Disney Doll takes on the Tower of Terror!!!
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DisneyDoll · 04-27-2004, 08:54 PM

<font color="purple"> Bonnie (aka Disney Doll) takes on the Tower of Terror and lived to write this TR

Monday the 26th was one of the AP Preview days for the new Tower of Terror attraction at DCA slated to open officially May 5. I pre-registered for this event…you even had to schedule a time to ride. I chose between noon and 1pm. So Monday morning I headed up the 5 freeway from San Diego to Anaheim.

I arrived just after 10am (which was opening time) and headed for Disneyland Park first. Up first on the agenda was a ride on Indy. This has been down for rehab for 4 months and I was anxious to see the updated results. It was sad to see how many of the rides special effects had ceased to operate over the last few years and how they were never repaired. Well, they are now!! It really is the little details that make the difference between a good ride and a great one. A few of the fixed and/or updated repairs includes: more fire in the large temple chamber, the green laser lights that shoot from Mara’s eyes are working, moving skeletons, and just a crisper more detailed view of everything. The ride’s technology was updated also and the results are a bumpier, faster but neater or tighter ride. All in all…very satisfying!

I skipped over Pirates today and jumped into the Haunted Mansion. There were sooo many little kids on this today and they were all scared out of their wits. I felt sorry for them. I remember my parents taking me on this before I even started school. When I heard the ghost host tell us there were no doors and no windows, I totally freaked. I remember being sooo scared. Anyways…I didn’t ride it again for years. So I say shame on parents who make little kids go on stuff they just don’t want to. Anywho.it was great as always.

By the way, it was hot. I mean really sweltering, stinking, hotter then the hinges of Hades kinda hot. It was 101 degrees I later learned. Thank God Disney really cranks up the AC to artic temps. So being ever so hot, Splash Mountain was ever so packed. At 11:00 the wait was 75 min long and this was Monday! I grabbed a FP and headed to get some cash from the ATM in Frontierland. I forgot to stop along the way. They charge you a $2.00 service fee for getting $$ from their ATM’s which always makes me mad. Always get your money first.

I was hungry (that’s why I went to get $$$ in the first place). And since I’d never tried the fried cheesecake at Ranch Del Zocalo and since I was standing right in front of it I decided to go for that. The CM at the door was really sweet. He led me inside and pointed out all the desserts and explained what each one was. I didn’t need him to do that but I could tell he was a bit sweet on me so I let him gush on. I chose the cheesecake thinger. First of all, it’s not “fried cheesecake” it a flanta. And it’s really a churro like outer crust rolled in cinnamon sugar and filled with cream cheese. The whole thing is fried and sprinkled with powdered sugar and then drizzled with warm caramel sauce topped off with whipped cream and if that’s not enough for you how about some red and green colored apple flavored sauce decoratively drizzled on the plate? Sound good? Well let me tell you that this was the most heavenly thing I’ve ever had!!! And worth the $6.00! That same CM came out to my table later and asked how I liked it. “Amazing” I told him. We talked for about 10 min or so and then he went back to work. He was a good kid.

OK Guess what time it was? TOT time! Why did I just eat that decadent thing before allowing my body to be plunged down an elevator shaft at top speeds? That was dumb.

So I cut out of DL and lugged by bloated self across the esplanade to DCA. At TOT I was told I had to check in (no pun intended I’m sure) at the Hollywood and Dine Restaurant. I got my little pre-reservation ticket and headed back.

***SPOILER ALERT**** IF you don’t want to know the TOT details you can skip this next part.***

Unlike Orlando there is no outdoor theming to set the stage. You just walk right into the lobby. Now I personally thought the lobby décor and theme was a little sparse and was lacking a lot of the details that it’s Florida sister has. But others that went on have said they thought it looked great. It did look good, just not as great as it could have. So after you move through the short lobby waiting area, you are ushered into one of two libraries. The library is almost identical to WDW’s. The TV crackles on and Rod Serling gives his schpiel. There is thunder and lightning going on outside.

After the preshow, you head into the boiler room. Here’s a TIP for you…there is two loading levels, one is on the entrance level and the other is upstairs. So if you don’t or can’t climb up a lot of stairs get into the line on the right as you exit the library. This line stays on level one.

The boiler room totally rocks!! Mood lighting casts shadows in blue, purple and green shades and I loved the clanking and clashing sound accompanied by this background music that was very creepy. Actually it wasn’t so much what I’d call music as I would ghostly haunting type sounds. The lights flickered on and off and the furnace towers over you and it has a creepy face. Yep that’s right. The furnace has a creepy face.

My wait time was about 15 min and I was getting nervous. Finally we boarded onto our elevators. There are three elevators and 6 boarding areas. They were only running 2 loading areas on the first level the day I was there. I don’t know about upstairs. Probably the same. I lucked out on my seat. Front row center!! Love it!!!

The CM did his little bellhop speech about enjoying our stay and we headed up. First stop was a hallway that ran horizontally in front of you with a large mirror. You could see your reflection in the mirror (make sure you wave to yourself because that is what everyone does) slowly your image fades to that of a ghostly nature and then you disappear altogether though the elevator still reflects. Then there is a lot of lighting that flashes across the hallway. The doors close and you continue up.

The next stop is the Twilight Zone. The vertical hallway has our ghostly hotel guests waving to us and beckoning us to join them. Their image starts to distort and is replaced by the star field. Then all h*ll breaks loose. The car plummets, only a little the first time though. But enough to force a scream out of everyone in the car, yours truly included. We haul up again at top speed this time only to be suddenly dropped again! Then hauled up to the top where the doors open up over the parks. Then long drop comes. Then screeches to a halt. Then up and down one more time. It’s got to be over I think!! Oh, but it’s not! Back up to the very top where the doors open once again over the parks and then back down you go!!! When we stopped and the doors opened we all applauded. CM’s were waiting to quiz us about how we liked the ride.

So how did I like it? Glad you asked. The crazy up and down had me a bit discombobulated at one point (I couldn’t tell if we were going up, down or what) it’s very disorienting especially when the star field stretches out in front of you, more so then WDW. But I completely loved it and I’m going back with my stepson’s weekend after next for another go! Word of warning: Don’t eat churro like cheesecake stuffed crispy things with caramel sauce, powdered sugar and whipped cream before riding.

***SPOLIER ALERT OVER***

I browsed the TOT gift shop a bit and called my husband to tell him I did it. Didn’t buy anything because I didn’t see anything I totally loved. My Disney buying rule, by the way, is that I must totally love something before I buy it.

It was hot…did I mention that it was hot? And so what a perfect day to ride Grizzly River Rapids. So I hiked on up that way. But the line was at 60 min long and I just didn’t want to stand outside that long in this heat. FP was for after 4pm and I had wanted to get going before then, you know, beat the traffic and all. So I decided to just head back to DL and use my Splash Mountain FP.

My FP time was not up yet but I really needed to get out of the heat for a bit. I should add here that inside the TOT it was hot. I know it’s a boiler room and all but I could do without that much theming and have them TURN ON THE AC!!! I was passing by Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln when I felt the sweet seduction of ice-cold air pouring out. In the 25 years I’ve been coming to DL, I’ve never done this. The lobby area has a lot of nice little tributes to Walt and a set up of his formal office from the studios. A CM gives a little talk about what some of the things that are in the office and assures us that it is all authentic. His actual stuff. Very cool. A neat piece of trivia I did not know was that Walt holds the Guinness World Record for most Oscars ever won by a single individual. Want to guess how many? I’ll let you guys wager some guesses and tell you later.

Towards the back of the lobby is a tribute to Lincoln with a huge stone carved model of the Capitol Building that was done in 1930-something. The CM handed out headphones and said we would have to wear them for the show. After a brief preshow movie in the lobby the theater doors opened. There were so few people that it was easy to get a nice seat up close in the center. The show is very nice and the surround sound in your head is a really nice touch. The final part of the show features the animatronics Lincoln giving the Gettysburg address. This is, of course, the highlight of the show. If you have been to Disneyland countless times and have not done this, it is very worthwhile to do. If this is your first time I would skip it unless it is: A) not at all crowded and you have the time or B) if it is stinking a** hot because it was a regular Alaska inside the theatre!

Guess what? I missed my FP time for Splash Mountain. I probably still could have used it. I doubt I would have been turned away. But I didn’t feel like walking all the way back to Critter Country. So I ended up skiving off on it. I walked up Main St. Oh, I wanted to tell you how great Main St. is looking these days. City Hall has recently been painted along with the Market House and the Plaza Pavilion and the freshness it wonderful. The colors are a little brighter and looked beautiful. The olive trees around the hub are gone with only 4 trees left standing there. I don’t know what kind of trees they were, I want to call them cherry trees because of all the pink blossoms. They were just gorgeous. You can actually see all of the castle from the end of Main St. Just the overall effect of the all the spring flowers and the castle and the freshness was just magical. Now everyone say “ohhhh” and “ahhhhh.”

I walked through the castle and stopped to watch the swans swimming in the moat. I meandered through Fantasyland but didn’t go on anything. Just took the atmosphere in. I thought about hopping on Matterhorn but decided I’d save it for next time. I ended up back on Main St. after cutting back around through Tomorrowland. I grabbed a hot dog and a soda at the Corner Café and sat under a tree in the hub to eat. I saw Belle and Cruella De Vil. I wished I’d had my camera with me because I should have liked a picture with Cruella. She was very good too. She was waving her cigarette holder around and looking very tired and bored with everyone who wanted her autograph. I got a kick out of it.

I shopped now. I knew I wanted the Sleeping Beauty print from Disneyana. As it turned out I let the CM talk me into buying it framed. Which was rawther expensive. But kept telling myself that I could never have just the print by itself matted and framed as elegantly as this was and it passed my test; I totally loved it. So besides that horrendous expense, I also got myself the Tiki Room’s 40th anniversary T-shirt. There is a whole line of nice things celebrating the Tiki Room’s birthday but I figured I would just have the shirt. For now. Well now that I’m out of money it’s time to go home.

Actually it was time to go. I had my painting (which is sill hiding in the trunk of my car from my husband…we are moving next week and I’ll just slip it in the new house then) I was tired and hot and it was about 3:30pm, which meant I was just in time for traffic!

Lots of traffic later I arrived home at 5:00 (after missing my freeway exit and having to take a 20 min route to get back to it…what a dumb!) But it was one of the happiest days I’ve had in the Magic Kingdom in a long time!

Thanks for reading this everyone.

T.T.F.N.

Bonnie

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**Colexis Mom** · 04-28-2004, 11:22 AM

Thanks for sharing Bonnie

I can't believe how hot it is there

Any your fried cheesecake sounded very yummy

Glad you survived the Terror

and enjoyed your day there

infinity&beyond · 04-29-2004, 03:15 PM

Thanks for the report! You sound like a girl after my own heart!! Shopping rules. I almost bought the Tiki Room t-shirt myself! It was WAY hot in LA this week, I was down there on business, glad the AC was nearby!

Looking forward to a stay at the DL Tower of Terror myself, but it'll have to wait until I get back from WDW and pay the bills

loobyoxlip · 05-01-2004, 05:15 PM

Heh, Bonnie. I didn't know you were going to be there on Mon. We could have met up! We rode ToT 2 days ago. We loved it. We also went to Great Moments w/Mr. Lincoln on Mon. (but around 5) to get out of that heat!!