The Facade of Terror

Of all the Towers of Terror around the Disney parks around the world, Tokyo's is easily the most opulent and stunning.  The Gothic and Moorish Revival architecture presents an exotic looking style that screams intricacy and indulgence.  It's a stark contrast to the much more haunting and mystical forces that lie inside.  In a way, this echoes the approach of the original Haunted Mansion at Disneyland, wherein a stately antebellum mansion hides the spooky spirits within.  The tone in the Haunted Mansion is split--grim and haunting in the first half, happier and grinning in the second.  At Tokyo's Tower of Terror, it's pretty much all serious, especially considering the cursing powers of ride antagonist (or protagonist, depending on how you view his relationship to Harrison Hightower?) of Shiriki Utundu. 

But all of that is inside.  From the outside, the old New York hotel is elegant and lavish.  And oh so photogenic!

The stately Hotel Hightower belies a grisly past.