Tower of Terror effects status watch

[dreynolds1982]

I used to work at ToT (retail, in the gift shop/photo sales) back in 2002 so rode it more times than I could count. Have since ridden it nearly every year, including recently. Being that I've ridden it so much and experienced it inside and out (literally), I do notice bad show, poor audio, etc. more than most. That being said, I don't think any of the current issues are so noticeable as to significantly decrease the average guest experience (though I'm sure that is debatable). Unfortunately, Disney is going to weigh the cost (both monetary and otherwise) of closing an attraction for an extended period of time and fixing it versus the perceived benefit. If they don't feel the benefit outweighs the cost, they're likely to put it off until they deem it vital. I know many of us, myself included, don't like that, but from a purely business standpoint, I do understand the rationale. A ride like ToT, given there are few major attractions in DHS, is such a draw to the park and a lot of times is the main, if not only, reason people might come to the park, if the fixes required extended down time, they're less likely to do them, because they don't want to lose that draw.

I'm like the rest of you, I want these rides to be at their best and brightest and am disappointed when I come to the parks and notice things like this. That being said, having been not only a CM in the parks, but also later a CM in the corporate side of Disney, I understand why things happen like they do. Disney is ultimately a business and unfortunately like most businesses, they sometimes focus on the bottom line more than they should.

 

[Bairstow]

A little off topic, but does anyone know how or when the Tower's vehicles' batteries get charged?
Are they charged when the attraction is in operation or only at the end of the day?

 

[Tom]

A little off topic, but does anyone know how or when the Tower's vehicles' batteries get charged?
Are they charged when the attraction is in operation or only at the end of the day?

They charge at unload.

 

[marni1971]

Some observations from the last month - a few may be rather specific but this is the last great E ticket ride built in WDW and it was built to the highest standards. Standards that should be adhered to today.

The new neon sign outside looks good now it's finished. I believe its not actually neon anymore, or part of it Isnt, but it looks very clear.

The misting system in the gardens has been fixed and is very effective, setting the tone of the attraction even better. Standby wall damage was also fixed during our visit.

Libraries - one was too quiet. Both preshows need to surprise and hit home. Which also points to the LCD screens. Yes, they're noticable as you enter. The backlight needs to be off until the image appears, much like Spaceship Earth learnt in 2007-8. Why would a haunted, abandoned hotel have illuminated TVs?

Boiler room lighting has returned to an acceptable lower level. None of the too-bright almost-work-light-levels of recent times.

The false lift motors were spinning and the cables turned. Audio wasn't quite in sync but at least they're being maintained. As we will see audio is still a major issue at Tower.

Audio, audio.... It still varies from adequate to completely off, both in timing and in level. Delta seems to be the ascent shaft with the best audio and even that has slipped a lot. The other shafts are a mix of hopelessly out of sync music, to missing music, to badly balanced audio levels between the show scene and the AGV. It can't be rocket science to mix and time audio correctly in 2014, especially with it being correct in 1994.

We also got a lights on ascent in Delta due to the AGV having its work lights enabled. This was cured shortly after. I also noted the window projector in one if not more corridor scenes was too bright, illuminating the corridor beams and props during the starfield sequence. Picky maybe, but it wasn't designed or installed like that.

5th dimensions worked fine on all our visits. Even the eyeball image was consistent and correct. One stafield door audio effect is too quiet though. It is such a chilling moment as the doors slice then sweep, one that is lost without the audio effect.

Drop shafts... Hit and miss. One VVC has the audio too low, with the entry spiel almost inaudible. The mannequins strobes don't work anymore (really?) and they're only visible by light leaks behind them. The airblast guns aren't effective either. They fire but nothing comes out. Both effects have been MiA for at least a year now.

The lighting rigs for the new video capture are still intrusive. Really? A TV studio at the top of a 1939 hotel? This is beyond the reach of Operations but surely an infra red or near IR option could have been used if high speed cameras were the only option.

And finally, Echo or Foxtrot unload still has a crackling epilogue speaker, a year after I first noticed it.

And so, some progress and some welcome details have returned, but there is still plenty that could be done. And I dare say things that can mostly be done third shift or even a side at a time in slower periods. If an educated guest from the UK notices these things then why can't managers and those who are paid to do so do the same?

 

[thelookingglass]

Thank you @marni1971 - very thorough! Agree with everything you said.

The "neon" sign looks very good now, and I'm happy to see that the boiler room has been restored to dim lighting.

The out of sync and/or too-quiet audio is I think what bugs me more than anything else because it would be such a considerably easy fix. Overall everything sounds a little better on "Foxtrot" side (right side when looking at building) vs. echo side.

The drop sequences all sounded very good and loud, but I've noticed they too are often out of sync - you will hear a "drop" sound effect a bit before you actually drop.

 

[marni1971]

I should also say that I'm not sure but I think some of the Lightning bolts in the drop shafts need attention too.

 

[Maelstrom Troll]

Well done @marni1971 I can't wait to see a proper mist when I get back there in December! I remember the first time I got to ride ToT when my parents took my brother and I I some 15 years ago. It was a hot summer night with EMH, but standing in line with that mist made it really cold and spooky. A great effect!

 

[Tom Morrow]

Awesome post Martin, and it shows that Tower has a lot of issues that people seem to overlook.

Well done @marni1971 I can't wait to see a proper mist when I get back there in December! I remember the first time I got to ride ToT when my parents took my brother and I I some 15 years ago. It was a hot summer night with EMH, but standing in line with that mist made it really cold and spooky. A great effect.

The mist is usually only on on hotter days unfortunately but understandably.

 

[BasiltheBatLord]

maybe kind of off-topic, but please allow me a noobish question:

am i delusional or is there a statue of the Virgin Mary in the drop shaft? i swear me and a friend have caught glimpses of what appear to be a Mary statue being faintly strobed in the darkness in front of the elevators during the descents over the past two years or so.

 

[Tom Morrow]

maybe kind of off-topic, but please allow me a noobish question:

am i delusional or is there a statue of the Virgin Mary in the drop shaft? i swear me and a friend have caught glimpses of what appear to be a Mary statue being faintly strobed in the darkness in front of the elevators during the descents over the past two years or so.

You're only half-crazy! Each shaft has two figures in the middle of the shaft, the spot where there is some light leak from air vents. They are actually figures of the "ghosts" (and are supposed to have lighting effects, but as Martin pointed out, are currently not working)

 

[thelookingglass]

I visited DHS again for the first time in a while, might as well check in to my own thread! And my reasoning for continuing to bump this thread: I consider myself to have a keen eye for show quality, and I'm often critical of WDW's attractions and their many issues. That said, I have been noticing a trend toward better upkeep: many attractions across WDW are looking great currently. Unfortunately, the same can not be said for Tower of Terror, one of WDW's crowning achievements, and the last "no holds" attraction built at WDW.

The current condition of Tower of Terror is almost embarrassing.

Credit where credit is due: the newly refurbished neon sign looks great. In fact, the exterior night lighting in general looks amazing. The queue is still beautiful, and there are eerie green lights in the garden that I don't recall seeing before. It's obvious that great lengths are still taken to ensure the attraction *looks* good.

The boiler room lighting level looked better than my last visit this summer, where it seemed to be at full brightness, though it is still brighter than it was in the old days. I suppose it now at least looks dark enough to be "moody". Still, I don't really understand the reasoning behind making this queue brighter - even The Seas with Nemo and Friends has a darker queue.

And now, the bad: rode several times with a "first time" friend. I did not attempt to sway his opinion because I was curious to what his reaction would be.

* The library TVs are still on all the time, obvious modern LCD TVs.
* In the library on the left, I was by the back wall and could barely hear the video. In fact, I could hear people on the other side of the moving wall better than I could hear the actual show. Since this was my friend's first time seeing the video, this was very disappointing. I had to tell him what the video said.
* The music for the first scene on the ride is out of sync by several seconds on most of the load lifts.
* You can tell that the floating window effect in the first scene is a screen due to being too bright. Nitpicky, maybe, but it looked convincing for nearly 20 years, why does it look bad now?
* Audio still out of sync/too quiet/garbled in several other spots throughout: for example, sometimes during the drop sequence, you will hear the cables "snap" a few seconds before the elevator actually drops. Or, on "Echo" side, the audio at the end is either garbled or the speakers are busted. The "Bravo" lift did sound really good, though.

My friend described the ride as "cool, but awkward": It's obvious that this should be a fully immersive experience, but it doesn't feel like that if all of the A/V is shoddy. its extremely awkward to force a big group of people, excited about riding a thrill ride, into a small room and expect them to be super quiet so they can hear a video that's about as loud as something you fall asleep to in your bedroom. Or to expect a large group of people excited and nervous about dropping, packed into an elevator, to be quiet enough to hear quiet on-ride audio. It feels like what it is: ride vehicle speakers playing an audio track. It's not immersive or intimidating, its just weak and timid, especially when contrast to the incredible attention to detail otherwise.

Compare this to the great audio of Disneyland's ToT. Or perhaps something like Spider-Man or Transformers, where everyone in the ride vehicle could be shouting and you could still easily make out the dialogue.

Maybe one day WDW will recognize what a gem this ride is and actually treat it as such.

Side note: You can no longer take a photo of your on-ride photo, as there is text on it encouraging you to use your ticket or Magic Band on new touch points below. Our video seamlessly went to my friend's MemoryMaker, so that's cool, I guess.

 

[wdwstateofmind]

I could have sworn the fountains in the queue used to work and light up...can anyone confirm this?

 

[Tom Morrow]

I could have sworn the fountains in the queue used to work and light up...can anyone confirm this?

The fountain before the lobby? No. The point of it is that it's cracked and dried up from "abandonment".

 

[Bairstow]

I really don't understand the use of LCD TVs in the library.

What possible reason could they have had for this change?

 

[Tom Morrow]

^ Also, how hard is it to get an audio engineer in the building? These audio problems have existed for years now.

 

[Ranch Dressing]

Audio is really loud in both the cars we used. The show sequence on the way up was dramatically sharper and vivid which had me wondering if it was high def.

Also thd third dimension sequence was in great shape. The ride pic that is shown was actually from the car I was in.

 

[Chef Mickey]

^ Also, how hard is it to get an audio engineer in the building? These audio problems have existed for years now.

The most frustrating part is that Disney has audio engineers on staff and they can't get it handled?

The real reason(s) are always simple:

1) Financial
2) Justification for taking the ride down for any period of time (even if short)
3) No one will notice and if they fix it, so who cares? Does the main drop work? Yes? Good, all that matters!

Very disappointing.

They can have all the ride managers, quality checklists, and garbage they want, but the people making the decisions ultimately hold all the power. If they don't want to fix it, it's not getting fixed.

 

[thelookingglass]

Audio is really loud in both the cars we used. The show sequence on the way up was dramatically sharper and vivid which had me wondering if it was high def.

Also thd third dimension sequence was in great shape. The ride pic that is shown was actually from the car I was in.

Do you remember which you rode? From left to right, they are Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta (really just A, B, C, D). And that's the thing, when I rode Delta the ride seemed nearly perfect. But then other lifts had multiple issues. The load lifts and pre-shows are very inconsistent but they should not be, every rider should get the best possible experience.

 

[Tom Morrow]

The show sequence on the way up was dramatically sharper and vivid which had me wondering if it was high def.

IIRC the projections of the ghosts were upgraded at some point within the last few years to LED, so that might be it. That's a positive change. Changing the TVs in the library to LCD, however...

 

[marni1971]

Do you remember which you rode? From left to right, they are Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta (really just A, B, C, D). And that's the thing, when I rode Delta the ride seemed nearly perfect. But then other lifts had multiple issues. The load lifts and pre-shows are very inconsistent but they should not be, every rider should get the best possible experience.

Quality wise, consensus amongst Hops is the ascent shafts are reversed, D is best and A is worse at the moment.

Foxtrot return still has the crackling speaker. Over a year now.