After taking their luggage to their rooms (they had little suites next to each other that even had little gardens next to the patios, and pool view), and exploring the new hotel just a bit, they set off for the dock. The boat pulled up fairly soon, and they climbed in. From the Boardwalk, the boat stopped at the Beach Club and Yacht Club resorts and the Swan and Dolphin hotel before continuing on to the Hollywood Studios park. The ride was a pleasant one, and the Doctor was very happy to see a family of ducks swimming near the boat.
"Look at how cute the ducklings are!"
The Ponds all shook their heads and smiled at his childish enthusiasm.
The boat docked, and they disembarked to make their way towards the bag inspection and turnstiles. Once inside the park, old 1930s big-band jazz music played, and they found themselves on a street that looked as though they had just walked back into Hollywood's Golden Age in the 20's, 30's, and 40's. Well, except for the large pin-trading pavilion/information stand in front of them. Rory walked over and got a map.
River looked over at him and raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "No guide book today?"
Rory shook his head. "No, I got too distracted by it yesterday. Spent too much time reading and not enough experiencing everything here."
They began to walk down the street. River and Amy dragged the Doctor and Rory into a couple of shops, but they didn't buy anything.
While River and Amy looked at some stores on Sunset Boulevard, the Doctor and Rory continued to look at the map.
"There aren't many rides in this park, are there?" the Doctor commented sadly.
"Doesn't look like it, but there are two rides at the end of this street: the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and the Rockin' Rollercoaster starring Aerosmith. ...I think I remember having seen the TV show of the Twilight Zone a few times when I was younger."
"Oh, yes, that show by Rod Serling... very smart man, very imaginative, if very moody and a bit depressed... but he was a brilliant man to have a conversation with! However, it's possible that I shouldn't have shown him that one black hole... he seemed even more out of things after that..." the Doctor rambled.
As soon as Amy and River stepped out of the shop, the Doctor grabbed their hands and began running down the street towards the two rides. Rory took off behind them.
"Where are we going?" Amy asked between pants of breath.
The Doctor was grinning like a child again. "To have some fun!"
Sunset Boulevard came to a dead end, and to the right was the Tower of Terror, to the left the rollercoaster. The Doctor stopped suddenly, causing River and Amy to stumble a bit. Rory didn't stop in time and ran right smack into the other three, sending them all toppling on to the ground.
"Doctor, there's no reason to run, Sweetie. There's no aliens here, nothing trying to kill us, so please don't do that again." River huffed as she got up.
The Doctor was still grinning. "Sorry," he said, sounding not in the least bit sorry.
As the other three got to their feet, they all looked back and forth between the two rides.
"Tower first, then the rollercoaster?" Amy suggested.
"Sounds good!"
They walked over to the gate to the queue. The sign said "wait time: 10 minutes from this point", but there wasn't a person to be seen. It obviously wouldn't take that long.
A castmember in a maroon bellhop uniform smiled at them creepily and said, "Welcome to the Hollywood Tower Hotel. Please enjoy your stay!" and beckoned them into the queue.
They wound through some gardens, around a broken fountain, around the porch, and finally into the "lobby" of the "hotel". It was done in the deco style of the 30's, and Glen Miller Band music played through the room. Another castmember in bellhop uniform waved them over to a door, saying, "Please wait over there to enter the library. Stand behind the yellow line; the doors will open shortly."
The doors opened before they had even reached the yellow line.
River suddenly smirked and said to the Doctor, "Feeling scared already, Sweetie?"
The Doctor was confused for a moment, but quickly realized that he had grabbed River's hand, apparently as soon as the bellhop had mentioned "the library".
He smiled a bit weakly and replied, "Just a bit jumpy is all..."
Once they were inside, about ten other people filed into the room and the doors shut. Then the lights went out, and a television came on in the corner and began to play a fake episode of the Twilight Zone to explain the story of the hotel.
"You unlock this door with the key of imagination; beyond it is another dimension, a dimension of sound, a dimension sight, a dimension of mind. You are moving into a place of both shadow and substance of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into The Twilight Zone.
Hollywood, 1939, Amidst the glitz and the glitter of a bustling young movie talent at the height of its golden age, The Hollywood Tower Hotel was a star on its own right, a beacon for the show business elite.
Now, something is about to happen that will change all that. [the video shows lightning striking the towers that house the elevators, and the elevators dropping]
The time is now, on an evening very much like the one we have just witnessed. Tonight's story of The Twilight Zone is somewhat unique and calls for a different kind of introduction. This, as you may recognize is a maintenance service elevator, still in operation, waiting for you. We invite you, if you dare to step aboard because in tonight's episode you are the star. And this elevator travels directly into... The Twilight Zone."
Throughout the entire video, the Doctor had nervously been looking around the room, especially when he saw a shadow. Really, old man, he thought to himself, are you really so paranoid as to become this nervous any time you're in a library with River? ...But the room is dark right now... there could be Vashda Nerada in here, and no one would ever know! ...Silly fool, of course nothing is going to happen...
And so he argued with himself in his mind until the lights came back on when the video was over. He was still gripping River's hand tightly.
The set of doors on the wall opposite from where they'd entered opened, and everyone filed through them out of the room. The next room looked like a cellar or boiler room. They proceeded to a divide in the walkway, continued straight, and stopped at another yellow line. A third castmember in a bellhop uniform directed them to the elevator on the left, row one. Once people were lined up for all of the other rows, the elevator doors opened, and the climbed inside. The bellhop checked to make sure that everyone buckled their seatbelts, gave one last warning about holding on to loose items, and went to a button on the wall to close the doors. As they closed, the castmember smiled darkly and said, "Enjoy your stay..."
"Do they all have to act that creepy?" Rory asked as the elevator rose.
The narration started again.
"You are the passengers on a most uncommon elevator about to take the strangest journey of your lives. Your destination, unknown, but this much is clear; a reservation has been made in your name for an extended stay..."
The elevator stopped in front of a long hallway, in which apparitions of the people killed in the elevator crash appeared. They then faded away, along with the hall, into stars and space, with a floating window at the end which shattered. Then the elevator continued upwards.
The doors to the shaft opened, revealing an empty, storage-like floor. The elevator then began to move forwards out of the first shaft and onto the floor. As it traveled, strange things associated with the Twilight Zone TV show opening and more apparitions of the ghosts appeared in two rooms on either side of them. Then, the room faded to blackness, which divided, as though cut with a light into doors. The elevator entered another shaft, and the voice started again.
"One stormy night long ago, five people stepped through the door of an elevator and into a nightmare. That door is opening once again, but this time its opening for you."
Suddenly, another set of doors opened in front of them, revealing the entire park below them.
"I feel like this wasn't the best idea for a first ride now!" Amy said a bit nervously.
The Doctor was about to say "Just put your hands up and say 'WHEEEEEE!'", but he didn't get a chance because the elevator dropped. And dropped... and dropped the full thirteen stories. Then, it rose again to the top and dropped part way, stopped, then dropped the rest of the way. Then it rose part way, but dropped the whole way at once again. It did this for at least eight drops, but it just kept going.
The other people on the ride were starting to get nervous. The ride drops differently every time you ride it, but the absolute maximum on drops for one ride was ten. They were easily up to about fifteen now.
Suddenly, the ride dropped the entire thirteen stories one last time, faster than any of the other drops, and actually went past the ground floor a bit. An emergency braking system (one of three) stopped the car long before it was close enough to crash, but that didn't change the fact that the ride had most definitely just malfunctioned. The elevator then pulled up back to the ground floor, and began to pull backwards onto it. The voice came on one last time.
"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 in on a deserted hotel on the dark side of Hollywood, make sure you know just what kind of vacancy you're filling, or you may find yourself a permanent resident of... The Twilight Zone. "
The doors then opened and one last bellhop stood there, saying, "We hope you enjoyed your stay here at the Hollywood Tower Hotel. Please make sure you have gathered all of your belongings, and watch your children."
They stepped out of the elevator and walked over to a section of the wall where photos taken during the ride were displayed. Amy and Rory looked terrified, the Doctor had his hands up in the air and a huge smile on his face, and River actually looked a bit bored. They all stared at the picture for a moment.
"We are definitely buying that," the Doctor said as he bounded towards the gift shop to make his purchase.
The Ponds followed him, and discussed the ride as they made their way to the exit.
"The ride definitely seemed to drop faster as it went on. It's no wonder that the emergency brakes were needed for that last one," River said.
"I'm just glad we didn't end up in a dollhouse in a child's closet, filled with creepy dolls this time..." Rory said.
River raised an eyebrow.
"You weren't there for that one..." Amy responded to the unasked question.
River nodded and continued. "Well, you know, there was a ventriloquist dummy in that last room where we unloaded from..." She stopped when the Doctor came back over to them. He was carrying a bag, but it was definitely too large and too full to just be holding a photo.
Amy rolled her eyes. "What did you buy now?"
The Doctor grinned and pulled out a fluffy white bathrobe and a pair of white slippers, both of which had small embroidered emblems on them of the hTh (Hollywood Tower Hotel) logo on them.
"Aren't these cool?"
River shook her head. "I cannot BELIEVE that you just bought those... except I most certainly can believe it.
"But, purchases aside, what just happened on that ride?"
The Doctor frowned a bit. "It malfunctioned. Obviously. And while that probably isn't a coincidence in light of yesterday's events, we're going to pretend for now that it was. Unless anything else goes wrong on any other rides, I think that we'll be fine. Today will definitely be alien free!"
"Never say stuff like that Doctor. It's always a way to jinx us..." Amy said while shaking her head.