The scaffolding is coming down at The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and it is revealing a fresh paint job on the Hollywood Tower Hotel. We went to the park on Friday, October 23, 2026, to see it for ourselves. The top of the front is now clear, with bold purple and blue lightning scars across the pink walls. Scaffolding still covers the sign, everything below it and the tall right corner.
Purple, blue and lavender streaks now run across the upper front of the hotel. They are painted to look like a lightning scar, with dark cracks running through them and bricks showing where the walls look broken. The pink walls have a fresh coat, too.
In the ride’s story, lightning struck the hotel on Halloween night in 1939. When Tower of Terror opened on July 22, 1994, those scars were a bright purple. Over the years they faded to a dull gray lavender. Work started in the outdoor queue in early May. Scaffolding went up the side of the tower in July and climbed the front in August. The side came down October 3, and now the top of the front is clear.
Disney Jollywood Nights starts Saturday, November 7. During the holidays, Disney’s Sunset Seasons Greetings show projects Christmas scenes onto the Hollywood Tower Hotel, and scaffolding would get in the way. We expect it to be finished and all scaffolding removed by then.
We have to say it looks really good, and we cannot wait for the rest of the scaffolding to come down. We expect it all to be gone before November 7, the first night of Jollywood Nights, because that is when Christmas gets projected onto the tower. We have tickets for night one and two, so we will be back with photos. See what else is coming for the holidays in our Hollywood Studios Christmas 2026 guide.
