The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror: Building the Drop

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror opened July 22, 1994, with a single, predictable drop. Today, thanks to a computer system added in January 2003, no two rides fall the same way — the slogan on the marquee still reads "Never the Same Fear Twice."

A hotel struck by lightning

The ride's fiction is built around the Hollywood Tower Hotel, a fictional 1917 property. According to the backstory, on October 31, 1939, a lightning bolt struck the hotel and caused five guests — an actor, a singer, a child star, her nanny, and a bellhop — to vanish from an elevator, along with an entire wing of the building (Wikipedia). That vanished elevator is the one you ride.

Getting Rod Serling right

The preshow uses archival footage from the original Twilight Zone television series, and Rod Serling appears to greet riders just before the elevator doors close. Serling had died in 1975, nearly two decades before the ride opened, so Disney needed a voice actor who could pass as him. Mark Silverman was cast in the role after an extensive audition process, with Serling's widow, Carol Serling, approving the final choice (Disney Food Blog).

From one drop to "never the same fear twice"

The ride's signature drop sequence has changed more times than most riders realize:

1994: The ride opens with a single drop.
May 1996: Engineers add a second drop.
1999: A third drop is introduced, making it a fixed triple-drop sequence.
January 2003: The fixed triple drop is replaced by a computer system that selects a randomized multi-drop sequence for each ride cycle (Wikipedia).

That 2003 change is why regulars will tell you the ride "feels different every time" — it genuinely is.

The engineering behind the drop

The ride vehicle isn't a single elevator car on a cable. It's a self-propelled, automated guided vehicle that locks into a separate vertical motion cab. That design lets the ride vehicle travel horizontally through several show scenes before it ever locks into the drop shaft itself (Disney Food Blog). The tower stands 199 feet tall, the drop itself covers 130 feet, and the vehicle reaches speeds of 39 mph on the way down (Wikipedia).

Where it stands in our data today

More than three decades after opening, Tower of Terror is still one of Hollywood Studios' longest lines. In our wait-time data, it averages 37.1 minutes, with a best hour of 8am (15.2 minutes) and a worst hour of 12pm (48.9 minutes) — more than triple the morning average.

Attraction	Avg wait (min)	Best hour	Worst hour
Slinky Dog Dash	56.0	10pm (39.4)	12pm (64.2)
Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets	47.5	8am (26.0)	12pm (57.3)
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance	45.1	10pm (21.3)	12pm (58.5)
Toy Story Mania!	38.5	8am (21.7)	7pm (46.4)
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror	37.1	8am (15.2)	12pm (48.9)

Tower of Terror sits in the middle of the park's headliner pack, and like nearly every ride on Sunset Boulevard, it runs shortest first thing in the morning. Ride it before 9am if you want the closest thing to a walk-on.

For the current hour-by-hour numbers, see the Hollywood Studios wait times page. To plan the rest of your day, check the Hollywood Studios touring plan, the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge guide, and Rock 'n' Roller Coaster: the Muppets era. For more ride history, see the history of theme park wait times.