Nearly all Walt Disney World attractions have a control tower that serves as a central communications and operations point for the ride. For most standard attractions, this room features several core components that are standard throughout the parks. During the Year of a Million Dreams, tower tours were one of the perks that select guests were chosen to experience. If you were one of the lucky few, your name may still linger in one of the tower guest books in the park.
If you’ve ever wondered what really goes on behind those “Cast Only” doors, here’s a quick rundown of some of the standard features you’ll find in an attractions tower.
1. A peek inside the ride
You’re always under the eye of a watchful camera.
Image: Corey Burger, Flickr (license)
It’s easy to feel as though you’re away from prying eyes when your ride vehicle takes off from the dock and plunges into a dimly lit adventure, but you’re rarely out of sight of a watchful Cast Member. The ride tower features a bank of television screens that cover multiple points throughout the attraction. In a ride like Star Tours where you’re essentially stationary throughout the experience, you’re visible for every second of your ride experience.
Cast Members in tower spend most of their time watching over these cameras to make sure everyone is safely seated in the attraction with hands and arms inside, belongings secured, and flash photography off.
2. The emergency stop
The E-Stop halts the entire attraction.
Image: Ann Larle Valentine, Flickr (license)
Every attraction has emergency stop (E-stop) buttons. While these aren’t exclusive to the tower, towers always have one so this Cast Member can halt the entire ride when needed. It’s rare for the tower Cast Member to have to hit the E-stop, but it’s well within their power if a guest is acting dangerously or other issues occur on the attraction.
Attractions can also E-Stop on their own if various faults are triggered. It’s more common for a tower Cast Member to see the E-Stop button light up on its own, putting a complex recovery process into action. This varies significantly by attraction, and can be as simple as a quick reset and as complex as evacuating and rebooting the entire attraction.
3. A RAC board
Safety measures are crucial before stepping on a ride track.
Image: Jennifer Lynn, Flickr (license)
Most attractions have a Ride Access Control (RAC) board. This board lets tower know if anyone is out on the track. It’s extremely dangerous to be on a ride track when the attraction is in operation, which is why maintenance, management, and attraction Cast Members are all required to RAC out before they head to the ride track.
When you RAC out, you press the ride’s emergency stop button so it’s not operational. You then close a cage over the E-stop so it can’t be reset. Every Cast Member going out on the ride track places a lock on the cage. They take the lock’s key off the board and leave their ID in its place. This gives the tower Cast Member a clear look at who’s out on the track, and ensures that the ride cannot go back into operation until the track is clear and everyone has returned.
4. Extensive communications tools
Attraction phones keep everyone connected.
Image: Fabrizio Salvetti, Flickr (license)
Tower has the ability to communicate with nearly every position in the attraction, as well as other essential locations throughout the park. At most ride positions, you have either a radio or a telephone. In the tower, you’ll find both a radio and a corresponding telephone. Most phones within the attraction are on a party line, so Tower can buzz multiple positions and give everyone an important message at once. Tower also acts as a helpful intermediary between positions. Anyone can grab their phone and call the tower, but only tower Cast Members can buzz all the other positions.
Tower also has a traditional telephone that they can use to call other attraction towers, lost and found, the character line, and various locations throughout the park. Tower may call up to their gift shop to see if they’ve located a particular lost item, or call over to a ride on the other side of the park to find out if they’re operational so Cast Members are properly informed.
5. Essential SOP documents
The SOP includes essential information.
Image: Scott Akerman, Flickr (license)
Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) are laid out in a specific set of documents for every attraction in the park. The SOP lays out all the details for operations at every position in the attraction. You’ll cover everything you need to know from the SOP during your training, but formal documentation is on hand in the tower so you can look up anything you need to double check.
6. Light and sound controls
Tower Cast Members can illuminate the ride.
Image: Daniel Juřena, Flickr (license)
Disney works hard to sustain the magic, but in certain situations its necessary to shatter that illusion a little. The tower Cast Member has the power to do just that. In most towers, you have buttons or switches that allow you to turn on lights and mute the audio at various points in the attraction. This is necessary if you have to evacuate. You’ll also turn the lights on and sounds off when Cast Members are walking the track in the morning and at night, looking for lost and found items.
Remember those handy cameras that are hidden throughout the attraction? If tower spots you doing something you shouldn’t, they have a handy intercom in most rides that they can use to speak directly to you to let you know you need to sit still, keep your things inside the car, or otherwise behave. I wouldn’t recommend testing this feature, however, because dangerous behavior on Disney attractions is not something anyone will take lightly.
The tower is usually the most coveted attraction position in the rotation, particularly for more senior Cast Members who are comfortable with the controls. This is the only position where you can sit in most attractions, and it’s often enclosed so you’re out of sight of guests and most other Cast Members, providing a welcome break from the hectic crowds in other ride positions. The watchful eye of the tower is an essential component that keeps everything running smoothly.
