"The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror" or "What Happens In The Twilight Zone Stays In The Twilight Zone"

Rod Serling greets passengers the moment the elevator doors close, saying, "You are the passengers on a most uncommon elevator about to ascend into your very own episode of The Twilight Zone." The elevator begins its ascent, first stopping at the hallway scene. Guests simply see the idol sitting on a table halfway down the dimly lit hotel corridor with overgrown plants and doors to guest rooms running the lengths, unread newspapers and trays laid out in front of them, and a single window at the opposite end of the corridor. Hightower's ghost, glowing green like the idol, appears beside it and reaches out to touch it. At once, ghostly images of the five doomed guests from 1939 appear for a moment, turning to the elevator and luring the guests to join them. They then vanish in a burst of electricity taking Hightower with them. The corridor then fades away, but the window and idol remains to the point that they appear to be floating in a dark starfield. The window, as said idol named Shiriki Utundu watch on, changes into a creepier black-and-white version and shatters in the now star-filled hallway, like in the opening segment of each episode, The idol turns toward the guests' elevator, its eyes glowing menacingly as the idol is floating before guests.
The doors open, revealing a large, ornate mirror. Serling's voice continues on, saying "One stormy night long ago, five people stepped through the door of an elevator and into a nightmare. That door is opening once again, and this time, it's opening for you." When he finishes, the lighting of the hotel dims and an eerie green glow is cast across it. Silently, a glowing green force fills the mirror and the guests' reflections becomes green and ghostly. The electrified reflection of the riders conglomerates in the center of the mirror, where the reflection then shows an empty elevator with the idol sinisterly smiling from within. The idol laughs menacingly, and appears to fly toward the elevator. At once, the elevator vibrates and shakes. Serling's voice is heard again, saying, "You are about to discover what lies beyond the fifth dimension, beyond the deepest, darkest corner of the imagination, in the Tower of Terror."
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 only by a seat-belt. After a series of these drops have been made, the elevator returns to the basement of the decrepit Hollywood Hightower Hotel, past a curious array of abandoned items. A movie plays, showing elements from the season five opening sequence, along with the 1939 elevator passengers, th idol, and Rod Serling, falling into the "vortex" seen in the season three opening sequence. Rod Serling's voice states, "A warm welcome back to those of you who made it, and a friendly word of warning; something you won't find in any guidebook. The next time you check into a deserted hotel on the dark side of Hollywood, make sure you know just what kind of vacancy you're filling. And be careful not to enter haunted elevators or become part of The Twilight Zone." As he said this, the elevator returns to its loading level, where the idol's green eyes glare from a star-field. As the elevator is horizontally pushed back to its loading doors, the star-field and glowing eyes disappear and are again replaced by the service doors through which guests entered.
Category:Transcripts