We have shared exclusive photos of the lobby area and the backstory to the theming of the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror attraction at Disney California Adventure Park. In my opinion, this attraction is a prime example of Disney’s commitment to attention to detail and authentic touches authentic to the time period. If you haven’t seen the photos yet, I highly encourage you to click here and check them out. I think you will agree that they are sufficiently creepy and quite extraordinary.

Given the details of that post I thought I would share with you some fun facts I learned all about the attraction and a bit more about its theming.

• The Hollywood Tower Hotel at Disney California Adventure is 183 feet tall, the tallest building in Anaheim.

The Pueblo Deco style can be seen in the hotel lobby, as well as the exterior. See more interior shots of the lobby by clicking here.

• The architectural style of the hotel is referred to as “Pueblo Deco.” This was a popular form of design in the 1920s and characterized by the clean, geometric shapes common to Art Deco design. This design style differs from Art Deco because it borrows elements from southwestern Native art and includes things like radial sunbursts, arrowhead shapes and thunderbird motifs. This type of architecture was popular in the 1920s and a prime example of it is the Los Angeles City Hall building.

• To emphasize a sense of neglect, the pale ochre-colored hotel appears as though nothing has changed since its sudden closure in 1939, when the five souls mysteriously vanished from the elevator. The landscaping is designed to reflect what was typical of an upscale hotel in 1930s Southern California.  Chinese flame trees, magnolias, and various palm trees accent the building. Dead palm fronds are intentionally left on the palm trees to indicate a lack of care for many years.  Tall grasses grow among the shrubs and ground cover, contributing to the “unkempt-by-design” look.

• Even the costumes and music in the attraction have been carefully planned. The costumes worn by the hotel bellhops are inspired by bellhop attire that was common in Los Angeles hotels in the ’20s and ’30s: tunic, matching trousers and pillbox hat. Music heard in the area includes jazz and popular tunes from the 1930s, such as “I Can’t Get Started With You” by Bunny Berigan, “We’ll Meet Again” by Vera Lynn, and “Mood Indigo” by Duke Ellington, all chosen for their timeless, haunting quality. 

• Many guests may not realize that Imagineers even carefully integrated elements of the original Twilight Zone television series that ran for five years on CBS 1959 to 1964. Many of the props in the foyer, in the library itself, in the boiler room queue area and the “Modern Wonders” store front along the exit corridor are replicas that recall specific episodes of “The Twilight Zone” television series. Examples include a pair of broken spectacles representing “Time Enough at Last,” a miniature spaceman from “The Invaders,” and a devil-headed fortune-telling machine from “Nick of Time.” In the library, guests watch a video about “The Twilight Zone” narrated by the voice of Rod Serling, the original narrator of the popular television program. The storefront for “Willoughby Travel” at the attraction’s exit references the television episode “A Stop at Willoughby.” An insider note for Tower of Terror cast members (not visible to guests) is the signature on the Elevator Inspection Certificate in the Tower of Terror ride vehicles: Cadwallader, the name the devil uses in “The Twilight Zone” episode “Escape Clause.”