DISNEY'S ROSE PARADE FLOAT REACHES SKY-HIGH.

Byline: Lisa Faught Staff Writer

The first time builders at Festival Artists took ``The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror'' float for a spin, neighbors from around the corner came to investigate.

The float, sponsored by Disneyland Resort, stands a full 100 feet tall, towering over the neighborhood and breaking the Rose Parade record for tallest float.

``The neighbors saw this thing and didn't know what it was. They had to come and look,'' said Dan Berry, production coordinator for Festival Artists. ``It's massive. You can see it at least two or three blocks away.''

Through September, the massive float was hidden in an airy warehouse in Azusa, home of Festival Artists. Every so often, the builders took the float out and put the hydraulic pumps to the test.

It is outfitted with no fewer than 11 hydraulic pumps, to lift the tower to its grand height then fold it down to 17 1/2 feet high to clear the overpass at Sierra Madre Boulevard on the Rose Parade route.

The exposed elevator in the tower shakes as if caught in a temblor, and the roof sparks with flashes of lightning. Five V8 motors in the belly of the beast propel the float forward and power the pumps.

In the world of float building, the ``Tower of Terror'' is superlative in every way, even as floats steadily grow bigger and flashier every year.

Over the years, float builders have pushed the boundaries of float design through more sophisticated technology and bigger advertising budgets.

These days, the average float is likely to bear some combination of music, animation, height, special effects or exotic decorations, said Larry Palmer, spokesman for Phoenix Decorating in Pasadena.

``Way back when, floats were big boxes with sculptures and flowers that drove by,'' Palmer said. ``Now they are bigger, animated and they put on a show.''

The emphasis is on entertainment, or what is called the ``wow factor'' at Phoenix Decorating Co., he said.

This year, of the 23 floats designed by Phoenix Decorating Co., 17 are higher than 17 1/2 feet tall, requiring a complex system of hydraulic pumps to retract the sculptures low enough to go under the overpass. At least 15 include sound systems for music.

The floats are increasingly complex, Palmer said.

Like the ``Your Home Is Your Castle'' float from Farmers Insurance Group. The float sports a 45-foot-tall dragon blowing puffs of carbon dioxide. It snaps its jaws, turns its head, lunges forward, whips its tail and rocks from side to side.

Or the ``Rock Garden'' from Bayer Advanced Garden. It has 34 separate elements of animation, such as spinning sunflowers and gyrating zinnias.

``There's a little bit of bragging rights, too. People just want to outdo each other,'' said Sean McMinimy, construction foreman for Phoenix Decorating Co. ``When the show is better, people remember it more. If they see a static float they may or may not remember it. But if they see a 71-foot dragon flying down the street, they might remember that for a while.''

At Festival Artists, the goal is always to produce entertaining floats, said owner Craig Bugajski.

It built the first float with bungee jumpers in 1993. The float, which was the previous record holder for tallest float at 83 feet high, sported clowns bungee jumping off a sculpture of three big clowns holding a barrel.

``Every sponsor wants 15 seconds of fame, I think,'' Bugajski said. ``Me personally, the smiles and gasps of children seeing something they remember. Everybody always remembers the entertaining floats.''

But pushing the boundaries of float design takes a certain amount of risk. Hydraulic pumps can fail. Solenoid valves stall. Waterfalls can leak.

That has led to a certain amount of nailbiting over ``The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror'' float.

``I'm keeping my fingers firmly crossed for them that everything works. It takes daring to do something new,'' Palmer said.

``The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror'' is based on the newest ride under construction at the California Adventure theme park in Anaheim. The actual ride, which will open in May, will stand 183 feet tall, with an elevator dropping to the ground.

``If you see the actual `Tower of Terror' here in Anaheim ... it's very visible on our skyline. It's supposed to be a vintage Hollywood hotel struck by lightning,'' California Adventure spokesman John McClintock said.

The float is supposed to evoke an old Hollywood hotel trapped in the Twilight Zone. Four people are trapped in the elevator as a lightning storm blasts the building.

The image has some in the Tournament of Roses Association grumbling about commercialism in the Rose Parade and memories of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers.

But it was meant solely to promote the new ride, McClintock said.

``We certainly didn't intend for people to draw that conclusion,'' McClintock said. ``The idea all along was to celebrate a new attraction at this park, a thrill attraction people will enjoy.''

Lisa Faught, [phone], Ext. 4496

Lisa Faught(at)sgvn.com

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2 photos

Photo:

(1) (Festival Artists' Craig Bugajski stands with a model of Disney's entry in the Tournament of Roses Parade at the company's Azusa headquarters.)

(2) In his seventh year as a volunteer, Matthew Lim, 19, of Alhambra puts touches on a float.

Sarah Reingewirtz/Staff Photographer