Enjoy a moment of calm at the heart of the action! La Terrasse is a leafy courtyard nestled between the buildings of Hollywood Boulevard and the foreboding presence of The Hollywood Tower Hotel.
Perfect for a midday break, especially for those too — frightened? sensible? — to step inside The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror just metres away, La Terrasse is a beautiful space right out of the glamorous, sun-kissed Hollywood dream.
But it wasn’t always this way. In 2002 when the park opened, the art deco roof canopy was a surprise for the first guests through the gates, especially with its ‘HTH’ (Hollywood Tower Hotel) teaser, having not appeared in any plans or previews.
However, given drab white and brown colours, rather ugly modern seating and unthemed wall lights, it was a depressing affair — especially given the continued postponement of the attraction it was meant to provide an entrance to.
When the time finally came for the Tower of Terror to arrive in Paris, the Imagineers didn’t miss their chance. They decided against making La Terrasse the attraction’s entrance and instead set about bringing a realistic Hollywood street layout to the park, with guests instead walking around this area, now enclosed and secluded, to enter the blockbuster thrill.
Out of the concrete structure you still see today, they spawned an entire mini-Hollywood Boulevard and turned a cold terrace in a warm and inviting courtyard. Now given better colours, extra details, new fittings and fixtures, beautiful tiled flooring, planting, wooden parasols and, of course, a new surrounding of the Hollywood buildings and their Hollywood Tower Hotel lead, this is a glorious place to relax on a sunny afternoon, hidden away at the heart of the park.
