Tower of Terror's purple lightning scar is back to its 1994 color

By entgrove · October 20, 2026

Crews refreshing the Hollywood Tower Hotel at Hollywood Studios have repainted the purple lightning scar on its upper facade in the saturated violet seen in Imagineering's construction photos. The color had faded to a dusty gray lavender, and the ride has stayed open throughout the work.

Saturated purple is back on the upper facade of Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios. The color marks the hotel's 1939 lightning scar, and the exterior refresh is returning it to the shade in Walt Disney Imagineering's construction photos after years of fading to a soft gray lavender.

Bold purple returns above the Hollywood Tower Hotel sign

The new paint stands out from Sunset Boulevard even through layers of scaffolding.

• Where it shows. Deep violet and indigo climb the facade above the hotel sign and wrap arched, shuttered windows flanked by teal spires.
• Painted cracks. Dark cracks run through the color, so it reads as a scar burned into the building.
• Airbrushed edge. Near a small round window on the right corner, a soft purple streak rises like smoke and fades below the roofline.
• Mostly hidden. Scaffolding still covers most of the front face, so only slices of the new paint are visible.

That soft edge suggests scenic painters are blending the color into the pink stucco by hand. When the first refreshed section was revealed on October 3, parts of the lower hotel showed a lavender base coat. The purple now visible up top is far bolder.

How the opening day purple faded

Imagineering's construction photos show a vivid purple that had drifted to a dusty gray lavender by recent years.

• Sign going up. One Imagineering photo shows a crane lifting the Hotel sign into place, with violet streaks across the facade behind the workers.
• Finished tower. Another shows the completed building from Sunset Boulevard, the purple scar running down its center beneath the sign.
• Hard hats. A third shows Imagineers reviewing plans in front of the tower, with purple already on the upper floors.
• Recent years. The color had softened into a gray lavender that blended into the weathered pink, and the scar faded from the street.

Tower of Terror opened on July 22, 1994. This refresh brings back the look guests saw that summer on the way to the ride's 199-foot drop.

The 1939 story behind the scar

The purple marks where the story's lightning bolt tore through the hotel on Halloween night.

• The storm. Disney's story sets the strike on October 31, 1939, as a thunderstorm rolled over the Hollywood Hills.
• The vanishing. Lightning hit the elevator towers, and a bellman and four guests riding an elevator disappeared.
• Stopped clocks. Every clock in the hotel stopped at 8:05 p.m., including one at the front desk next to the mailbox.
• Lobby scorch marks. Matching scorch marks returned to the lobby elevators for the attraction's 30th anniversary in 2024.

Tower of Terror stays open while the refresh continues

The exterior work has run since spring, and the ride has operated throughout.

• This spring. Refurbishment began in the exterior queue, and scrim covered parts of the facade near Tower Hotel Gifts.
• July 9. Scaffolding climbed the southeast side of the hotel.
• August 4. Scaffolding began climbing the front of the building, and repainting appeared on the right side.
• October 3. Scaffolding came down from the southeast side, showing pink stucco repainted and stonework re-aged by hand.

Mark Silverman, the voice of Rod Serling on the ride, visited Imagineering this month and stirred talk of new narration, but he has since said the visit was not about updates to Tower of Terror.

Our take. No closure has been announced, so ride as planned. If you want photos of the restored scar, the best views will come once scaffolding leaves the front face.