are passengers on a most uncommon elevator. You are about to ascend into your own episode of the Twilight Zone,” but you must make one stop first.

You halt on one of the floors and see a corridor with ghostly images of the people that disappeared in 1939. These images are made using the Pepper's ghost effects made famous by the Magic Kingdom’s Haunted Mansion attraction. These images will shatter with flashes of lightning, and then fade to the window at the far end of the hallway. The window then explodes into millions of pieces. The door closes shut and Serling’s voice says in that Twilight Zone voice of his, “One stormy night long ago, five people stepped through the doors of an elevator and into a nightmare. That door is opening once again, and this time, it’s opening for you.” The door slides open again to reveal the fifth dimension scene. You then slide horizontally towards the drop shaft. You pass many famous Twilight Zone icons, including e=mc2, the crazy clock, and the breaking window. And throughout this segment, that weird, bizarre Twilight Zone theme song is playing. One more sliding door opens with a hiss, and then the elevator halts one more time. “You are about to discover what lies beyond the fifth dimension, in the Tower of Terror,” says Serling.

At the last word of that quote, you are dropped and lifted in a random order, with two elements in place in each distinct experience of this ride. That is why Florida has the slogan, “Never the Same Fear Twice,” for this attraction. There is that one really sudden jump and one big drop that brings you to the very top of the tower, where the on-ride photo captures screaming faces, then drops you all the way to the basement. After a series of randomized drops, the ride finally falls to the bottom floor again. You then slow down to a halt very smoothly. The screen in front of you shows the historic vortex from the Twilight Zone[/i]. The ride ends with Rod Serling saying, “A warm welcome back to those of you who made it, and a friendly word of warning; something you won’t find in any guidebook. The next time you check into a deserted hotel on the dark side of Hollywood, make sure you know what kind of vacancy you’re filling. Or you may find yourself a permanent resident of the Twilight Zone.” You then exit to the gift shop where you can view and purchase your ride photo, various T-Shirts and other accessories.

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is very well themed by the “Imagineers” of Disney and has many thrilling and scary moments. It also has a randomized pattern of drops and will definitely catch first time riders by surprise. And those final words by Rod Serling will send a chill down your spine, “…Or you may find yourself a permanent resident of the Twilight Zone.”