TOT question

[Cynderella]

Ok I was looking at this months picture in my 08 Disney World calendar and it is of course of the TOT. My question is....if the front 2 elevator shafts and part of the front of the building in between disappeared, how come the sign is still there in one piece? I know not all the letters always light up but wouldn't you think part of it would be missing since part of the building disappeared? :shrug:

 

[marni1971]

That is one of the great mysteries of the 5th dimension

 

[Cynderella]

Thanks Marni! I thought you of all people could have some answer for me! :animwink: :lol:

 

[Captain Hank]

Unfortunately, WDI goofed. The sign should have disappeared. Notice that on the DCA/DLRP version, the sign is higher on the tower, away from the damaged portion of the hotel (and TDL's has no sign).

 

[xsupaxmanxsfnex]

Never noticed that before. But I don't really think that every guest that walks into the park notices it. Therefore I doubt this will be changed. But that's very interesting. Thanks for pointing this out.

 

[Chape19714]

It should have been placed higher, and in the pre-show video it is higher on the tower. I believe the placement of the sign had to do with camera placement for the on-ride photos, as they are in the back of the sign.

 

[Rob562]

Actually, I believe the sign in its current position is supposed to suggest that the sign has fallen and semi-collapsed from its original location higher up on the building. That's why it's now hanging in front of what would have been elevator doors into the now-missing sections of the building. When the front wings of the hotel disappeared, it took some of the sign's support structure with it, and thus the sign semi fell down the building and is hanging precariously. (And in the first couple years of operation, it sparked, too) The sign may not have fallen the night that the wings disappeared, but sometime over the 50+ years the hotel lay dormant, the weather took its toll, and the sign fell down.

I've cropped and zoomed in on a photo of mine:

Look at the "indented" blank space above the "The" of the sign. Now shift the entire sign upward until the top of the main lettering is just under the horizontal ledge. This would also explain why there's a random bit of catwalk higher up on the building than the sign. That little bit of catwalk above the "OD" in the middle would have originally been *behind* the sign before its collapse. The "The" would fit into that indented space, and "Hotel" would be above the top elevator door on the right, roughly on top/in front of the little roof above the doors on the right.

You also get ideas of this from the pre-show video. If you look VERY quickly in the video of the outside of the hotel, you can see that the sign is higher up on the building, above the wings that disappeared.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIu8nkXBnPo
Look at 0:12, 0:36 and especially 0:44.

I also seem to recall reading promo material about the Tower when it first opened that referred to the sign on the front of the hotel having "partially collapsed". I'll have to see if I can dig it up.

-Rob

 

[Chape19714]

Ahh Thanks Rob, that sounds pretty familar.

 

[Tom Morrow]

The Tower in the pre-show video was based on an earlier design of the building and not the final result.

As for why it is occupying space formerly taken up by part of the building, Rob's explanation is probably the best one.

 

[Phonedave]

We can get all sorts of picky if we want to.

Where did the original elevator run before it was taken to the 5th dimension? "outside" the existing elevator doors, or "inside" them.

If it ran outside, then how come we can ride inside? There would not be a shaft on both sides of the doors.

If it ran inside then the pre show is wrong (it shows it dropping on the outside)

If the pre-show is wrong, and it is on the inside, then wouldn't it still be there? Why the need to take a service elevator?

Hmmmmm ?

-dave

 

[Captain Hank]

We can get all sorts of picky if we want to.

Where did the original elevator run before it was taken to the 5th dimension? "outside" the existing elevator doors, or "inside" them.

If it ran outside, then how come we can ride inside? There would not be a shaft on both sides of the doors.

If it ran inside then the pre show is wrong (it shows it dropping on the outside)

If the pre-show is wrong, and it is on the inside, then wouldn't it still be there? Why the need to take a service elevator?

Hmmmmm ?

-dave

To my understanding, the passenger elevator was permanently damaged during the lightning strike, so the hotel staff has re-purposed the service elevators for guest use. However, the ghosts of the hotel have other ideas, and during the course of the 5th dimension room (which, as far as reality is concerned, really doesn't exist) you move from the service elevator shaft to the former passenger elevator shaft. Thus, you are re-living what the ghosts experienced where they experienced it.

As far as the pre-show is concerned, I always took it as just a visual representation of the elevator dropping, rather than actually suggesting that the elevator was on the outside of the building.

Now if we really want to get picky, why would a hotel need so darn many service elevator shafts, all side-by-side?

 

[Tom Morrow]

To my understanding, the passenger elevator was permanently damaged during the lightning strike, so the hotel staff has re-purposed the service elevators for guest use. However, the ghosts of the hotel have other ideas, and during the course of the 5th dimension room (which, as far as reality is concerned, really doesn't exist) you move from the service elevator shaft to the former passenger elevator shaft. Thus, you are re-living what the ghosts experienced where they experienced it.

As far as the pre-show is concerned, I always took it as just a visual representation of the elevator dropping, rather than actually suggesting that the elevator was on the outside of the building.

This is also a good explanation.

In the pre-show the elevator is visable when the wings have already vanished, and the elevator itself actually vanishes before it hits the ground. The elevator appearing to be outside of the doors to the outside in the pre-show is, you're right, most likely just to give a better visual of it dropping. The guest elevators couldn't be on the "outside" of the Horton Doors, because the two doors in the hotel lobby are also facing the same way as them.

Also, the 5th dimension scene is actually an elevator shaft, and supposed to appear that you are on your back, facing upwards, being pulled up the shaft. So the best explanation is that the 5th dimension transports your elevator from the service elevator shaft to the guest elevator shaft/drop shaft (both story-wise and the actual ride system) where the original incident happened. This also explains why you board and leave the elevator in the basement (as proven by the fact that the entry door and exit door are both labeled with a "B"), but your exit point is different than where you boarded.

So, to sum it up - the drop shafts are supposed to be the two "out of order" guest elevator shafts, and the exit point of the ride is supposed to be below the lobby... and it really is on the floor below it, just not directly below.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I honestly think it was just an error since they went and fixed it for the DCA tower by having exposed pipes hold the cameras. Of course, the DCA tower has an issue of its own--when you enter the lobby, the broken elevators are to your right. That makes sense in Florida where you enter the lobby from the right side of the building, but it doesn't make sense at DCA, where you enter from the front--the broken elevators are at a 90 degree angle to the orientation they should have. Oh well...Disney isn't perfect, but the ToT is pretty darn close.

 

[WishIwasThere]

I never noticed the placement of the TOT sign until it was brought up during the construction of the DCA TOT. Now it bugs me that the sign is way too low to even have 'collapsed' during the disappearance of the wing.

Oh well. Its still one of my favorite rides and one I hold dear since I know all the Otis elevator engineers that consulted and collaborated with Disney in the design and construction of the ride, but nowhere will you find the name Otis on the ride.

FYI Otis did the work on Orlando's, Anaheim's, and Paris' TOT, Mitsubishi did the one for Tokyo.

 

[WishIwasThere]

Something I thought of. If looking at Morocco from the enterence to the world showcase, you see the top of the TOT over the Moroccan buildings. The color and style of the building somewhat matches the world showcase Morocco buildings. You cannot see the Hollywood Tower Hotel sign, so maybe the placement of the sign is on purpose after all.:lookaroun

 

[Chape19714]

You look at the backside of ToT from morocco, so the placement of it wouldn't matter.

But is good you noticed ToT was built where it was to blend in with the Epcot Skyline.

 

[gembob]

Does it really matter?!? I think the building is still awesome!

 

[marni1971]

Does it really matter?!? I think the building is still awesome!

You`re new here arn`t you? Seek out 180top and ladder threads to see how obsessive it gets around these parts

 

[TubaGeek]

I don't mean be rude, but aren't we being a bit over-analytical? It's a theme park ride, not an actual hotel elevator.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Oh well. Its still one of my favorite rides and one I hold dear since I know all the Otis elevator engineers that consulted and collaborated with Disney in the design and construction of the ride, but nowhere will you find the name Otis on the ride.

Otis's name appears on the express elevator (the "chicken exit" elevator) and high-rise elevator in the building, though.

I honestly think it was just an error since they went and fixed it for the DCA tower by having exposed pipes hold the cameras.

Not an error... more of an aesthetic choice. Its not like WDI built it, attached the sign, and said "oh whoops, we read the blueprints wrong!"

Also, the DCA and DLP Towers shouldn't be compared, since it is a completely different building design.