Is the Tower of Terror in the wrong place at Disney Studios?

[DisneyMickey]

Does anyone think that the tower is in the wrong location in the park? Shouldn't they have pushed it off to the side somewhere and created a Hollywood or Sunset Blvd. leading up to it? Disney Studios is suppose to be a working studio, so why exactly is there a Hollywood Hotel sitting in the center of it? Is its location supposed to help shift away from a working studio theme to a fantasy Hollywood theme like MGM?

[Malin]

Re: Is the Tower of Terror in the wrong place at Disney Studios?

Couldn't agree with you more DisneyMickey its also ruins one of the very few things that this Studio park actually got right with the 1930's studio lot.It looks stupid to have this enormous hotel towering above all three soundstages.Disney have always wanted to build a copy of the TOT inside the Studios however instead of creating a fantasic theme area for this attraction to its just dumped inside the middle of the park.

Seems to me everything that TDS got right with its TOT, WDS is getting very wrong.Oh well atleast the colour of the building should fit well with the rest of the park.

[pussnboots]

Re: Is the Tower of Terror in the wrong place at Disney Studios?

Yes, it is.

In an ideal, no not even ideal, in an adequate situation, they would have put the Tower in a space that seperates itself from this "working studio" thing. Just like they did at the Disney-MGM Studios, really. And they had such a good plan worked out for this, too, by moving the Tram Tour entrance and creating a grand avenue starting at the hub. You've all heard it.

Instead, what they're doing now is building and spending millions on a foundation that's flimsy as a crêpe, leaving the park doomed no matter what. Just like DCA. Well, they are.

[soundtracker]

Re: Is the Tower of Terror in the wrong place at Disney Studios?

I quite agree that Peter McGrath's original proposal to place the Tower at the end of a new Hollywood Boulevard (as detailed in Peter Bell's final column) would have been fantastic, but I think we need to be realistic here. There was no way they could have done that and had money left to build the new Toon Studio attractions, or start the placemaking that's currently underway.

It really came down to a compromise - work with the space they already had or build a new section specifically for one big E-ticket. At the end of the day I think they made a wise decision to use the plot of land that was originally earmarked for the Tower.

For a start, it gives the park a huge, central landmark, which should tie all the disparate sections of the park together. And secondly, don't forget that if everything goes according to plan, we will still get our Hollywood Boulevard, and the Tower will still form a part of it. It will simply stand at the opposite end.

As it stands, I think there will be some sort of visual separation between the Tower and the rest of the Production Courtyard, and if all the placemaking plans go ahead, there could be even more. So I think we can afford to cut the Imagineers a bit of slack on this one. Even when the ride's complete, its surroundings will still be a work in progress.

[pussnboots]

Re: Is the Tower of Terror in the wrong place at Disney Studios?

For a start, it gives the park a huge, central landmark, which should tie all the disparate sections of the park together.

It doesn't tie squat together. In order to do that it would have to be able to represent the entire park. The Tower of Terror doesn't even make thematic sense in it, let alone represent the place.

I mean really, basically what's happening here is that a random thrill ride with a very specific theme is becoming the very landmark of this park. Which is no good.

[DisneyMickey]

Re: Is the Tower of Terror in the wrong place at Disney Studios?

Perhaps its part of a larger plan, but I still think it's too large and too dramatic to be in the dead center, let alone the icon. A park's icon shouldn't be a structurally damaged building.

[MasterGracey]

Re: Is the Tower of Terror in the wrong place at Disney Studios?

A park's icon shouldn't be a structurally damaged building.

Perhaps the structurally-damaged building is meant to be a metaphor for the themeatically-damaged park?

[The Goddess Mara]

Re: Is the Tower of Terror in the wrong place at Disney Studios?

The park is such a mess.
But, the Tower really does need to be precisely where they're building it because without it, you can stand in the center of the park and see everything. The Tower will prevent that, and actully enrich the simple experience of walking around and taking everything in because it won't all be visible at a glance.

[soundtracker]

Re: Is the Tower of Terror in the wrong place at Disney Studios?

Well I just got back from a weekend at the park, and I stand by my original statement. The Tower really helps give the Studios Park a definite centre and focal point. In fact, it has far more presence than I had anticipated, based on all the photos I'd seen. And don't forget that we have yet to see what they're going to do in terms of landscaping around the ride itself. I don't think it'll just be plonked down in the middle of a load of tarmac, à la California Adventure.

[figment1986]

Re: Is the Tower of Terror in the wrong place at Disney Studios?

Dont forget... if this works well, Soarin could be built near by...

and you have people running to get a FP for one ride, and ride the other... then see the stunt show and have fun in pixar studios...

[DisneyMickey]

Re: Is the Tower of Terror in the wrong place at Disney Studios?

Well perhaps it blocks ugly sightlines...we shall its real impact in about 3 to 4 years I would guess.

[fizzog]

Re: Is the Tower of Terror in the wrong place at Disney Studios?

I never really thought about the Tower's location before, I just thought, 'Ooh, ToT, this is gonna save the park so let's get excited' lol. I think if they did some major placemaking in Production Courtyard it maybe could work. I mean really, If the entire Prod. Courtyard was made into a Sunset Boulevard kind of thing.

The attractions would slide into place rather nicely. Cinemagique could be done out as the front of the El Capitan Theatre, The Tower of Terror, well, no explanation needed, and the TV Studios, though ideally they'd be destroyed, they could sort of work as 'Sunset TV Studios' or something. This would be extended behind the tower too, and the tram tour would become 'Backlot Tour' and reside in, *drum roll* the backlot. And of course there's always the European and New York sets to be done behind there.

The only problem with this is, going out from an indoor sunset blvd, (Studio 1), to an outdoor one could be problematic. Peter Bell wrote about it becoming a New York theme, which I certainly think is worse as regards to the Tower's location than the current situation. Studio 1 could be changed I guess, maybe a soundstage full of lots of different genre sets which have streetmospheres and interactive toys such as camera and lights for visitors. Wow, I let my imagination run a bit wild there, thanks if you could bebothered to read this far lol.

[ni_teach]

Re: Is the Tower of Terror in the wrong place at Disney Studios?

I think that the better question is... is anything in the "right place"? The Disney Studios has got to have the strangest layout that I have ever seen.

I never really thought about the Tower's location before, I just thought, 'Ooh, ToT, this is gonna save the park so let's get excited' lol.

Save the Park? That's what they said about the DCA version and look how well that worked out.

[fizzog]

Re: Is the Tower of Terror in the wrong place at Disney Studios?

I don't still think it'll save the park, that's the point, I got too excited too soon since this project has been planned from the beginning and much anticipated.

[milo_vhw]

Re: Is the Tower of Terror in the wrong place at Disney Studios?

Save the Park? That's what they said about the DCA version and look how well that worked out.

[TDLFAN]

Re: Is the Tower of Terror in the wrong place at Disney Studios?

To be fair to WDSP's TOT, the entire DLRP is located in the wrong country and continent, so it doesn't matter. Does it?

[Redsix]

Re: Is the Tower of Terror in the wrong place at Disney Studios?

The only real place the TOT fits is DCA.

[TDLFAN]

Re: Is the Tower of Terror in the wrong place at Disney Studios?

I disagree. The only place a TOT really fit is the new concept at TDS, since the whole storyline and look was especially created to fix into the American Waterfront theme and overall storyline. TOTs at MGM and DCA, and possibly WDSP, had to have a TV/studio connection to "make" them fit intheir enviroments... reason why the whole Twilight theme has always felt forced to me since day 1.

[tloolgb]

Re: Is the Tower of Terror in the wrong place at Disney Studios?

No, there is a theme based off the tv show...but the Twilight Zone is not a studio theme...a studio theme would at the end do the "and this is how it is done" like say Catastrophe Canyon.

[TDLFAN]

Re: Is the Tower of Terror in the wrong place at Disney Studios?

TV or movie studio theme attached to any particular attraction... it's all the same to me. I am not talking about film and TV production as an attraction in itself, and not talking about cheap behind the scenes look in some cheap studio tour tram either.