Earffel Tower, faux water tower in Marne-la-Vallée, France
The Earffel Tower was a water tower-shaped structure at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida built from metal that never actually stored water. The structure featured a rectangular base with a rounded top and large Mickey ears on top, standing approximately 130 feet tall.
The structure was built in the late 1980s and opened in 1989 with the newly built Disney-MGM Studios as a symbol of film production. It was dismantled in 2016 to make room for new attractions like Toy Story Land, marking the end of an era in the park's history.
The name is a pun: 'Earffel' fuses 'ear' with 'Eiffel', and the French name 'Château d'Eaureilles' plays on 'château d'eau' (water tower) and 'oreilles' (ears). The tower's Mickey ears are lit at night. The French version appeared on the Disneyland Resort Paris logo from 2002 to 2009.
The structure was located in a back area of the park and was visible from many spots, making it helpful as an orientation point. It was not designed for public entry, so visitors could only view and photograph it from the outside.
The tower's ears alone weighed 32,000 pounds (about 14.5 tonnes) on the Florida version, which stood 130 feet tall. The French copy at Disney Adventure World reaches 33 metres and is hollow inside. Its logo changed twice: a white Walt Disney name on blue film in 2002, then red letters with black outlines after the summer 2014 refurbishment.
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