…Apart from the ‘Y‘, that is. But more on that in a second…

“They’ll have to wait until the construction elevator is taken down,” we all thought. “They’ll be the very last thing to take their place on the facade,” we believed. Well, we were wrong. The iconic letters spelling out “The Hollywood Tower Hotel” are now all in place high above the ground of Marne-la-Vallée, installed in just a matter of days along with the service walkway hidden behind them.

You might be thinking “Ah, so now guests will begin to ask Cast Members when they can book a room in the hotel at the middle of the park?”, but we’re not there yet. All of these letters are still upside-down, facing inwards…

Progress on Tuesday by Willi77, Dlrp.fr forum member

Fans of the the Tower of Terror (and in particular its existing Californian incarnation) will likely be well aware that a series of important maintenance and service walkways are hidden behind the famous letters.

Probably a lesser-known fact is that each of the neon-lit letters are connected to the side of the walkway on an axis, apparently allowing them to be turned inwards for maintenance. Installed piece-by-piece in this way, we’re now going to begin a second unveiling, as each of the terror-filled letters turns to face the public and finally reveal… “The Hollywood Tower Hotel”.

Progress early yesterday by STS, WDSfans.com visitor

The words and walkways were only just completely fixed in place yesterday, following several months of preparation backstage, but already the letter ‘Y‘ has jumped ahead and been flipped over to face the park.

Progress late yesterday by Willi77, Dlrp.fr forum member

Each of the larger letters spelling “H-O-L-L-Y-W-O-O-D T-O-W-E-R” has its own independant axis, whilst the italic script words of “The” and “Hotel” are split into three sections – “The”, “Ho” and “tel”. They should gradually be turned to face Walt Disney Studios Park over the coming days, as their electrical components are hooked up. The final nightly illumination won’t come for at least several weeks, and may be held off even longer – perhaps with an elaborate ceremony, as at Disney’s California Adventure?

When illuminated at night, the second ‘O‘ of “Hollywood” is blown-out completely, whilst the ‘W‘, teetering at an angle, buzzing brighter and darker every few seconds. Standing 183-ft tall (as if you needed reminding by now!) and truly “tower”-ing over the entire resort, visible for miles around, the installation of these letters on the resort’s largest icon is a historic step in construction.

And when it’s done?

Completed Tower of Terror by sun-mountain.net

Not only will the glowing letters and startling purple illumination of the Tower be a unique and rather bizarre new landmark for Marne-la-Vallée (don’t forget – it can be seen from as far away as Meaux!), but every time an elevator drops into The Twilight Zone, the bright flash of the on-ride photo cameras two-thirds the way up its facade will be like a flash of lightning over the region.

The Hollywood Tower Hotel wasn’t called a “beacon” for nothing!

Photos by Willi77, WDSfans.com, Sun-Mountain.net.