Requiem for a Tower

We have undoubtedly all heard the news by now: at the San Diego Comic Con, Disney announced that the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney California Adventure will become a Guardians of the Galaxy ride in 2017.

When the rumours first broke, I immediately shot it down as too ridiculous to take seriously... that Disney would never be so foolish as to take down DCA's best, headlining attraction with its own fanbase and brisk merchandising... but apparently nothing is impossible for Disney. It was also very wise of Disney to confirm these rumours at the SDCC, in the Guardians of the Galaxy panel, and not the D23 Expo. I'll never quite forget the footage from several years ago when the Fantasy Faire was announced at the Expo, and the only applause was for the affirmation that swing dancing would be retained in the bandstand (which ended up being a falsehood). At SDCC, surrounded by Marvel fans, this undoubtedly went over better than it would have at D23. More likely than not, surrounded by Disney fans who love Disney enough to attend an expensive official Disney convention, they would have been booed off the stage.

Twilight Zone Tower of Terror was not only my favourite attraction in Disney California Adventure, but constituted my only substantive reason for going into that theme park at all. Other attractions are appealing once you are through its gates, and they have done so much to improve the park, but it was the Tower of Terror that made me want to cross the Esplanade to begin with. In fact, no Disney attraction won me over in quite the way that Tower of Terror did.

The Hollywood ROOSEVELT Hotel

Looming over the corner of Hollywood Boulevard opposite the famed Grauman's Chinese Theater, the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel is an unmistakable influence on the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror found in the Disney resorts of Anaheim, Orlando and Paris. Completed in 1927, this Spanish Colonial Revival hotel was financed by some of the luminaries of Hollywood's golden age, including Hollywood's first couple - Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford - and producer Louis B. Mayer. By 1929, it's fame was such that it hosted the first Academy Awards banquet in the Blossom Ballroom on May 16 of that year. Far and away from the modern spectacle, the first ceremony was a more intimate gathering of 270 industry professionals and lasted a whopping 15 minutes. Charlie Chaplin was granted a special award that evening, but the top honours went to Wings for "Outstanding Picture" (now the "Best Picture" category) and Sunrise: A Tale of Two Humans for the now-defunct "Unique and Artistic Production."

At a time when hotels would take extended stays of months, the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel (named for Theodore Roosevelt) was home and home-away-from-home for such cinematic legends as Shirley Temple, Elizabeth Taylor, Gloria Swanson, Clara Bow, Charlie Chaplin, Judy Garland, David Niven, Errol Flynn, Cary Grant, Al Jolson, Harold Lloyd, Mary Martin, Will Rogers, Frank Sinatra, Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, and Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Marilyn Monroe's first photoshoot was on the diving board of the hotel's pool while she was a resident. It is also said to be home to her ghost and other assorted hauntings.

In the hotel lobby.

The lobby from above. 

Detail of the lobby ceiling. 

A corner of the Public Kitchen and Bar restaurant. 

The Blossom Ballroom, venue of the first Academy Awards.

Entrance to the Blossom Ballroom, just off the lobby.