Screams fill the air, whether they are out of fear, pain or joy, no one knows. The line slowly disperses through the doors of an abandoned hotel. The group shivers, but not because they’re cold. As they’re jammed into seats and strapped down, the elevator begins to move. Sitting there, they wonder what will happen next but before they can even ask, they drop straight down.
The Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios in Disney World, is an extremely popular attraction that is ridden by millions of people yearly. A group is brought into the room of a seemingly abandoned hotel, where they watch a clip from The Twilight Zone, the show that the ride is based off of. The video sets the scene for what is supposed to happen to those who enter the elevator. The group is then put into an elevator and buckled in. Waiting anxiously for the drop, the group sits there until the rest of the ride begins.
The line goes through the front of the hotel, which has wonderful decorations, as they wait to ride. The story and scenery feels so real that it’s usually the main reason for fear. The Tower of Terror’s drop is not really scary; however, the wait leading up to the ride is quite nerve-wracking.
Once the ride itself begins, the fact that the rider doesn’t know when they are going to drop, sends the final burst of terror through their bodies before they fall. The drop is 13 stories long, making your stomach seem to float upward, while your body is thrown down. You scream because you don’t know what else to do. Besides, everyone else is doing the same thing. All too soon, the ride ends. Feeling infinite, people rush off of the ride in pursuit of the next attraction.
Overall, the ride is thrilling and the story is very clever. One can easily tell that it is well organized and designed by marvelous minds. If I were asked to ride it once more, I’d hop right back on that 5 star hotel’s elevator and ride it again.
