Indianapolis, IN
Quoted from Methos:No originals from the show - I asked. They are all replicas. There might have been some on the original ride at Disneyland - however when it was "re-imagined", the WDW staff tried to get some of the pieces but they were not successful. Apparently the two "teams" work "independtley".
The WDW staff is very, very proud of the attraction. They treat it like it's a museum, which it kind of is. The cast member who gave us the tour was there when the ride was opened, and he met Carol Serling and of course the imaginers who worked on it. The chairs are from Europe around the time of the 17th Century. They are not sure what they were used for but believe they were nobility furniture of some sort.
The lights were from a theater in Seattle, the luggage is vintage, the rugs, ornaments, etc, are all real. The books in the two rooms are real and they have some treasures in there including a first edition of a Charles Dickens, and other rare books. All these things were bought/sourced back in the early 90's from auctions/antique shops around the area. Each piece has a story of some sort and the attention to detail in that lobby is amazing. The staff was fantastic, I can't say enough about them.
Also - be sure to check out the props in the room below. Many pieces are off to the side that you need a light in order to view them.
No original TZ props were in Anaheim either.
DHS’s Tower of Terror is a masterpiece and hopefully will stay that way. It’s been going through a bit of a rough patch mechanically in recent years and could use an extended refurb to get some of the effects back to peak condition; but, I fear it going down as an excuse to remove the license. The one thing it has going for it is TDO is too damn cheap to close anything down for long as they simply can’t afford to keep capacity offline.
If we had to lose a TZ Tower, Anaheim’s inferior version was as good as any. The Guardians makeover is fun; but, man is it an eyesore. They had Cali Adventure almost turned around just before the Marvel quickly and cheaply anywhere mandate came down. Shame. For a brief period shortly after the Grizzly Peak airfield Soarin’ makeover, it was a worthy second fiddle with only Hollywood Land needing some serious TLC.
