| Every Imagineering creation begins life as an
idea or a simple sketch, but then, before it becomes a reality, the new
attraction is drawn, painted and designed down to the smallest detail. The story of The Twilight Zone Tower of
Terror actually began fifteen years ago, with the original version at
Disney-MGM Studios Florida. Countless concepts were considered for the
park’s expansion, before the final design of the Tower of Terror was chosen
and Disney attraction history was made. With the construction of Walt
Disney Studios Park in the early 2000s, the Imagineers went back and
redesigned the attraction to fit seamlessly into the Parisian park,
developed as a joint project with Tokyo and later also used as the
masterplan for California’s Tower. For more information about the
differences between the four versions of the attraction,
click here. Here, we celebrate the art, creation and design of
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, through
concepts and plans spanning over a decade… Concept Art This is a selection of Florida concept art
and the full collection of Paris/California concept art for The Twilight Zone Tower of
Terror, annotated with additional notes about each concept. The pieces
have been listed in as close to chronological order as possible, with early
ideas first and final designs last. Click images to expand. Disney-MGM Studios Florida Selection of Concept Art |
 | Original Sunset Boulevard expansion sketch Date: 1989 Created at the request of Michael Eisner shortly after park opening in 1989,
this early concept sketch of Sunset Boulevard aims to illustrate how the
size of the park could be almost doubled in a single expansion. Many
of the details remained to the final design. | |
 | Hollywood Hotel Concept An early concept focusing solely on the “Hollywood Hotel” shows how the
attraction was originally envisaged as a much more common vertical drop
ride. The more town-based setting and design of the hotel here make
this concept more similar, infact, to the final Paris/California/Tokyo
design. | |
 | Hollywood Tower Hotel Atmosphere Concept Artist: R. Tom Gilleon, 1992 One of the most famous pieces of concept art, this shows the Hollywood Tower
Hotel nestled in the Hollywood hills with an eerie driveway leading up to
its lighting-struck tower. | |
 | Early Sunset Boulevard View Concept Artist: Coulter Winn, 1992 A concept for the Sunset Boulevard stretch, with an early version of Tower
of Terror at the end. Originally, the building was designed with
windows all over, before these were scaled back to give a more stylised,
familiar Disney attraction look to the ride. | |
 | Final Tower of Terror Front Elevation Artist: Suzanne Rattigan (Colourist), Coulter Winn (Rendering), 1992 A front elevation concept showing the final design of Florida’s Hollywood
Tower Hotel. The lightning impact on the Florida version is central to
the building, rather than in three separate blast marks as on the
Paris/California Tower. | Walt Disney Studios Park (& Disney’s California Adventure park) |
 | Early Paris Front Elevation Date: 2000/01 The dark, cloudy skies give this concept away as one of the very first for
Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris, showing the original redesign of the
Tower from the earlier 1994 Florida design. Three drop shafts are
included, and the Tower features a pueblo deco style and yellow colour
scheme to better fit the Parisian studios. | |
 | Early Paris Side Elevation Date: 2000/01 Whilst these three concepts are fairly similar to the final design, they are
not entirely accurate. The tallest dome is situated higher than in
reality, and the overhang balconies at the top are infact equal size on the
final design. | |
 | Early Paris Rear Elevation Date: 2000/01 A rear elevation of this original redesign. For a comparison against
the actual chosen design, see two concepts below… | |
 | Key Concept Art for California Released: Disney’s California Adventure attraction announcement, 2002 This interesting concept was used for the announcement of the attraction at
Disney’s California Adventure, and it cannot be certain which resort it was
originally created for. The angle, entering from the left, suggests it
was intended for California. | |
 | Front Elevation Early & Final Comparison The early front elevation featured above compared with the actual final
design, showing the design tweaks and changes between the two concepts. | |
 | Selection of Exterior Area Concepts Concepts showing one of the three drop shaft openings, the Fastpass
distribution area and luggage-themed machines, and the entrance gate,
lampposts and other area development. | |
 | Boiler Room Concepts Artist: Christian Hope, 2001 Concepts for the Boiler Room loading area. | |
 | Mirror Show Scene Concept 1 The following concepts were shown at the 50th Anniversary Fan Evening in
Paris on 30th September 2005. These four concepts show the Mirror Show
Scene, where guests magically disappear from their elevator. | |
 | Mirror Show Scene Concept 2 Guests “wave goodbye to the real world”. | |
 | Mirror Show Scene Concept 3 A flash of lighting. | |
 | Mirror Show Scene Concept 4 Guests are gone, permanent residents of The Twilight Zone. | |
 | Return to Load/Unload Concept The load/unload doors, seen from a guest perspective as the elevator is
moving horizontally to enter/exit the drop shaft. | |
 | Exit Retail Concepts A presentation slide showing a concept for the attraction exit, featuring
the photo preview screens just before the Tower Hotel Gifts boutique. | |
 | Storage Room, Service Elevator Shaft & Exit
Retail Concepts Artist: Christian Hope, 2001 Concepts for a storage area in the Boiler Room, service elevator shaft and
several for the exit retail area – Tower Hotel Gifts. | Layout Plans Coming in the future. Advertising
Visuals Disney always looks to make its new
attractions look more interesting and marketable than before, and so concept
art has now largely become disused in the mainstream advertising of new
additions. Instead, the marketing teams create key visuals and
supporting visuals to give a strong sense of what the new attraction
entails, whilst including as much visual interest as
possible, following all the design conventions of a movie poster, for
example. Click images to expand. |
 | Hollywood Tower Hotel Advertisement 2004 (DCA), Tower Hotel Gifts wall mural Not an advertising visual as such, but used within The Hollywood Tower Hotel
itself as a 1930s mural to show the brighter side of a stay on the 13th
floor! | |
 | The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror Preview Visual Released: 2002, Disney’s California Adventure attraction announcement Unveiled by Mickey and Minnie on the first anniversary of Disney’s
California Adventure, this is a computer-illustrated visual showing the
Tower being hit by lightning. It was used until real visuals of the
completed Tower could be taken. | |
 | The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror Marketing Visual Released: 2004, Disney’s California Adventure marketing The final key visual for Disney’s California Adventure, this shows the Tower
hit by lightning from a stretched angle just in front of the Hotel entrance.
This visual will be carried across as the key visual for Paris in
mid/late-2007, with some background and colour alterations… and a few
interesting changes. | |
