document_title: History of the Americas

question_text: what is the oldest known civilization in central and south america

text: History of the Americas

text: Pre-colonization[edit]

text: Migration into the continents[edit]

text: The specifics of Paleo-Indian migration to and throughout the Americas, including the exact dates and routes traveled, are subject to ongoing research and discussion.[1] The traditional theory has been that these early migrants moved into the Beringia land bridge between eastern Siberia and present-day Alaska around 40,000 – 17,000 years ago, when sea levels were significantly lowered due to the Quaternary glaciation.[1][2] These people are believed to have followed herds of now-extinct pleistocene megafauna along ice-free corridors that stretched between the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets.[3] Another route proposed is that, either on foot or using primitive boats, they migrated down the Pacific Northwest coast to South America.[4] Evidence of the latter would since have been covered by a sea level rise of a hundred meters following the last ice age.[5]

text: Archaeologists contend that the Paleo-Indian migration out of Beringia (eastern Alaska), ranges from 40,000 to around 16,500 years ago.[6][7][8] This time range is a hot source of debate. The few agreements achieved to date are the origin from Central Asia, with widespread habitation of the Americas during the end of the last glacial period, or more specifically what is known as the late glacial maximum, around 16,000 – 13,000 years before present.[8][9]

text: The American Journal of Human Genetics released an article in 2007 stating "Here we show, by using 86 complete mitochondrial genomes, that all Indigenous American haplogroups, including Haplogroup X (mtDNA), were part of a single founding population."[10] Amerindian groups in the Bering Strait region exhibit perhaps the strongest DNA or mitochondrial DNA relations to Siberian peoples. The genetic diversity of Amerindian indigenous groups increase with distance from the assumed entry point into the Americas.[11][12] Certain genetic diversity patterns from West to East suggest, particularly in South America, that migration proceeded first down the west coast, and then proceeded eastward.[13] Geneticists have variously estimated that peoples of Asia and the Americas were part of the same population from 42,000 to 21,000 years ago.[14]

text: New studies shed light on the founding population of indigenous Americans, suggesting that their ancestry traced to both east Asian and western Eurasians who migrated to North America directly from Siberia. A 2013 study in the journal Nature reported that DNA found in the 24,000-year-old remains of a young Boy in Mal’ta Siberia suggest that up to one-third of the indigenous Americans may have ancestry that can be traced back to western Eurasians, who may have "had a more north-easterly distribution 24,000 years ago than commonly thought"[15] Professor Kelly Graf said that "Our findings are significant at two levels. First, it shows that Upper Paleolithic Siberians came from a cosmopolitan population of early modern humans that spread out of Africa to Europe and Central and South Asia. Second, Paleoindian skeletons with phenotypic traits atypical of modern-day Native Americans can be explained as having a direct historical connection to Upper Paleolithic Siberia." A route through Beringia is seen as more likely than the Solutrean hypothesis.[16]

text: On October 3, 2014, the Oregon cave, where the oldest DNA evidence of human habitation in North America was found, was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The DNA, radiocarbon dated to 14,300 years ago, was found in fossilized human coprolites uncovered in the Paisley Five Mile Point Caves in south-central Oregon.[17]

text: Lithic stage (before 8000 BCE)[edit]

text: The Lithic stage or Paleo-Indian period, is the earliest classification term referring to the first stage of human habitation in the Americas, covering the Late Pleistocene epoch. The time period derives its name from the appearance of "Lithic flaked" stone tools. Stone tools, particularly projectile points and scrapers, are the primary evidence of the earliest well known human activity in the Americas. Lithic reduction stone tools are used by archaeologists and anthropologists to classify cultural periods.

text: Archaic stage (8000 BCE – 1000 BCE)[edit]

text: Several thousand years after the first migrations, the first complex civilizations arose as hunter-gatherers settled into semi-agricultural communities. Identifiable sedentary settlements began to emerge in the so-called Middle Archaic period around 6000 BCE. Particular archaeological cultures can be identified and easily classified throughout the Archaic period.

text: In the late Archaic, on the north-central coastal region of Peru, a complex civilization arose which has been termed the Norte Chico civilization, also known as Caral-Supe. It is the oldest known civilization in the Americas and one of the five sites where civilization originated independently and indigenously in the ancient world, flourishing between the 30th and 18th centuries BC. It pre-dated the Mesoamerican Olmec civilization by nearly two millennia. It was contemporaneous with the Egypt following the unification of its kingdom under Narmer and the emergence of the first Egyptian hieroglyphics.

text: Monumental architecture, including earthwork platform mounds and sunken plazas have been identified as part of the civilization. Archaeological evidence points to the use of textile technology and the worship of common god symbols. Government, possibly in the form of theocracy, is assumed to have been required to manage the region. However, numerous questions remain about its organization. In archaeological nomenclature, the culture was pre-ceramic culture of the pre-Columbian Late Archaic period. It appears to have lacked ceramics and art.

text: Ongoing scholarly debate persists over the extent to which the flourishing of Norte Chico resulted from its abundant maritime food resources, and the relationship that these resources would suggest between coastal and inland sites.

text: The role of seafood in the Norte Chico diet has been a subject of scholarly debate. In 1973, examining the Aspero region of Norte Chico, Michael E. Moseley contended that a maritime subsistence (seafood) economy had been the basis of society and its early flourishing. This theory, later termed "maritime foundation of Andean Civilization" was at odds with the general scholarly consensus that civilization arose as a result of intensive grain-based agriculture, as had been the case in the emergence of civilizations in northeast Africa (Egypt) and southwest Asia (Mesopotamia).

text: While earlier research pointed to edible domestic plants such as squash, beans, lucuma, guava, pacay, and camote at Caral, publications by Haas and colleagues have added avocado, achira, and corn (Zea Mays) to the list of foods consumed in the region. In 2013, Haas and colleagues reported that maize was a primary component of the diet throughout the period of 3000 to 1800 BC.[18]

text: Cotton was another widespread crop in Norte Chico, essential to the production of fishing nets and textiles. Jonathan Haas noted a mutual dependency, whereby "The prehistoric residents of the Norte Chico needed the fish resources for their protein and the fishermen needed the cotton to make the nets to catch the fish."

text: In the 2005 book 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, journalist Charles C. Mann surveyed the literature at the time, reporting a date "sometime before 3200 BC, and possibly before 3500 BC" as the beginning date for the formation of Norte Chico. He notes that the earliest date securely associated with a city is 3500 BC, at Huaricanga in the (inland) Fortaleza area.

text: The Norte Chico civilization began to decline around 1800 BC as more powerful centers appeared to the south and north along its coast, and to the east within the Andes Mountains.

text: Mesoamerica, the Woodland Period, and Mississippian culture (2000 BCE – 500 CE)[edit]

text: After the decline of the Norte Chico civilization, several large, centralized civilizations developed in the Western Hemisphere: Chavin, Nazca, Moche, Huari, Quitus, Cañaris, Chimu, Pachacamac, Tiahuanaco, Aymara and Inca in the Central Andes (Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia); Muisca in Colombia ; Taínos in Dominican Republic (Hispaniola, Española) and part of Caribbean; and the Olmecs, Maya, Toltecs, Mixtecs, Zapotecs, Aztecs and Purepecha in southern North America (Mexico, Guatemala).

text: The Olmec civilization was the first Mesoamerican civilization, beginning around 1600-1400 BC and ending around 400 BC. Mesoamerica is considered one of the six sites around the globe in which civilization developed independently and indigenously. This civilization is considered the mother culture of the Mesoamerican civilizations. The Mesoamerican calendar, numeral system, writing, and much of the Mesoamerican pantheon seem to have begun with the Olmec.

text: Some elements of agriculture seem to have been practiced in Mesoamerica quite early. The domestication of maize is thought to have begun around 7,500 to 12,000 years ago. The earliest record of lowland maize cultivation dates to around 5100 BC.[19] Agriculture continued to be mixed with a hunting-gathering-fishing lifestyle until quite late compared to other regions, but by 2700 BC, Mesoamericans were relying on maize, and living mostly in villages. Temple mounds and classes started to appear. By 1300/ 1200 BC, small centres coalesced into the Olmec civilization, which seems to have been a set of city-states, united in religious and commercial concerns. The Olmec cities had ceremonial complexes with earth/clay pyramids, palaces, stone monuments, aqueducts and walled plazas. The first of these centers was at San Lorenzo (until 900 bc). La Venta was the last great Olmec centre. Olmec artisans sculpted jade and clay figurines of Jaguars and humans. Their iconic giant heads - believed to be of Olmec rulers - stood in every major city.

text: The Olmec civilization ended in 400 BC, with the defacing and destruction of San Lorenzo and La Venta, two of the major cities. It nevertheless spawned many other states, most notably the Mayan civilization, whose first cities began appearing around 700-600 BC. Olmec influences continued to appear in many later Mesoamerican civilizations.

text: Cities of the Aztecs, Mayas, and Incas were as large and organized as the largest in the Old World, with an estimated population of 200,000 to 350,000 in Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec empire. The market established in the city was said to have been the largest ever seen by the conquistadors when they arrived. The capital of the Cahokians, Cahokia, located near modern East St. Louis, Illinois, may have reached a population of over 20,000. At its peak, between the 12th and 13th centuries, Cahokia may have been the most populous city in North America. Monk's Mound, the major ceremonial center of Cahokia, remains the largest earthen construction of the prehistoric New World.

text: These civilizations developed agriculture as well, breeding maize (corn) from having ears 2–5 cm in length to perhaps 10–15 cm in length. Potatoes, tomatoes, pumpkins, beans, avocados, and chocolate are now the most popular of the pre-Columbian agricultural products. The civilizations did not develop extensive livestock as there were few suitable species, although alpacas and llamas were domesticated for use as beasts of burden and sources of wool and meat in the Andes. By the 15th century, maize was being farmed in the Mississippi River Valley after introduction from Mexico. The course of further agricultural development was greatly altered by the arrival of Europeans.

text: Classic stage (800 BCE – 1533 CE)[edit]

text: Cahokia was a major regional chiefdom, with trade and tributary chiefdoms located in a range of areas from bordering the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico.

text: The Iroquois League of Nations or "People of the Long House", based in present-day upstate and western New York, had a confederacy model from the mid-15th century.  It has been suggested that their culture contributed to political thinking during the development of the later United States government. Their system of affiliation was a kind of federation, different from the strong, centralized European monarchies.[20][21][22]

text: Leadership was restricted to a group of 50 sachem chiefs, each representing one clan within a tribe; the Oneida and Mohawk people had nine seats each; the Onondagas held fourteen; the Cayuga had ten seats; and the Seneca had eight. Representation was not based on population numbers, as the Seneca tribe greatly outnumbered the others. When a sachem chief died, his successor was chosen by the senior woman of his tribe in consultation with other female members of the clan; property and hereditary leadership were passed matrilineally. Decisions were not made through voting but through consensus decision making, with each sachem chief holding theoretical veto power. The Onondaga were the "firekeepers", responsible for raising topics to be discussed. They occupied one side of a three-sided fire (the Mohawk and Seneca sat on one side of the fire, the Oneida and Cayuga sat on the third side.)[22]

text: Elizabeth Tooker, an anthropologist, has said that it was unlikely the US founding fathers were inspired by the confederacy, as it bears little resemblance to the system of governance adopted in the United States. For example, it is based on inherited rather than elected leadership, selected by female members of the tribes, consensus decision-making regardless of population size of the tribes, and a single group capable of bringing matters before the legislative body.[22]

text: Long-distance trading did not prevent warfare and displacement among the indigenous peoples, and their oral histories tell of numerous migrations to the historic territories where Europeans encountered them. The Iroquois invaded and attacked tribes in the Ohio River area of present-day Kentucky and claimed the hunting grounds. Historians have placed these events as occurring as early as the 13th century, or in the 17th century Beaver Wars.[23]

text: Through warfare, the Iroquois drove several tribes to migrate west to what became known as their historically traditional lands west of the Mississippi River. Tribes originating in the Ohio Valley who moved west included the Osage, Kaw, Ponca and Omaha people. By the mid-17th century, they had resettled in their historical lands in present-day Kansas, Nebraska, Arkansas and Oklahoma. The Osage warred with Caddo-speaking Native Americans, displacing them in turn by the mid-18th century and dominating their new historical territories.[23]

text: Oasisamerica[edit]

text:
Ancestral Puebloan archeological sites

The Great Kiva of Chetro Ketl at the Chaco Culture National Historical Park, UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Taos Pueblo, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is an Ancient Pueblo belonging to a Native American tribe of Pueblo people, marking the cultural development in the region during the Pre-Columbian era.

White House Ruins, Canyon de Chelly National Monument

text: The Pueblo people of what is now the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico, living conditions were that of large stone apartment like adobe structures. They live in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and possibly surrounding areas.

text: Aridoamerica[edit]

text: Chichimeca was the name that the Mexica (Aztecs) generically applied to a wide range of semi-nomadic peoples who inhabited the north of modern-day Mexico, and carried the same sense as the European term "barbarian". The name was adopted with a pejorative tone by the Spaniards when referring especially to the semi-nomadic hunter-gatherer peoples of northern Mexico.

text: Mesoamerica[edit]

text: The Zapotec emerged around 1500 years BCE. Their writing system influenced the later Olmec. They left behind the great city Monte Alban.

text: The Olmec civilization emerged around 1200 BCE in Mesoamerica and ended around 400 BCE. Olmec art and concepts influenced surrounding cultures after their downfall. This civilization was thought to be the first in America to develop a writing system. After the Olmecs abandoned their cities for unknown reasons, the Maya, Zapotec and Teotihuacan arose.

text: The Purepecha civilization emerged around 1000 CE in Mesoamerica . They flourished from 1100 CE to 1530 CE. They continue to live on in the state of Michoacán. Fierce warriors, they were never conquered and in their glory years, successfully sealed off huge areas from Aztec domination.

text: Maya history spans 3,000 years. The Classic Maya may have collapsed due to changing climate in the end of the 10th century.

text: The Toltec were a nomadic people, dating from the 10th - 12th century, whose language was also spoken by the Aztecs.

text: Teotihuacan (4th century BCE - 7/8th century CE) was both a city, and an empire of the same name, which, at its zenith between 150 and the 5th century, covered most of Mesoamerica.

text: The Aztec having started to build their empire around 14th century found their civilization abruptly ended by the Spanish conquistadors. They lived in Mesoamerica, and surrounding lands. Their capital city Tenochtitlan was one of the largest cities of all time.

text: South America[edit]

text: The oldest known civilization of the Americas was established in the Norte Chico region of modern Peru. Complex society emerged in the group of coastal valleys, between 3000 and 1800 BCE. The Quipu, a distinctive recording device among Andean civilizations, apparently dates from the era of Norte Chico's prominence.

text: The Chavín established a trade network and developed agriculture by as early as (or late compared to the Old World) 900 BCE according to some estimates and archaeological finds. Artifacts were found at a site called Chavín in modern Peru at an elevation of 3,177 meters. Chavín civilization spanned from 900 BCE to 300 BCE.

text:
Holding their capital at the great city of Cusco, the Inca civilization dominated the Andes region from 1438 to 1533.
Known as Tahuantinsuyu, or "the land of the four regions", in Quechua, the Inca culture was highly distinct and developed. Cities were built with precise, unmatched stonework, constructed over many levels of mountain terrain. Terrace farming was a useful form of agriculture. There is evidence of excellent metalwork and even successful trepanation of the skull in Inca civilization.

text: European colonization[edit]

text: Around 1000, the Vikings established a short-lived settlement in Newfoundland, now known as L'Anse aux Meadows. Speculations exist about other Old World discoveries of the New World, but none of these are generally or completely accepted by most scholars.

text: Spain sponsored a major exploration led by Italian explorer Christopher Columbus in 1492; it quickly led to extensive European colonization of the Americas. The Europeans brought Old World diseases which are thought to have caused catastrophic epidemics and a huge decrease of the native population. Columbus came at a time in which many technical developments in sailing techniques and communication made it possible to report his voyages easily and to spread word of them throughout Europe. It was also a time of growing religious, imperial and economic rivalries that led to a competition for the establishment of colonies.

text: Colonial period[edit]

text: 15th to 19th century colonies in the New World:

text:
Spanish colonization of the Americas (1492)
Viceroyalty of New Spain (1535 to 1821)
Viceroyalty of Peru (1542–1824)
Spanish Main
Spanish West Indies
Captaincy General of Guatemala
British America / Thirteen Colonies (1497/1584/1607 to 1776/20th century)
Danish West Indies
New Netherland
New France
Captaincy General of Venezuela
Portuguese colonization of the Americas (1499 to 1822)
Colonial Brazil (1500 to 1815)

text: Decolonization[edit]

text: The formation of sovereign states in the New World began with the United States Declaration of Independence of 1776. The American Revolutionary War lasted through the period of the Siege of Yorktown — its last major campaign — in the early autumn of 1781, with peace being achieved in 1783.

text: The Spanish colonies won their independence in the first quarter of the 19th century, in the Spanish American wars of independence. Simón Bolívar and José de San Martín, among others, led their independence struggle. Although Bolivar attempted to keep the Spanish-speaking parts of Latin America politically allied, they rapidly became independent of one another as well, and several further wars were fought, such as the Paraguayan War and the War of the Pacific. (See Latin American integration.) In the Portuguese colony Dom Pedro I (also Pedro IV of Portugal), son of the Portuguese king Dom João VI, proclaimed the country's independence in 1822 and became Brazil's first Emperor. This was peacefully accepted by the crown in Portugal, upon compensation.

text: Effects of slavery[edit]

text: Slavery has had a significant role in the economic development the New World after the colonization of the Americas by the Europeans. The cotton, tobacco, and sugar cane harvested by slaves became important exports for the United States and the Caribbean countries.

text: 20th century[edit]

text: North America[edit]

text: As a part of the British Empire, Canada immediately entered World War I when it broke out in 1914. Canada bore the brunt of several major battles during the early stages of the war, including the use of poison gas attacks at Ypres. Losses became grave, and the government eventually brought in conscription, despite the fact this was against the wishes of the majority of French Canadians. In the ensuing Conscription Crisis of 1917, riots broke out on the streets of Montreal. In neighboring Newfoundland, the new dominion suffered a devastating loss on July 1, 1916, the First day on the Somme.

text: The United States stayed out of the conflict until 1917, when it joined the Entente powers. The United States was then able to play a crucial role at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 that shaped interwar Europe. Mexico was not part of the war, as the country was embroiled in the Mexican Revolution at the time.

text: The 1920s brought an age of great prosperity in the United States, and to a lesser degree Canada. But the Wall Street Crash of 1929 combined with drought ushered in a period of economic hardship in the United States and Canada. From 1936 to 1949, there was a popular uprising against the anti-Catholic Mexican government of the time, set off specifically by the anti-clerical provisions of the Mexican Constitution of 1917.

text: Once again, Canada found itself at war before its neighbors, however even Canadian contributions were slight before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The entry of the United States into the war helped to tip the balance in favour of the allies. Two Mexican tankers, transporting oil to the United States, were attacked and sunk by the Germans in the Gulf of Mexico waters, in 1942. The incident happened in spite of Mexico's neutrality at that time. This led Mexico to enter the conflict with a declaration of war on the Axis nations. The destruction of Europe wrought by the war vaulted all North American countries to more important roles in world affairs, especially the United States, which emerged as a "superpower".

text: The early Cold War era saw the United States as the most powerful nation in a Western coalition of which Mexico and Canada were also a part. In Canada, Quebec was transformed by the Quiet Revolution and the emergence of Quebec nationalism. Mexico experienced an era of huge economic growth after World War II, a heavy industrialization process and a growth of its middle class, a period known in Mexican history as "El Milagro Mexicano" (the Mexican miracle). The Caribbean saw the beginnings of decolonization, while on the largest island the Cuban Revolution introduced Cold War rivalries into Latin America.

text: The civil rights movement in the U.S. ended Jim Crow and empowered black voters in the 1960s, which allowed black citizens to move into high government offices for the first time since Reconstruction. However, the dominant New Deal coalition collapsed in the mid 1960s in disputes over race and the Vietnam War, and the conservative movement began its rise to power, as the once dominant liberalism weakened and collapsed. Canada during this era was dominated by the leadership of Pierre Elliot Trudeau. In 1982, at the end of his tenure, Canada enshrined a new constitution.

text: Canada's Brian Mulroney not only ran on a similar platform but also favored closer trade ties with the United States. This led to the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement in January 1989. Mexican presidents Miguel de la Madrid, in the early 1980s and Carlos Salinas de Gortari in the late 1980s, started implementing liberal economic strategies that were seen as a good move. However, Mexico experienced a strong economic recession in 1982 and the Mexican peso suffered a devaluation. In the United States president Ronald Reagan attempted to move the United States back towards a hard anti-communist line in foreign affairs, in what his supporters saw as an attempt to assert moral leadership (compared to the Soviet Union) in the world community. Domestically, Reagan attempted to bring in a package of privatization and regulation to stimulate the economy.

text: The end of the Cold War and the beginning of the era of sustained economic expansion coincided during the 1990s. On January 1, 1994, Canada, Mexico and the United States signed the North American Free Trade Agreement, creating the world's largest free trade area. In 2000, Vicente Fox became the first non-PRI candidate to win the Mexican presidency in over 70 years. The optimism of the 1990s was shattered by the 9/11 attacks of 2001 on the United States, which prompted military intervention in Afghanistan, which also involved Canada. Canada did not support the United States' later move to invade Iraq, however.

text: In the U.S. the Reagan Era of conservative national policies, deregulation and tax cuts took control with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980. By 2010, political scientists were debating whether the election of Barack Obama in 2008 represented an end of the Reagan Era, or was only a reaction against the bubble economy of the 2000s (decade), which burst in 2008 and became the Late-2000s recession with prolonged unemployment.

text: Central America[edit]

text:
Area

560,988 km²

Population

50,807,778

Countries

 Belize Costa Rica Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua Panama El Salvador Dominican Republic

text: Despite the failure of a lasting political union, the concept of Central American reunification, though lacking enthusiasm from the leaders of the individual countries, rises from time to time. In 1856–1857 the region successfully established a military coalition to repel an invasion by United States adventurer William Walker. Today, all five nations fly flags that retain the old federal motif of two outer blue bands bounding an inner white stripe. (Costa Rica, traditionally the least committed of the five to regional integration, modified its flag significantly in 1848 by darkening the blue and adding a double-wide inner red band, in honor of the French tricolor).

text: In 1907, a Central American Court of Justice was created. On December 13, 1960, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua established the Central American Common Market ("CACM"). Costa Rica, because of its relative economic prosperity and political stability, chose not to participate in the CACM. The goals for the CACM were to create greater political unification and success of import substitution industrialization policies. The project was an immediate economic success, but was abandoned after the 1969 "Football War" between El Salvador and Honduras. A Central American Parliament has operated, as a purely advisory body, since 1991. Costa Rica has repeatedly declined invitations to join the regional parliament, which seats deputies from the four other former members of the Union, as well as from Panama and the Dominican Republic.

text: South America[edit]

text: In the 1960s and 1970s, the governments of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay were overthrown or displaced by U.S.-aligned military dictatorships. These dictatorships detained tens of thousands of political prisoners, many of whom were tortured and/or killed (on inter-state collaboration, see Operation Condor). Economically, they began a transition to neoliberal economic policies. They placed their own actions within the United States Cold War doctrine of "National Security" against internal subversion. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Peru suffered from an internal conflict (see Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement and Shining Path). Revolutionary movements and right-wing military dictatorships have been common, but starting in the 1980s a wave of democratization came through the continent, and democratic rule is widespread now. Allegations of corruption remain common, and several nations have seen crises which have forced the resignation of their presidents, although normal civilian succession has continued.

text: International indebtedness became a notable problem, as most recently illustrated by Argentina's default in the early 21st century. In recent years, South American governments have drifted to the left, with socialist leaders being elected in Chile, Bolivia, Brazil, Venezuela, and a leftist president in Argentina and Uruguay. Despite the move to the left, South America is still largely capitalist. With the founding of the Union of South American Nations, South America has started down the road of economic integration, with plans for political integration in the European Union style.

text:
Country orterritory with flag

Area(km²)[24] (per sq mi)

Population(July 2009 est.)[24]

Population densityper km²

Capital

 Argentina

2,766,890 km2 (1,068,300 sq mi)

40,482,000

14.3/km² (37/sq mi)

Buenos Aires

 Bolivia

1,098,580 km2 (424,160 sq mi)

9,863,000

8.4/km² (21.8/sq mi)

La Paz[25]

 Brazil

8,514,877 km2 (3,287,612 sq mi)

191,241,714

22.0/km² (57/sq mi)

Brasília

 Chile[26]

  756,950 km2 (292,260 sq mi)

16,928,873

22/km² (57/sq mi)

Santiago

 Colombia

1,138,910 km2 (439,740 sq mi)

45,928,970

40/km² (103.6/sq mi)

Bogotá

 Ecuador

  283,560 km2 (109,480 sq mi)

14,573,101

53.8/km² (139.3/sq mi)

Quito

 Falkland Islands (United Kingdom)[27]

   12,173 km2 (4,700 sq mi)

3,140[28]

0.26/km² (0.7/sq mi)

Stanley

 French Guiana (France)

   91,000 km2 (35,000 sq mi)

221,500[29]

2.7/km² (5.4/sq mi)

Cayenne

 Guyana

  214,999 km2 (83,012 sq mi)

772,298

3.5/km² (9.1/sq mi)

Georgetown

 Paraguay

  406,750 km2 (157,050 sq mi)

6,831,306

15.6/km² (40.4/sq mi)

Asunción

 Peru

1,285,220 km2 (496,230 sq mi)

29,132,013

22/km² (57/sq mi)

Lima

 South Georgia andSouth Sandwich Islands (United Kingdom)[30]

    3,093 km2 (1,194 sq mi)

20

0/km² (0/sq mi)

Grytviken

 Suriname

  163,270 km2 (63,040 sq mi)

472,000

3/km² (7.8/sq mi)

Paramaribo

 Uruguay

  176,220 km2 (68,040 sq mi)

3,477,780

19.4/km² (50.2/sq mi)

Montevideo

 Venezuela

  916,445 km2 (353,841 sq mi)

26,814,843

30.2/km² (72/sq mi)

Caracas

Total

7007178245130000000♠17,824,513

7008385742554000000♠385,742,554

21.5/km²


document_title: The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

question_text: how tall is the hollywood tower of terror

question_tokens: how tall is the hollywood tower of terror

root

text: The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

text: Queue and preshow[edit]

text: This section is written like a personal reflection or opinion essay that states a Wikipedia editor's personal feelings about a topic. Please help improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style. (December 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

tag: table

text: In the American and European versions of the attraction, guests make their way to the Hollywood Tower Hotel through the front gate. Guests then walk along a cracked, curved pathway that leads to the hotel. The pathway goes past overgrown gardens, signs pointing to the stables, a bowling green, tennis courts, swimming pools, and a vine-covered pavilion. In most parks, 1930s jazz music plays in the queue area.

tag: p

text: Entering through the hotel's front doors, guests encounter an interior designed to give the impression that the Hollywood Tower Hotel has been left untouched since the night of its closure. The lobby is covered in dust and draped with cobwebs, and throughout there are other signs of the hotel's abrupt closure. Past the front desk, the main elevators are in a dilapidated state, and a sign reads "Out of Order". Guests are informed by bellhops that their rooms are not ready yet, and they are then ushered into the hotel library, which houses the hotel's collection of books, antiques, an old television set, and various pieces of Twilight Zone memorabilia scattered about the room. Through the library window, guests can observe a severe thunderstorm raging outside.

text: With a crash of thunder and lightning, the power suddenly goes out, except for the television set which crackles into life and plays the opening sequence from the fourth and fifth seasons of The Twilight Zone, hosted by Rod Serling. The episode goes on to depict the events of a stormy night in 1939 when a lightning bolt struck the tower and caused five people—a celebrity couple, a rising child star, her nanny, and a hotel bellhop—to vanish from the elevator. The television then turns off and the guests are directed through to the boiler room, where they await the maintenance service elevator's arrival.

text: Disney's Hollywood Studios version[edit]

text: History[edit]

text: In the late 1980s, a second phase of development was being designed for Disneyland Paris (then Euro Disney). Included was a free-fall type ride in Frontierland that was to be named Geyser Mountain. It would have been part roller coaster, part free-fall ride that shot guests up a vertical shaft. The plan was scrapped, but was picked up by Disney's Hollywood Studios (then Disney-MGM Studios) as part of a massive expansion to their U.S. park. Several attractions had already been proposed, including "Dick Tracy's Crimestoppers", which would be later made into Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland. Still needing a major "E-ticket" attraction, the idea of a drop-shaft ride came up and was chosen.[12] There had been several proposed ideas for haunted attractions, including a ride based on Stephen King's novels, a Vincent Price ghost tour, a Mel Brooks-narrated ride, a real hotel, and a whodunit murder mystery, but none progressed into development.[13]

text: Walt Disney Imagineering eventually took inspiration from Rod Serling's anthology stories featured in The Twilight Zone, as a foundation for their original story. Imagineers mused that the attraction would be able to take guests into the Fifth Dimension that Serling always described as unlocking in every episode of the series. With the project in firm development, Disney licensed the rights to use The Twilight Zone intellectual property from CBS Inc.[14] The Imagineering team settled on a 1930s-era Hollywood hotel with a Twilight Zone theme, but a new ride system had to be built, which would allow both more capacity inside the ride and make the drop fast. Otis Elevator Company created the vertical ride system, and Eaton-Kenway a ride vehicle that could drive itself horizontally.[12] Joe Dante directed the ride's short preshow film.[15] The archival footage of Rod Serling used in the preshow was taken from the episode, "It's a Good Life".[16] Mark Silverman provided the voice for Serling in the attraction; Serling's wife, Carol Serling, approved the casting of Silverman after several auditions.[7]

text: Site-clearing and prep began early 1992. A sinkhole led to the site's being moved slightly. The tower's interior and exterior design took inspiration from existing Southern California landmarks, including the Biltmore Hotel and Mission Inn.[7] The distinctive Spanish Colonial Revival architectural features on and around the attraction's roof were designed so that the rear facade, which is visible from Epcot, would blend seamlessly with the skyline of the Morocco Pavilion in Epcot's World Showcase Lagoon.[17] After construction ended, the ride was set to open on July 4, 1994; but the Tower of Terror opened on July 22, 1994, along with the Sunset Boulevard thoroughfare.[12]

text: Technical details[edit]

text: The ride system of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney's Hollywood Studios employs specialized technology developed by Walt Disney Imagineering, particularly the ability to move the vehicle in and out of the vertical motion shaft. The elevator cabs are self-propelled automated ride vehicles, also known as automated guided vehicles, which lock into separate vertical motion cabs. The cabs can move into and out of elevators horizontally, move through the "Fifth Dimension" scene, and on to the drop shaft.

text: In order to achieve the weightless effect the Imagineers desired, cables attached to the bottom of the elevator car pull it down at a speed slightly faster than what a free fall would provide. Two enormous motors are located at the top of the tower, measuring 12 feet (3.7 m) tall, 35 feet (11 m) long, and weighing 132,000 pounds (60,000 kg). They are able to accelerate 10 short tons (9.1 t) at 15 times the speed of normal elevators. They generate 275 times the torque of a Corvette engine, reaching top speed in 1.5 second. The ride's slogan, "Never the Same Fear Twice!", refers to the drop pattern being randomly selected by a computer before the ride begins. The drop reaches a top speed of 39 miles per hour (63 km/h).[18]

text: After the elevator cab has completed the ride, it propels itself to the unload dock and then back to the show shaft. The Florida ride runs on a unique loop system different from the versions used in California, Paris and Tokyo.

text: Ride experience[edit]

text: Corridor scene[edit]

text: In this version of the attraction, Rod Serling's voice greets passengers the moment the elevator doors close, saying:

text: The elevator rises for a few seconds before coming to its first stop. The doors open to reveal a long, dimly lit hotel corridor, with overgrown plants and doors to guest rooms, with morning newspapers and room-service trays outside, along its length. There is a single window at the opposite end of the corridor. A violent thunderstorm is raging and lightning flashes outside the window. The five missing passengers from 1939 appear for several moments, turning to face the elevator and beckoning the guests to join them. Then they disappear in a burst of electricity. The corridor fades away, but the window remains until it appears to be floating in a dark field of stars. The window morphs into the window from the Season 5 opening sequence, and breaks.

text: Fifth Dimension scene[edit]

text: The elevator doors close and the car continues its ascent. Serling's narration goes on, saying:

text: The elevator stops once more. The doors open to what at first looks like a maintenance room, but slowly transforms into a field of stars. The elevator car emerges horizontally from the lift shaft and enters a section of the ride called "The Fifth Dimension", which is a collection of sights and sounds and star fields, again in the style of the television show's opening sequence. A rendition of The Twilight Zone theme plays throughout. The scene ends as the elevator reaches another star field which splits and opens much like elevator doors. The elevator enters another vertical shaft, this one pitch black. Serling's voice is heard again, saying:

text: Drop sequence[edit]

text: On the last word of Serling's narration, the elevator starts its drop sequence. Rather than a simple gravity-powered drop, however, the elevator is pulled downwards, causing most riders to rise off their seats, held down by a seat belt. At least once during the drop sequence, wide elevator doors in front of the riders open to reveal a view of the park from a height of 157 ft (48 m), however the drop is only 130 ft (40 m), the height of a 13-story building. The elevator drops at a top speed of 39 miles per hour (63 km/h). In the Hollywood Studios version, the back of the "Hollywood Tower Hotel" sign partially obstructs the view (the on-ride camera is located here, recording the ride for video or a photograph to be purchased later).

text: Randomized patterns of drops and lifts have been added, where the ride vehicle will drop or rise various distances at different intervals. Other added effects include projected images of the breaking window, wind effects, lightning flashes, and ominous blue-lit figures of the five ghostly original riders. These changes were made so that each trip on The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is a slightly different experience. The ride system was reprogrammed,[when?] in its fourth conversion,[vague] so that the ride allows for any numberTemplate:Exaggeration of randomized drops and lifts. When guests enter the drop shaft, a computer randomly chooses one of four drop profiles, one of which is a modified version of the ride's third incarnation.[vague][19] Regardless of the number of randomized drops and lifts, each drop sequence always features one "faux drop" meant to startle the riders, and one complete drop through the entire tower at the top speed of 39 miles per hour (63 km/h).

text: After a series of these drops have been made, the elevator returns to the basement of the decrepit Hollywood Tower Hotel, past a curious array of abandoned items. A short clip plays, showing elements from the Season 5 opening sequence, along with the 1939 elevator passengers and Rod Serling falling into the "vortex" seen in the Season 3 opening sequence. Serling's voice says:

text: Guests then exit the elevator, leaving the hotel through the gift shop.

text: Ride exit and shop[edit]

text: On leaving the elevator, guests are led through a hotel corridor towards what would appear to be the old "Lost & Found" desk of the hotel; however, it is now where photos taken on the ride may be purchased. Beyond this desk, guests pass a cracked fountain to the left and on the right can be seen the Hollywood Tower Hotel's dining room, previously called The Sunset Room. The menu, placed outside the closed double-doors, is dated October 31, 1939. Guests then enter the shop which is called Tower Merchandise. The shop, in keeping with the theme of the hotel, has cracked walls and is dimly lit. There, guests may purchase Twilight Zone merchandise and Hollywood Tower Hotel-themed souvenirs, including hotel bathrobes and slippers.

text: On August 13, 2014, the ride's on-ride camera began recording video, so that riders could purchase a photograph or video of their ride.[20] This was the first ride at Walt Disney World to offer on-ride videos. On September 18, 2014, the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train ride at the Magic Kingdom began offering on-ride videos and pictures as well, making these the only two rides at Walt Disney World to offer videos and pictures.[21][22]

text: Summer Nightastic update[edit]

text: In February 2010, Disney announced that the Tower of Terror would receive "new lighting effects and a new addition" as part of a summer entertainment package called "Summer Nightastic!".[23] The Fifth Dimension scene is changed, mostly covered by black tarps with fiber-optic stars, and Serling's voice is removed from just before the drop profile. Replacing it is music played in the drop shaft, along with a projected picture of the riders just before they enter the drop shaft. Similar to the Disney California Adventure and Walt Disney Studios Park versions of the ride, the riders disappear, leaving an empty elevator. A new drop profile was created for "Summer Nightastic!", and replaces the other drop profiles on all rides. The profile mainly consisted of utilizing the entire tower for the drop sequences, as compared to the numerous faux and shortened drops in the randomized version. The changes were implemented on June 5, 2010, but were officially introduced the day after. All changes were temporary, and lasted until August 14, 2010.[24]

text: Disney California Adventure version[edit]

text: While similar in concept and theme to the original attraction in Florida, the attraction at Disney California Adventure, which opened in 2004[8] and closed in 2017, featured some significant differences. The exterior of Disney California Adventure's tower had architectural features reminiscent of Pueblo Deco styles found throughout Southern California during the Golden Age of Hollywood.

text: The California version also had a slightly different queue area. The boiler room scene in the queue area had two floors, instead of the one floor in the original Florida version. The two floors allowed for one elevator in one shaft to have guests on ride, while the other elevator of the same shaft was loading guests. There were three elevator shafts in the Disney California Adventure version, with two elevators per shaft, for a total of six elevators operating[vague]

text: New ride operation system[edit]

text: Imagineers redesigned the ride system for the attraction at Disney California Adventure and made some changes to the show scenes. The attraction featured three elevator shafts. Each shaft was its own separate ride with its own separate operating system. This made it easier to repair individual areas of the attraction without causing the entire attraction to go down. Each shaft had the capacity to accommodate two vehicles operating from two load levels, each vehicle loading and unloading at the same point. The ride was designed so that one vehicle could be in its ride profile while the other was at its loading level, giving each ride shaft the ability to accommodate more riders. Disney used this ride system again for Walt Disney Studios Park's version of the ride, and for Tokyo DisneySea's Hotel Hightower.

text: Ride experience[edit]

text: Instead of the autonomous vehicle found in the original incarnation, the Disney California Adventure attraction limited a car to a single shaft. As the elevator doors closed, the lights of the service elevator flickered out. The redesigned, multiple-cars-per-shaft, multilevel-boarding ride system for the California version of the tower required that one elevator load while another be in the drop shaft progressing through the ride cycle. As such, the first movement guests experienced is horizontal, as the elevator itself was pulled back from the doors as Rod Serling's voice was heard:

text: With a flash of lightning, the walls of the basement disappeared altogether, leaving only a starfield around the service doors with a rotating purple spiral.

text: The elevator rose quickly to the fifth floor. Because the dark-ride portion of California's tower took place in the drop shaft, the physical vertical vehicle conveyance system moved more quickly and nimbly than Florida's (in which the first tower functions only as a dark ride and is not built for the quick movements that the drop portion requires). As such, visitors felt a moment of weightlessness as the elevator quickly ascended and then stopped on the fifth floor, where when the doors opened, an ornate, wood-framed mirror stood in a brightly lit hallway of the hotel and riders saw their reflection in its glass. Serling then said:

text: Suddenly, lightning struck the hotel and the lights of both the hallway and elevator flickered out. A ghostly wind blows through a window and the reflection of riders in the elevator became distorted. With another blast, the elevator rumbled and shook and with a final blast of lightning the electrified reflection disappeared, leaving only the image of the empty elevator in the mirror as the doors closed.

text: The elevator descended and opened to reveal the "hallway" scene with an image of another elevator at the other end of the hallway, unlike Florida's version which shows a window. Serling delivered his next narration:

text: The five missing guests appeared in the hallway, crackling with electricity and beckoning riders to follow them. They disappeared, and the walls of the hotel became a starfield, leaving just the other elevator, as Serling said:

text: The other elevator doors opened to reveal the lost passengers inside as both elevators appeared to float through space.

text: The distant guests fell, then the distant elevator, followed immediately by the ride elevator. California's version did not have a randomized drop sequence. The ride experience was identical in every drop shaft, regardless of which floor passengers boarded on. Two small drops occurred in pitch-black darkness, followed by a rise to the top of the tower as in-cabin lights flickered. The doors then opened out to reveal the view from the top floor before the ride drops briefly, pauses, and drops along the remainder of the shaft. The elevator then raised and immediately dropped without stopping, in complete darkness. The elevator then was raised to the top of the tower, shuddered, and fell to the bottom of the shaft, to the area in between the two loading floors (to assure each ride is identical), with the elevator being finally returned to its load level and horizontally pushed back into place at the boiler room service doors. The height of the ride is 130 feet (40 m) and the elevator drop 124 feet (38 m) in total.

text: As the elevator was pushed back into place, Serling delivered his final narration:

text: After which, the service doors opened and guests exited the hotel through the basement and the gift shop.

text: Closure[edit]

text: On July 23, 2016, at San Diego Comic-Con, Disney announced that the California version would be replaced by an attraction based on Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy film series, titled Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout!, which opened in May 2017 and utilizes the same structure and ride system.[2][25] This is the first American Disney attraction to be based on the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Marvel Entertainment having been wholly acquired by Disney in 2009).[26]

text: The Tower of Terror's final day of operation was January 2, 2017; the ride then closed January 3.[3][4] In preparation for the closure, Disney began a "farewell" promotion of the ride on September 9, 2016, which featured a "Late Check Out" option to experience the drop portion of the ride in total darkness. On the night of September 19 and early morning of September 20, the "Hollywood Tower Hotel" sign was removed to prepare for the new attraction.[27][28]

text: The other three Disney parks with versions of the Tower of Terror are unaffected, and Disney has stated that there are no plans to change the ride in its other locations.[29][27]

text: Tokyo DisneySea version[edit]

text: The attraction at Tokyo DisneySea omits any connection or tie-in whatsoever with The Twilight Zone, as the television series is not well known in Japan.[13] Instead, the attraction is themed as the fictional Hotel Hightower. The ride tower, its facade an example of Moorish Revival architecture, is located in the American Waterfront area of the park, close to the S.S. Columbia cruise liner. The ride system for this version is similar to that of the Disney California Adventure and Walt Disney Studios Park versions.

text: The story line of the attraction is more complex than that of its American and European counterparts. The scenario involves the adventures of the hotel's famous builder and owner, Harrison Hightower III (modeled after Walt Disney Imagineering executive Joe Rohde), who went on many expeditions throughout the world and collected thousands of priceless artifacts. Most of these artifacts were stolen for personal gain and stored in his hotel. After one such expedition to Africa, he brought home an idol with the name of Shiriki Utundu.

text: Hightower claimed that the natives were angry to have their beloved god taken, and that they threatened that the idol would curse him. On New Year's Eve, 1899, Hightower held a press conference about his expedition to Africa, followed by a huge party. Hightower boasted about how he acquired the idol and denied claims of it being cursed. Just as he left the party, he mocked the idol, using its head to put out his cigar. Around midnight, he entered the elevator to retire to his private apartments in the hotel penthouse. As the elevator neared the top, the idol came to life.

text: The idol's immense rage and power caused the elevator to plummet and crash on the ground floor. When the doors were pried open, only Hightower's hat and the idol were recovered. The hotel was abruptly closed and condemned for more than a decade, rumored by locals to be haunted. In 1912, following pressure to demolish the hotel, a New York restoration company reopened it because of its historical significance. The company now offers paid tours of the building. It is on these "tours" that guests embark when they enter the hotel.

text: Queue and preshow[edit]

text: The queue area winds through gardens filled with statues from many different countries up to the Hotel Hightower, where guests can see that the windows are almost completely shattered. Signs are posted all over the hotel front advertising the tour. Guests then enter the lobby, an elaborate and well-decorated room filled with plush furniture and beautiful art. On each ceiling arch is painted a mural of Hightower on one of his adventures, showing him escaping native people with a valuable artifact or item in his possession. At the end of the lobby is the elevator in its destroyed state, its doors left open with only a single plank of wood holding them together, a broken cable visible inside. Guests are then ushered into a room filled with many pictures of Hightower, his expeditions, and his hotel.

text: Guests enter one of two rooms that are Hightower's office. In each room a large stained glass window depicts a confident Hightower with Shiriki Utundu sitting on a pedestal nearby. A tour guide talks about Hightower, then winds up an old gramophone that plays a recording of Hightower's last interview. At this point, the lights dim. Suddenly, the stained glass window changes to show a frightened Hightower holding the idol and then entering the elevator on that fateful night. It then shows the outside of the hotel as the elevator ascends. Suddenly, all the lights in the hotel go out, and there is a flash of green lightning, shattering the bottom of the window. At this point, Shiriki Utundu comes to life, looks around, laughs mischievously at the guests, and then vanishes into a star-field. A gray fog covers the window, which remains the same when the fog lifts. Guests are then ushered into an enormous storage room where Hightower kept his treasures. There are multiple loading rooms on the second floor, each themed to a different type of item. One has swords, another has tapestries, the third has stone tablets and other valuable artifacts.

text: Ride experience[edit]

text: The mechanics of the DisneySea tower are identical to those of the Californian and Parisian towers, with dual loading floors, horizontal push-back from the doors and into the drop tower, a "hallway" scene, and a mirror scene, but with thematic changes. The order of the mirror and "hallway" scenes is reversed compared to the American and European counterparts.

text: As the ride begins, a flash of electricity appears on the top of the elevator doors. The lights flicker, then go out. Hightower explains what happened to him, then the elevator is pulled backwards. The glowing green eyes of the idol appear in the darkness as the elevator enters the drop shaft. The elevator begins its ascent, stopping at the first scene.

text: The elevator doors open to reveal the private apartments of Harrison Hightower, the idol sitting on a table in the center. Hightower's ghost, glowing blue, appears beside it and reaches out to touch it. The idol zaps him with a bolt of green electricity, blasting him backwards past open elevator doors at the opposite end of the apartments, where Hightower falls down the shaft, which then fades away, replaced by a star field. The idol turns toward the guests' elevator and laughs before the doors close.

text: The elevator ascends to another level. The doors open, revealing a large, ornate mirror. Hightower tells the guests to wave and say "good bye to themselves". As they do, the lighting of the hotel is replaced with an eerie green glow, which makes the reflections of the guests ghostlike, an effect similar to the California and Paris rides, but absent the lightning strike. The ghostly reflection of the riders disappears and leaves the idol alone in the empty elevator. The idol laughs menacingly at the riders, and suddenly shoots forward at them. The elevator vibrates, then begins the drop sequence. The sequence is identical to the US version except the first two drops are missing (the ascent comes first) and the final drop takes place from the bottom set of doors rather than the top of the shaft.

text: At the end of the drop sequence, the elevator returns to its loading level, where the idol's green eyes glare a new time in the dark, which then disappear, replaced by the service doors through which guests entered.

text: Walt Disney Studios Park version[edit]

text: La Tour de la Terreur – Un Saut dans la Quatrième Dimension (English: The Tower of Terror – A Jump into the Fourth Dimension), at Walt Disney Studios Park in Disneyland Paris, is similar to the version at Disney California Adventure, which used the designs for the Paris park to construct its ride first, when it was needed as an additional crowd-puller.[30] When financial troubles hit Disney's Parisian resort, the attraction had to be put on hold.

text: The attraction was finally green-lit in 2005 and was under construction in the center of the park, behind the La Terrasse seating area, by early 2006. Upon completion, it was joined by a new Hollywood Boulevard lined by faux movie sets.[31] Unlike its American cousins, the Paris Tower was constructed using concrete rather than steel due to French construction guidelines and standards, at a total cost exceeding €180 million.[32] The Paris version opened in 2007.[10]

text: The Paris and California versions were originally intended to be almost identical upon completion, but there are differences, notably the height of the building and the location of some rooms backstage, as well as other differences due to different construction and work regulations in France.[33]

text: The default language for the pre-show library video and the ride is French, but can be changed to English by the Cast Member upon request. The library video is the same as the American version, but is dubbed in French and subtitled in English.

text: The Twilight Zone references and design information[edit]

text: In an effort to be true to the spirit of The Twilight Zone, Disney Imagineers reportedly watched every episode of the original television show at least twice.[34] The attraction buildings are littered with references to Twilight Zone episodes, including:

text:
At Walt Disney Studios (Paris), in the lobby of the hotel, on a couch, sits a dusty old doll. Some say the doll is supposed to be Talky Tina from the Twilight Zone episode "Living Doll", but others say it is Sally Shine, the little girl in the pre-show and ride experience, from the 1997 movie Tower of Terror. Others think the doll is simply a Shirley Temple doll. It is in fact a Shirley Temple doll, despite reasonable suspicion that it is a Twilight Zone reference. Talky Tina can be found in the library of Disney's Hollywood Studios version in Florida.
At all rides besides Tokyo's, the preshow includes a little girl holding a Mickey Mouse plush toy, along with her still holding it on the hallway scene.
In the library, the Mystic Seer machine from the episode "Nick of Time" can be seen sitting on the high shelf.
In the Florida library, there is the book titled To Serve Man from the episode of the same name.
The trumpet from "A Passage for Trumpet" can be seen in the display while exiting the libraries.
The queue of the Disneyland Paris version features a reference to the Twilight Zone episode "Little Girl Lost". Chalk marks on the walls are in the same style as those in the episode, when people were trying to find the portal to the girl. This can be found in the upper level of the boiler room next to the attraction warning signage. Periodically the girl's voice can be heard calling out for help from the wall and from the radios around the boiler room.
The elevator has a plaque that gives the last time the elevator was checked. Its number is 10259, which is a nod to the date October 2, 1959, when The Twilight Zone first aired. The plaque also states the elevator was checked by Mr. Cadwallader, the sinister deal-maker from the episode "Escape Clause".
After guests are loaded on the elevator, the needle indicating which floor the elevator is on moves past the 12th floor. This is a reference to the 9th floor in the episode "The After Hours".
As the ride comes to a stop in Florida, the slot machine from the Twilight Zone episode "The Fever" can be seen.
Upon exiting the Disneyland Paris venue, the display cases on the ground floor contain advertisements for, among other things, a "Housemaid Wanted" (a reference to the Twilight Zone episode "I Sing The Body Electric") and for "A Pair of Reading Glasses Wanted" ("Time Enough At Last"). There are some 20 advertisements of this nature at the exit of the Paris venue.
As the ride comes to a stop, the flying saucer from the Twilight Zone episode "The Invaders" is hanging from the ceiling. The eponymous characters of that same episode can be found on display in the libraries at the Florida and Paris attraction.
Both of the elevator exit areas of the Florida ride contain a display featuring, among other things, the ventriloquist dummy "Caesar" from the Twilight Zone episode "Caesar and Me".
"Picture If You Will...", a phrase Rod Serling used in more than one Twilight Zone episode, appears in the gift shop where guests can buy their on-ride photo.

tag: ul

text: The ride appeared on the Disney Channel's 1994 Halloween edition of Walt Disney World Inside Out with guest star Gilbert Gottfried. Scott Herriott was the host.

text: Following the ride's success, Disney produced the TV film, Tower of Terror, based on the attraction in 1997, starring Steven Guttenberg and Kirsten Dunst. Many shots were filmed at the Orlando theme park, while others were filmed on Burbank movie sets. As of October 2015[update], a theatrical film based on the ride, with a script by John August, is in the works.[35]

text: References in the Disney California Adventure version[edit]

text:
In the Hollywood Tower Hotel's lobby at California Adventure, there was a door with 22 in brass numbering. This was a reference to the episode "Twenty Two".
Similar to the version at Walt Disney Studios (Paris), at California Adventure in the lobby of the hotel, on a couch, sat a Shirley Temple doll.
At California Adventure there was a picture, behind the counter in the gift shop, that is said to be of Walt Disney at a Tip Top Club party holding a Mickey Mouse plush toy.
Outside the library in the glass case adjacent to the doors, there is a gold thimble accompanied by a card that reads, "Looking for a gift for Mother? Find it in our Gift Shop!" This is a reference to the Twilight Zone episode "The After Hours".
Envelopes with the names Rod Serling and Victoria West could be found in both libraries at California Adventure, near the sliding wall, a reference to the episode "A World of His Own". In Library 1, it stuck out of the top of the green books. In Library 2, it sat in front of the books. The green books contained titles of selected Twilight Zone episodes. Other books in the libraries were in various languages from around the world, including German and Danish.
Similar to the Disneyland Paris venue, the California Adventure queue featured a reference to the Twilight Zone episode "Little Girl Lost". Chalk marks on the walls were in the same style as in the episode when trying to find the portal to the girl. This could be found in the upper level of the boiler room next to the attraction warning signage at each of the 2 venues. Periodically the girl's voice could be heard calling out for help from the wall and from the radios around the boiler room.
There was a display case in the photo gallery of the Tower of Terror attraction at Disney California Adventure that contained two items relating to the "A Thing about Machines" episode. One was a typewriter (with the GET OUT OF HERE FINCHLEY message); the card next to it read "Almost Writes By Itself". There was also an electric razor; its card read "Has A Long Cord - Can Follow You Everywhere". There was also a toy telephone from the episode "Long Distance Call" with a card saying "Perfect for the children's room and those late night calls from Grandma."
Whilst exiting the Disney California Adventure ride, there was a display window for "Willoughby Travel", a nod to the episode "A Stop at Willoughby".
In the photo gallery of the Tower of Terror attraction at Disney California Adventure, there was a poster advertising "Anthony Fremont's Orchestra". Anthony Fremont was the young boy with god-like powers from the episode "It's a Good Life".

text: Soundtrack[edit]

text: In the queue for the Tower of Terror at Disney's Hollywood Studios, music from the 1930s is played.

text: The ride's score was composed by Richard Bellis,[36] and incorporates the main Twilight Zone theme composed by Marius Constant. The attraction's theme and can be found on several theme park albums:

text:
Disneyland/Walt Disney World Music Vacation (as part of a medley)
Walt Disney World Resort: The Official Album (1999 CD)
Walt Disney World Resort: Official Album (2000 CD)
Official Album: Walt Disney World Resort Celebrating 100 Years of Magic (2001 CD)
The Official Album of the Disneyland Resort (2005 CD)
Disneyland Resort: Official Album (2013 CD)
Walt Disney World: Official Album (2013 CD)
Walt Disney Records: The Legacy Collection–Disneyland (2015 CD)

text: The Tokyo DisneySea version of the attraction is scored by Joel McNeely, who has released the overture on his site.