This was written as a response the the following plea from AOL:
>would someone please give me some advice.? ive always been a>real chicken abput thrill rides and stuff but im going to
>disneyworld with my friend for christmas. i reallly want to
>try tower of terror and space mt and alien encounter. can
>someone whos been on these rides PLEASE E MAIL ME and tell me
>all abaout them? thanx alot oy yeah im 13 yrs.
Ok... First, I must implore you, Go On The Rides. Do Not Let Your Fears Beat You. (I am terrified of falling to my death. It is my one true Phobia. This is not a fear of heights, it is a fear of falling. [I can fly in a plane just fine, I can even fly the plane. I can stand on the roof of a Sky Scraper, and peer over the edge, or on the rim of the Grand Canyon{Into which I once almost fell, but that's a different story. :) } without setting off my fear, but I become a gibbering idiot when crossing a suspension bridge {Worst was over the Royal Gorge, you could SEE CLEAR DOWN TO THE BOTTOM!} or climbing a ladder. Forget about any scaffoldings. I won't be there. No way.] However, I have ridden, for me, the most terrifying ride at Disneyland, the Rocket Jets, not once, but six times, and will force myself to do so again if I am shepherding a group which wishes to do them [I live by Disneyland, have an Annual Passport, and am there at least once a month.] despite my total and illogical fear that the car will come loose, and I will crash into the old America Sings [a Carousel Theater, which once housed Carousel of Progress, but now houses Security Offices. A real shame.] and die.) Ok, that said, here is the straight and narrow narration of these rides...
Tower of Terror: Have you ever done the Haunted Mansion? Cross it with a Free Fall tower from Six Flags, and you have a basic idea of Tower. Only Tower is way better than that.
You start off in the Lobby of the hotel. Look at all the amassing detail the Disney Imagineers went to in order to furnish the room. Notice that old Coffee cup, there on the table by the folded newspaper, almost like someone was drinking it, and just set it down half full and walked away, leaving the rest to evaporate over the intervening 40 years? Wow!
Now, follow the creepy Bell Boy past the broken Elevator into the Library. Look at the walls, and notice the shelves along the top, there, isn't that the Devil Doll Fortune Teller from that episode with William Shatner? No not the one in the Airplane, the other one. And look over there, that ship, it was in the episode about that guy who wished the world was more quiet, so he could listen to his records in peace. Oh, and there, above the TV, those are the glasses from that episode where the Bank Teller was in the Vault when the Bombs went off, killing everyone else, then, just as he found the Silver Lining of being the last person on earth, namely that he can read all the books he wants, he dropped his glasses and broke them.
Boom! Lightning flashes outside the window, and the TV comes on. Look it's a Twilight Zone, just starting up (Imagine that!) and there is old Rod himself. He is telling about the Hollywood Towers Hotel, and how on one fateful night... (I won't go through the whole story)...the lightning strikes the towers, the elevator drops, and the whole section of the building, just, vanishes, into the Twilight Zone. Wow! And now, he says, follow, if you dare, and take a ride on this Maintenance Service Elevator, just restored to operation...
The lights come up and you proceed through a Door you hadn't noticed before [Of course you were kind of busy looking at all that cool stuff I was pointing out, Sorry. ;) ] and into, THE BASEMENT? Here you are, in a steamy old Basement (How'd you get down here? There were no stairs! Something is VERY WRONG!) filled with furnaces, and along the far wall, a row of elevators, each serviced by a Bellhop, almost as spooky as the one who showed you into the Library (Upstairs?).
As you move forward through the line, you notice something quite odd... The Elevators arrive, the Bellhop helps the people in, says something to them, gets out, and pushes a button, closing the doors... Then, the Elevator goes up. You can see the dial. It rises slowly, pausing on a few floors for a while apiece. Then, ZZZzzzttt... There are sparks from the motor, the Car Drops, and then slows and stops, and the doors open again, on an EMPTY car! Where did all the people go? Maybe they got out on one of the other floors. Yeah right. We both believe that one.
Ok, now it is your turn. You want my recommendation? I know it sounds strange, but ask the Bellhop for the "Jumpseat". He may give you a hard time, ask if you are sure you want the Suicide Spot, or something like that, but let me pause here to explain: The standard seat in TOT has a lap bar to "Hold you in" Not a problem, as you would have to try quite hard to hurl yourself out of the car and die. The lap bars, however, only go down as low at the top of the tallest (or fattest) pair of legs on that row, so if you are small, chances are there will be quite a lot of slack. The Jumpseat, however, has a seat belt. Much snugger, and the Jumpseat, while offering an excellent and un-obstructed view, is located in the back row, and therefore the safest row of the car. It is in the Middle of the back row, to be precise. This makes it both the scariest looking, yet actually the safest seat "in the house" so to speak. It also has a great view, and you can be sure you will come out nicely in the picture, which can then be used as "Proof" of your "Bravery" to all the folks back home, who think you a chicken. Picture their surprise when you proudly show them the picture and confide "They call that the Suicide Seat. It has no Lap Bar." and earn their respect for your newfound bravery. Only you will know that it was intelligence, not bravery being demonstrated in the photo. (And I would much rather be smart than brave, any day.) Ok Back to the ride...
You will now be sitting in the Elevator, and the Bellhop shall make his quip (It varies from ride to ride) and start you off... The doors close, the lights flicker, and the elevator surges up a few floors. Not too fast.
The doors now open on one of my favorite parts: A deserted hallway, with a window at the end. Lightning flashes outside, and the light in the hallway flickers, and then ghostly Black and white figures "Fuzz" in (Like a TV set being tuned for a better picture). You recognize them from the Intro. back in the library, look, there is that cute little girl with the Mickey Mouse Doll (hidden Mickey!) and her mom, the Salesman, the Movie Star Lady, and the Bellhop who had their bags. They are beckoning to you, dare you proceed? It doesn't matter, as you are securely fastened into your seat, so you must stay where you are. Suddenly the lights flash again and the ghosts are gone, the hallway is now dark, and all you can see it the window at the end. It almost looks like it is floating there. It moves! It starts to swing, back and forth, and change shape. Stars appear, as the window transforms from the rounded-top shape it had had before, to the familiar square top window from the old Twilight Zone openings. Then, just as you knew it would, it shatters, and floats off into space. Just like on TV.
The Doors close and again your Elevator rises. Now the doors open again, and as you look around, you see a large dark room, there on your left, the swiftly moving clock, and look, the Giant Barbie Doll, and over there, an enormous Eye Ball, and look, there in it's pupil, That's You! Wow! Is it just you, or is you Elevator moving again, only this time instead of going up, it's going Forward? Hmmm. Look at the stars, now they are swirling, like water going down a drain, as they come together in a single brilliant dot, and then, with a swish, the dot becomes a line, and as you get closer, the line splits, like a doorway and you move through it to the accompaniment of Rod Serling's voice again, welcoming you onto, the Twilight Zone.
From here on out the ride will vary quite a bit. But here is the average trip: Now you are again in an elevator shaft. You can see the concrete of the walls in front of you. If you look down through the mesh floor, you see only a deep dark shaft, and above you, you can see the roof. The elevator rises, and passing some doors, slows and stops, dropping a bit, and then coming back up to be even with the top door, which now opens. Before you spreads the entire park. It is an incredible view. Too bad you won't be around long enough to really enjoy it.
The car groans, and drops a few inches, then catches. Lights flash. The car groans again, and you hear a simple "Click" Suddenly, you are plummeting down. Not falling, THE CAT IS MOVING FASTER THAN GRAVITY! the bag in your lap lifts up into the air and you grab for it as you flash past the last of the open doors and pass into... Darkness...
You are not sure what happens then, but the next thing you are certain of, you are stopped. In the dark. Maybe even alive. Then a giant TV comes on, it is the spinning top thing from the old Twilight Zone shows, and it is receding, as though you are moving back away from it, then you notice you are in some sort of storage room, and as Rod welcomes you back from the Twilight Zone, the elevator TURNS AROUND, and the doors open up.
You restraints come un-latched, and a Bellhop appears to help you out of the seats. You survived. What a trip. Your heart is still pounding, and your knees are shaky, but as you wobble towards the exit, and the Photo Stand (With a really cool picture of you terrified out of your skull, sitting there in the middle of the back row, clear for all the world to see) is that for some reason, you want to do it again.
Space Mountain: As you approach the imposing pointy white building, you are aware that this is something unlike any ride you have ever tried before.
As you enter the corridors leading to Space Mountain you can faintly hear the background music. You are walking down a tunnel, it looks like a set from Star Trek, or some other Sci-Fi movie. As you continue you pass what I call the "Dizzy" or "Space-Sick" portals, through which you can see a 3-D star field, but as you move past them the stars will spin, making you feel as though the tunnel is really spinning, because in the back of your brain, you know stars generally stay still.
Now you get to the Planets, and Space Station portals. These are much better than the Spinning Stars. They look cooler as well. One of the best is the one with a tumbling asteroid. It looks real enough to touch, if that glass wasn't in the way. Up ahead are some Monitors. They explain that "Space Mountain is a turbulent ride through Outer Space" and caution people with bad backs, or babies on board that they should not ride.
Finally, you get to where the pathway splits, before a control booth. You must choose, either left or right. They are the same ride. But they are a different experience. I would try them both. Do the one which looks fastest (Sorry, it never is.) then, tomorrow, come back and try the other side. See which is your favorite. As you pass the Control Booth, look up. See the stars, and the Giant Asteroids. Cool. Now your eye is caught by a Television Monitor, on which is some sort of News Broadcast. Then a commercial for Crazy Eddy's Used Satellites, then a Fashion report, then another Crazy Eddy commercial, followed by some music video, then a Fed Ex commercial, and an add for some company called XS Tech. Hmm. that name sounds familiar. The slogan sticks in your mind: "Seize the universe with XS". You will remember that.
Wow! you are already at the front of the line. You say 2, and you and your friend sit, one in front of the other in the little bob-sled like car. You make your friend sit in front, since you are kind of scared, and say that you will take the front next time. Maybe.
They strap you in, and you slide on down the track, pausing once or twice for "Clearance" before you get to a large room, which has a really cool space ship hanging overhead. You watch as you are pulled uphill and notice that the people who were about 10 places back in line, and who took the other side of the que back at the control booth are in another car on the other side of the spaceship, going up just ahead of you. Guess you picked the slower side again. Drats!
Finally you get to the top, and you tip over, and cruise bumping your way through tight turns, and over large dips/inclines, at about 20 mph. It is not as dark as you had heard it would be. This kind of spoils the effect, a bit, but you like that you can see where you are going. It is not so bad. Way slower than Thunder Mountain, that's for sure. Bumpier though. Darn, they need new shocks on those cars.
Before you know it, you have reached the bottom, and dive into a big tunnel, where your car slows quickly down to a stop. You pull into a station, and get out. As you and your friend stand there watching your empty car disappear through a hole in the wall, you think "This was not bad at all. Much better than I expected." and tell your friend "Next time, the front is DEFINITELY mine."
Now you head towards the exit, and stand on the rolling walkway, as an announcer voice and various scenes extol the virtues of Fed-Ex's new Matter Transporter. It looks pretty useful, and that City at the end, it's kind of cool, and the robot dog is So Cute!
Now you pass a wall of Televisions, and noticing that your hair is all messed up, try and fix it, realizing that a TV is the opposite of a Mirror, as you see your hand instinctively head to the wrong side of your head. Too late, since that was the last TV, and the walkway ends, dumping you into the Arcade, which you flea, heading instead towards Main Street, with a brief stop at the Tomorrowland Convention Center, to check out that XS Tech, which you recognize from the commercial you saw while waiting in line.
Alien Encounter: Stepping into the cool, air-conditioned room, you breath a sigh of relief, for having made it through the enormous crowd outside. Where did all those people come from! Did any of them even speak English! Oh well. As you stand around, noting the board which promises a 5 min. wait, your eyes are drawn uncontrollably to the Wall Mounted Television sets, which display often humorous announcements about "Upcoming events". Just as you start getting into them, some announcer woman comes on, and welcomes you to the world of XS. She tells the brief history of the company, and you learn that she is an alien, come to help the poor backwards Earth People adapt to modern Technology. Then on comes the President of XS, and he invites you to see a new Product Demonstration, then the doors open, and you walk in...
Down a short corridor, you come to an area where everyone is stopped, looking at a stationary Robot, and a cute fuzzy critter stuck in a tube on the left. The tube, like most things in Tomorrowland these days, looks like something from an old Buck Rogers era Sci-Fi movie. The Alien is pretty darn cute though. You wonder if you can buy one as a plush toy. Boy would he look cool on your bed. The President's voice returns, and he introduces the Robot, who tells you his name is SIR, and that you can call him Sir. The Cute alien is Skippy, and he is a "Volunteer" (But he doesn't seem very happy about it) for their little Transporter demonstration.
Sir proceeds to Disintegrate Skippy, and with lots of lights, and noise, re-materialize him in the tube on the left, more or less. ("Oh come on Skippy, you're not Burned. Just a little Singed [Skippy emits sparks, from deep inside], kind of a Healthy Glow")
Next Sir says that the process can also be reversed, and despite Skippy's noisy complaints, again disintegrates him, only this time as the tube clears, Sir demonstrates his "Favorite" part of the system, that the Transport may be suspended, indefinitely. Finally he urges you on into the next room, where a Demonstration of a Full Sized Transporter shall take place, and one of You (he says pointing right at YOU) lucky guests will get to travel across the galaxy, in the blink of an eye. (Speaking of eyes, while he sure seems cruel, Sir has the coolest eyes!)
As you enter the Auditorium, you are told to take a seat, and sitting down, notice that the chair is not, exactly, comfortable. Oh well. The Demonstration starts, and these restraint things lower down, until they are just touching your shoulders, and then, the lights dim, as these Alien Scientists, who you can see on TV scan the people in the room, looking for the right "Volunteer". Finally the lights stop, On your Friend! Just as it looks like you will be enjoying the rest of your stay at WDW all alone, The President of XS shows up, and demands to be sent to Earth instead.
As your friend starts breathing again, the President climbs into a tube on the TV, and gets sent on his way, but due to a little mishap, instead of the president, what ends up in the tube is the biggest, meanest looking cross between a Lizard and a Bug you have ever imagined.
No sooner does it show up, than it decides to leave. But not the way it came in. It begins slamming against the tube, tying to break it, and then, CACK! The tube explodes and the lights go out, you feel the wind as the pieces of the tube fly over your head.
"No Problem" say the Scientists, safe on the other side of the Galaxy, The creature can not escape as long as the force field is in place, unfortunately no sooner is that said, than there is a total Power Failure, and the room is plunged into total darkness. You hear the Alien flu over your head, and feel the air from it's wings, then it lands behind you with a Thud.
Next thing you hear, is a Crunch Crunch Crunch, as Someone is apparently eaten. At least it wasn't you.
Next, the Alien flies away, leaving you safe, for the moment. About this time, some XS engineer shows up, and tries to fix the power. He does, but not before he also becomes a "Light snack" for the critter on the catwalk. it happened right above you, and you could almost see it, and could easily hear it, and since you know you were dripped on, you could even feel it.
The lights are still out, and the Alien is flying around again in the dark. He must of liked you, because with another Flap and a Thump, he is behind you again. And still hungry. As he leans over your seat, pushing down on your harness, he licks the top of your head, and breaths down your neck. Yech! Monster Breath.
Fortunately, about this time, the Scientists lure it back into the Matter Transporter, and try to "Beam it Up" unfortunately, about this time, it is so stuffed, it doesn't quite fit back in the tube, so all they manage to do is to make it explode, splattering you with Monster Blood. You are lucky. You hear someone complain they had their mouth open. Yech!
The lights come back on, the harness goes up, and you head towards the exit, and the rest of your stay at Disney World.