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Disneyland’s ‘Tower Of Terror’ Gets A Major Makeover And People Are Not Happy

By Chanel Adams
Published on: 14:08 PST, Jul 24, 2016

The iconic Tower of Terror ride in Disneyland’s California Adventure is getting a massive makeover. By summer 2017, the beloved Twilight Zone-themed elevator ride at the California theme park will be turned into the Guardians of Galaxy – Mission: Breakout elevator ride. Rumors about the new ride swirled earlier this year, but the news was officially confirmed at Comic-Con this weekend.

According to a press release from Disney, the new ride will take guests “through the fortress-like museum of the mysterious Collector, who is keeping his newest acquisitions, the Guardians of the Galaxy, as prisoners.” Guests will be joined by Rocket Raccoon on a mission to free characters such as Star-Lord, Groot, Gamora, and Drax. Of course, the ride will be filled with its own music and special effects, much like the Tower of Terror. It will be accompanied by music from the Awesome Mix Vol. 1 and 2, according to 12 News NBC.

Say goodbye to the beloved ‘Twilight Zone Tower of Terror’ and hello to the new ‘Guardians of the Galaxy — Mission: Breakout’ ride at Disneyland’s California Adventure. [Illustration by Disneyland Resort via Getty Images]
Disney Imagineering executive Joe Rhode said that the ride is “a first in what is going to become a whole new universe in Disney California Adventure.” Learn more about the new Guardians of the Galaxy ride in the video below.

Unfortunately, fans of the classic Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ride are not happy to hear about this abrupt and sudden change. Even those who don’t frequent the ride but enjoy walking through the shop are unhappy to hear about the new attraction. Those who enjoy both Disneyland’s California Adventure and the Tower of Terror ride will only have less than one year to ride the attraction before it shuts down and changes into a completely different one, according to Fox L.A.

Those fans are not alone. Even well-known public figures and celebrities have even taken to social media to express their outcry over the new ride.

In addition, there’s already a petition on Change.org to stop Disneyland California from closing down the Tower of Terror ride. As of Sunday, July 24, there are 309 out of 1,000 signatures needed to be sent to CBS and the Walt Disney Company.

“Having to replace an iconic attraction such as ‘The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror’ with a Marvel-themed attraction, would be blasphemous against Disney fans, historians, Marvel fanatics and, most importantly, fans of Rod Serling and the original Twilight Zone TV series. While this doesn’t applied to Florida’s TOT, yet, fans of California’s version wouldn’t be able to spend enough money to travel all the way to Florida, just to witness one of the only incarnations of the iconic attractions in America, still sitting in existence. Please, DO NOT let the Imagineers continue their actions into removing a beloved attraction that won the hearts of millions since 2004.”

Even though the Tower of Terror ride in Disneyland is a cult classic, Imagineers believe that the new Guardians of Galaxy ride will be just as popular. That’s because the Marvel movie was one of the biggest box-office movies of 2014. Disney is hoping to cash in on that success with the movie’s first sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, scheduled to hit theaters in 2017.

The new ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ elevator ride will feature a walk-through museum before you embark on the ride. [Illustration by Disneyland Resort via Getty Images]
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror ride first opened in 2004 at Disneyland’s California Adventure. It was based on the similar attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World. However, this free-fall ride is slightly different in that it has a separate track that drops guests and is actually designed to look like a 1930s hotel based on the actual Hollywood Tower apartments on Franklin Avenue.

This isn’t the first time that guests were upset over a ride closing down. The ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter (also known as Alien Encounter) attraction at Tomorrowland in Walt Disney World closed down in 2003. A year later, it was retooled into Stitch’s Great Escape, which used some of the old technology and set pieces, but didn’t have the same scare factor.

What are your thoughts on Disneyland California getting rid of the iconic Twilight Zone Tower of Terror elevator ride? Share your thoughts below in the comments section.

[Illustrations by Disneyland Resort via Getty Images]

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