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Tower of Terror
- Thread starter woofboy111
- Start date
Lost Boy
New Member
Unload to Load
What I think has me, and a lot of other people very confused about this very complicated unload to load situation (and I am trying to build a working model of this thing and this is the one point that has me stumped):
You enter the building on level 2 and go into one of two libraries and see the video. Then you exit out of the library and go down a light ramp giving the "illusion" that you are going into the basement, which you are not, you are still on the 2nd floor. You get queued and all that and finally enter a ride vehicle which at this point is in a Lift Cage (there are four). You are lifted to the "Corrider Scene" which has been explianed elswhere. At this point in the presentation your ride vehicle remains in place and you watch the show. Then the doors close and you are lifted up to the 5th Dimension (if you are in lift A or D you are on the fifth floor of the building, if you are in lift B or C you are on the 6th floor). The ride car now moves out of the life cage and travel forward to the drop cage and enters from the back of the cage, still facing forward. You go thru whatever drop sequence they inflict on you. When the drop cage lowers you to the 1st floor unload area, the car backs out of the drop shaft and then turns either to the left or right depending on which drop shaft (Echo or Foxtrot) you are in and moves forward to the exit doors. Now, here is the problem that I am having. The ride vehicle itself is now sitting facing east or west at the front of the building. The lift shafts are at the back of the building. There are hallways between the front and back that guests are now exiting thru and either leaving the building thru the side doors, or going into the Merchandise area which is located right under the libraries. Now, how in the world do these cars, at the front of the building, move to the back of the building without being seen. I can understand that at the back of the building, the "lift cage" has decended all the way to the 1st floor to pick up a car, but how does that car get there. That is what's causing me a massive headache and frustration in trying to figure this out. It's not as easy as it sounds. I have asked all over and no one can give me a complete answer. They alway leave out the most imprtant fact. How does that stupid car get from the front to the back, there are people in the way and a merchandise area on the same side as Echo. The car can't move thru there.
I hope this makes sense to someone out there. I even have blueprints of all floors of this attraction and they don't show how this is done.
Please help me. Anyone before I go crazy.
:veryconfu
What I think has me, and a lot of other people very confused about this very complicated unload to load situation (and I am trying to build a working model of this thing and this is the one point that has me stumped):
You enter the building on level 2 and go into one of two libraries and see the video. Then you exit out of the library and go down a light ramp giving the "illusion" that you are going into the basement, which you are not, you are still on the 2nd floor. You get queued and all that and finally enter a ride vehicle which at this point is in a Lift Cage (there are four). You are lifted to the "Corrider Scene" which has been explianed elswhere. At this point in the presentation your ride vehicle remains in place and you watch the show. Then the doors close and you are lifted up to the 5th Dimension (if you are in lift A or D you are on the fifth floor of the building, if you are in lift B or C you are on the 6th floor). The ride car now moves out of the life cage and travel forward to the drop cage and enters from the back of the cage, still facing forward. You go thru whatever drop sequence they inflict on you. When the drop cage lowers you to the 1st floor unload area, the car backs out of the drop shaft and then turns either to the left or right depending on which drop shaft (Echo or Foxtrot) you are in and moves forward to the exit doors. Now, here is the problem that I am having. The ride vehicle itself is now sitting facing east or west at the front of the building. The lift shafts are at the back of the building. There are hallways between the front and back that guests are now exiting thru and either leaving the building thru the side doors, or going into the Merchandise area which is located right under the libraries. Now, how in the world do these cars, at the front of the building, move to the back of the building without being seen. I can understand that at the back of the building, the "lift cage" has decended all the way to the 1st floor to pick up a car, but how does that car get there. That is what's causing me a massive headache and frustration in trying to figure this out. It's not as easy as it sounds. I have asked all over and no one can give me a complete answer. They alway leave out the most imprtant fact. How does that stupid car get from the front to the back, there are people in the way and a merchandise area on the same side as Echo. The car can't move thru there.
I hope this makes sense to someone out there. I even have blueprints of all floors of this attraction and they don't show how this is done.
Please help me. Anyone before I go crazy.
:veryconfu
Lost Boy
New Member
Well, I gues I am relpying to my own post, but I finally put everything that I read here together with the blueprints and the video tape I have of the ride and realized where my mistake was. So I am pretty sure I had the blueprint the wrong way round and now understand how it works. I had the guests exiting the wrong way as I assumed something on the video that was wrong as far as directions. So now I know how it works. Amazing ride mechinsim. Now I have to figure out how to do all this in miniature. Oh well, another project to keep me busy.
MrNonacho
Premium Member
Lost Boy:
One thing I think might be wrong is the location of the Fifth Dimension. I'm pretty sure that both of them are on the fifth floor. Think of the building as having two separate, but mirror-image sides. If something is on a certain floor on the Echo side, then it will be on the same floor on the Foxtrot side, just opposite.
One thing I think might be wrong is the location of the Fifth Dimension. I'm pretty sure that both of them are on the fifth floor. Think of the building as having two separate, but mirror-image sides. If something is on a certain floor on the Echo side, then it will be on the same floor on the Foxtrot side, just opposite.
Lost Boy
New Member
I think you are right. I keep getting the "Corridor" and "5th Dimension" mixed up. The blueprints do show what looks like corriors on two seperat floors and another that shows a big open space on the 5th floor. I just went back and reread the Bellhop Interview from a previous reply in this thread. And it seems to corridors are on floor three and four and the 5th dimension on floor five. I guess when the "car" finaly gets into the "Drop Cage" it is then lifted up to the 12th or 13th floor before the doors to the outside open and the drop begins? Everytime I think I have it right, Something happens to throw me off again. Oh well, I will keep trying.
Lost Boy
New Member
Tower Questions Answered
I went to a huge Disney convention this past Sunday and met the Imangineer who filmed and did the Ghost Corridor, edited the film that is shown in the library, and helped design the ride. He was very nice and spent about 20 minutes going over all the floor plans I brought with me (just in case) and showed me errors in the plans, and explained everything I could possibly want to know about the attraction, so now I have decided to build this model out of plywood for strenght and to make it look as close to original as I can with the floors lifting off for veiwing the workings of each floor of the ride. This will take time, but I am ready.
And I was right about the ghost corridor. Two elevators stop at the third floor and the other two stop at the 4th floor. He laid out everything that was missing on my floorplan so now I know just where everything is on those two floors, plus the 5th dimension and a real working explanation of the unload area. This gentleman (I wish I could remember his name) made the trip down a big success.
Onward with the model building. I will keep you all posted on progress and let you know when it is finished and I can post pictures via my webpage on Earhtlink (which I have not even used yet, so there should be plenty of bandwidth available). Wish me luck, I will need it.
:sohappy:
I went to a huge Disney convention this past Sunday and met the Imangineer who filmed and did the Ghost Corridor, edited the film that is shown in the library, and helped design the ride. He was very nice and spent about 20 minutes going over all the floor plans I brought with me (just in case) and showed me errors in the plans, and explained everything I could possibly want to know about the attraction, so now I have decided to build this model out of plywood for strenght and to make it look as close to original as I can with the floors lifting off for veiwing the workings of each floor of the ride. This will take time, but I am ready.
And I was right about the ghost corridor. Two elevators stop at the third floor and the other two stop at the 4th floor. He laid out everything that was missing on my floorplan so now I know just where everything is on those two floors, plus the 5th dimension and a real working explanation of the unload area. This gentleman (I wish I could remember his name) made the trip down a big success.
Onward with the model building. I will keep you all posted on progress and let you know when it is finished and I can post pictures via my webpage on Earhtlink (which I have not even used yet, so there should be plenty of bandwidth available). Wish me luck, I will need it.
:sohappy:
Just a quick note regarding all this talk about 1st floor, 5th floor etc. there is another of those quirks of US versus UK language :-
US UK
1st Floor = Ground floor
2nd Floor = 1st floor
3rd Floor = 2nd floor
etc.etc.
And obviously we would get there using a lift as opposed to an elevator! :animwink:
I'm not sure of other countries interpretation but I'm sure someone will let us know!
US UK
1st Floor = Ground floor
2nd Floor = 1st floor
3rd Floor = 2nd floor
etc.etc.
And obviously we would get there using a lift as opposed to an elevator! :animwink:
I'm not sure of other countries interpretation but I'm sure someone will let us know!
Lost Boy
New Member
They were sent by an aquantence via the net who is putting together a book of ride floor plans. He made copies and sent them to me via snail mail. I have put together a booklet on everything I have learned up to now from Imagineers who worked on the attraction and the corrected floor plans and pictures. I created a web site with Microsoft Publisher and have it all ready to publish, but so far I haven't been able to find someone who can host it for me. I am working on something with another person though, so it may yet see the light of day. I would offer to email it, put it is 13 pages long and takes up 2.33MB of disc space, so it is way to big, even zipped, to email. If you want a hard copy of it snail mailed to you, send me a private email from this site and we can work out address exchanges and I will make a color copy for you and mail it out. No worry about postage as I run the postage machine at work, heh heh:lol:
Anybody that might read this, do you have video of the ride that shows the outside in detail, the lobby, the libraries, the boiler room, the Ghost Corridor and the 5th dimension? I would love to have a more up to date video than the one I have that was taped way back when the attraction first opened. I also saw the Travel Channels special "Secrets of Disney Imagineers" tonight and they covered TOT quite extensivly. Lots of great behind the scenes stuff that is really helping me in my project.
Anybody that might read this, do you have video of the ride that shows the outside in detail, the lobby, the libraries, the boiler room, the Ghost Corridor and the 5th dimension? I would love to have a more up to date video than the one I have that was taped way back when the attraction first opened. I also saw the Travel Channels special "Secrets of Disney Imagineers" tonight and they covered TOT quite extensivly. Lots of great behind the scenes stuff that is really helping me in my project.