The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is an amusement park ride originally created by the Walt Disney Company for its Hollywood Studios park in Orlando. It depicts a dilapidated Hollywood hotel, haunted by ghosts, who send the "elevator" on which the passengers are riding into a free fall.
The Tower of Terror started at Disneyland Paris. Plans--eventually scrapped--for that park included a drop ride named Geyser Mountain.
When Walt Disney World in Orlando was building its Hollywood theme park, Geyser Mountain came back into the picture. It was further developed in collaboration with Mel Brooks, and the concept changed from a western geyser to a riff on Brooks' movie "Young Frankenstein."
Brooks eventually left the project, but the concept remained. "The Twilight Zone" became a natural hook for the ride.
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror debuted in Orlando on July 22, 1994. It became an instant hit.
The Tower of Terror's success in Orlando soon prompted duplicates. Another version of the Tower of Terror opened in Disney's California Adventure in 2004, a third at DisneySea Tokyo in 2006 and a fourth at the Disneyland Paris Resort (where the idea originated) in 2008.
