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Scaffolding Is Coming Off the Front of Tower of Terror, Giving a Clear Look at the Repainted Lightning Scar
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Scaffolding Is Coming Off the Front of Tower of Terror, Giving a Clear Look at the Repainted Lightning Scar

Michael Travels
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A week ago, the lightning scar on the Hollywood Tower Hotel was only peeking through gaps in the scaffolding. Now the scaffolding is coming down. After nearly three months behind scaffolding, the upper front of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney's Hollywood Studios is back in view, and the purple scar that marks the story's lightning strike is freshly painted.

WDWMagic reported on Monday morning, October 26, that the front of the tower "is re-emerging as scaffolding begins to come down." According to WDWMagic, "the rich, deep color of the original Tower of Terror is back," and the darker section behind the towers, which had faded over the years, "looks striking once again."

The upper front of the pink Hollywood Tower Hotel with purple and blue streaks and painted cracks spreading above and around The Hollywood Tower Hotel sign, with scaffolding still standing at both edges and across the lower floors, and palm trees in the foreground

The Hollywood Tower Hotel sign and repainted upper facade, with scaffolding still on the sides and lower floors. Photo: WDWMAGIC

The scar above the sign

Blog Mickey, which had photographed purple paint through gaps in the scaffolding on October 19, a day after WDW News Today showed the scar taking shape, reported on October 23 that crews had taken scaffolding down from the upper facade, giving it a clearer look. Here is what it saw:

  • The streaks: "Purple, blue, and indigo streaks now stretch across the tower just above its sign, restoring the opening day look," Blog Mickey wrote.
  • The damage: painted cracks run through the purple, corners of the stucco appear chipped away to show stone beneath, and a jagged chunk of masonry and roof tile juts up beside the right end of the sign.
  • The details: above the sign, a ladder rises to a little balcony with a railing, and the faded letters stand in front of rusted rails.

It is all scenic work, and Blog Mickey says the paint and rubble together make the hotel look as if lightning hit it. In the attraction's story, lightning strikes the hotel during a storm on Halloween night, October 31, 1939. Blog Mickey says the new paint recreates how the hotel looked when the ride debuted on July 22, 1994.

A close-up of the Hollywood Tower Hotel above its sign, with purple and blue airbrushed streaks, painted cracks and broken stonework on pink stucco, a metal ladder leaning to a small balcony, and the large WOOD TOWER letters of the sign below

A closer look at the repainted lightning scar, cracks and ladder above the hotel sign. Photo: BlogMickey.com

What is still covered

Plenty of work remains. According to WDWMagic, the sides and back of the building are still wrapped in scaffolding, the bottom part of the front "remains under wraps," and crews are still busy in the outdoor queue. In Blog Mickey's photos, scaffolding still ran in front of the left end of the sign.

Disney has not announced a completion date. The good news for riders: "Tower of Terror continues to operate as normal throughout the work," according to WDWMagic.

Looking up at the Hollywood Tower Hotel from below, with a tall stack of scaffolding running up the left side of the building beside the repainted facade and The Hollywood Tower Hotel sign, under a partly cloudy sky

Scaffolding still climbs the left side of the building. Photo: WDWMAGIC

How the refresh has unfolded

This is the next step after the first section of repainted facade we wrote about on October 5, when the southeast side came out of scaffolding still deliberately cracked, stained and rusty, and the upper tower was still wrapped. On October 18, we reported WDW News Today's photos of the lightning scar taking shape behind the scaffolding. Here is the timeline so far, from Blog Mickey, WDW News Today and WDWMagic:

  • Spring: crews started on the outdoor queue, and a scrim went up over part of the facade by Tower Hotel Gifts.
  • July 9: scaffolding spread across the building's southeast side.
  • August 4: scaffolding started going up the front of the tower.
  • October 3: the southeast side came out from behind its scaffolding.
  • October 18 and 19: WDW News Today, then Blog Mickey, photographed the purple lightning scar showing through gaps in the scaffolding high on the tower.
  • October 23 to 26: the upper front, lightning scar and hotel sign are back in view.

A crowd of guests on Sunset Boulevard below the Hollywood Tower Hotel, which rises above the palm trees with its sign and repainted upper floors visible and scaffolding on its lower levels and up both sides

The view down Sunset Boulevard, from WDWMagic's October 26 report. Photo: WDWMAGIC

So, does it look like the hotel you remember from your first drop? Tell us which part of the refresh you want to see next.

Sources

Image credits: WDWMAGIC (hotel sign and facade, scaffolding and Sunset Boulevard photos); BlogMickey.com (lightning scar close-up).

Mentioned in this story

Check out our guides for more on each place in this story:

Hollywood Studios The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror Tower Hotel Gifts

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