Fisherman

I'm reading a lot lately about the "bad show" on Expedition Everest. Mostly people are complaining about how you can see the mountain interior supports inside the backwards helix, how the whole back side of the mountain is unfinished and visible from the parking lots, how you can see the tire drives and switchtracks too easily, how if you turn around and look back while you're at the first reverse point you can see the flood lights and emergency walkways and stuff. That last video really shows some of these perceived flaws. How does everyone here that has ridden it feel about these things? Do they ruin the experience? Could some of these things have been hidden better? I haven't ridden it yet...just watched the videos. Edit: reading back a few pages I see that others here feel the same way. It seems like the Imagineers really could have hidden some of that stuff better. Maybe they will go back and fix some of it. I seem to recall reading that Matterhorn ran for a year or so without any of the interior caves...that it was all just hollow inside with exposed supports everywhere. Hmmm... -Derek

This was that article on Jim Hill's site I was referring to. I wonder if that is still the plan for the Tokyo version? http://www.jimhillmedia.com/article.php?id=222 "Speaking of "Tower of Terror," I've recently gotten a couple of notes from JHM readers. People who are wondering how -- given that Tokyo DisneySea doesn't feature a Hollywood themed section -- how is the "Twilight Zone Tower of Terror" is supposed to fit into that theme park. Well, since TDS's "TOT" is set in that theme park's American Waterfront area (which is themed to 1910's era New York City), clearly a story that's built around events that occur in 1930s Hollywood isn't going to fly here. Which is why the Imagineers opted to cook up an entirely new storyline for Tokyo DisneySea's "Twilight Zone Tower of Terror." The TDS version of "TOT" actually keys off of another American Waterfront icon, the U.S.S. Teddy Roosevelt. You see, the millionaire industrialist who built the Roosevelt later built a larger, more impressive vessel. An ocean liner that -- just like the Titanic -- was said to be unsinkable. So, on the night before the initial sailing of this elegant new vessel, the millionaire staged a huge party for all those who were going on the maiden voyage. In a four star hotel in the heart of NYC. Which -- not-so-co-incidentally -- was also owned by this millionaire industrialist. So -- of course -- on the maiden voyage of this impressive new ocean liner, the vessel sank without a trace. All hands were lost. As for the hotel ... Almost from the night the ship sank, the staff of the hotel began reporting these odd occurrences. Mysterious sightings in the building's rooms, corridors and ballrooms. As if the spirits of all the folks who were killed in the sinking were returning to the last place they were happy. This enormous hotel towering over the American Waterfront. From there ... Well, I'm sure you can guess the rest of the story. That -- due to the death of the mysterious millionaire industrialist who built and owned the building -- the four star hotel was eventually forced to close. And that -- due to the property's increasingly bizarre reputation -- the hotel was never able to be sold. It just stood empty for decades. Until -- of course -- the folks who operate Tokyo DisneySea opted to throw open the hotel's doors once more. So that the theme park's more adventurous guests could tour this reportedly haunted high-rise ... If they dared. That's a pretty nifty variation of the whole "Tower of Terror" backstory, don't you think? One that creates a somewhat logical reason for this Disney-MGM favorite to rise up out of the American Waterfront area at Tokyo DisneySea. More importantly, it's a story that respects the Japanese culture's own unique take on the spirit world."

Hi. I thought I read on Jim Hill's site that the Tokyo version would have a haunted hotel theme revolving around a story about the ocean liner "docked" nearby...something about the owner of the ship also owning the hotel and something about the ghosts of people that died on the ship haunting the hotel or something weird like that... -Derek