Rumor: EPCOT wand removal!

[SummerInFL]

The castle cake was an embarassment that I hardly liken the wand to. The castle cake would be akin to molding Spaceship Earth into Walt's frozen head. But, hey, the castle cake had its silver lining...the resultant work to return it to its more glorious form allowed for more detailed brick painting and that awesome lighting effect we see every night w/ the castle continuously changing colors...which I LOVE.

Oh I agree, my favorite is when they make it dark blue with stars on it, the colors really are breath taking. I would love to find a camera that takes night shots and capture it.

[TheDisneyInquisitor]

The Studios has a real looking Hollywood Blvd which is ruined by a cartoon looking hat at its focal point.

Now I see the hat as a symbol of Disney motion pictures. In fact, I could even say that it is a symbol of animation. Who is the symbol of Disney? Mickey. What was his biggest role? The sorcerer's apprentice. Wouldn't it make sense to have a part of that film as the symbol of DMGM?

The hat was added partly because there used to be no distinct icon of DMGM. The other three parks have icons that are easy to tell (Tree, Castle & SSE). DMGM on the other hand had 3 things that could have been considered icons. Usually, the tallest thing in the park is the icon....therefore it would have been Tower of Terror (but that wouldn't have been a good icon for the whole park). On the other hand, the icon is usually the first thing you see when you enter the park....therefore the Chinese Theater should have been the icon (but it simply wasn't powerful enough). Then of course, you have the 'official' icon of the park...the earful tower, except that the only place you can see it from within the park is on the Backlot Tour (& again, it isn't really powerful). Now, let's look at the hat. It is the first thing you see in the park, it is relatively tall & is certainly powerful enough to be the symbol.

The Wand at EPCOT makes the same mistake. You have a park that is a bit Worlds Fair and a bit Tomorrowland and you start throwing in wands and Disney/Pixar characters. It just makes it seem like a mish mash of a park. I loved EPCOT when it knew what it was.

Epcot's main theme (well, mostly Future World's theme) is edutainment. The new attractions built still carry that theme. Nemo and friends are still going to be teaching us (in a more entertaining way). Ellen still teaches us about energy (again, in a more entertaining way). Mission: Space & Test Track teach us about Space and how cars are tested. JIIWF shows us how we should use our imagination. And Soarin' teaches us about the various biomes on earth. The only change is that they are now targeting a younger audience because most people under the age of 21 used to think Epcot was 'boring.'

-Michael

[WDW1974]

Ahh....there's the WDW1974 I know. I was wondering how long it was going to take before you insulted the WDW guests again.

Mikey, it isn't all the guests ... maybe 70-80%, but not all!

And I know I shouldn't, but it's so easy ...and true.

[WDW1974]

I loved EPCOT when it knew what it was.

-Dusty

So true.

I think that sums up my feeling on all the Disney parks in Florida, except for DAK, right now.

They have all lost their identity to some extent.

Epcot is a mish-mash of thrill rides like Mission Space, boring rides that simple guests find thrilling like Test Track, insulting redos like Journey into WDI's Lack of Imagination, empty spaces like WoL mixed in with a World Showcase that has largely gone unchanged since the 80s, except for the adding of characters and dumbing down of shopping and dining to a much smaller extent than the other parks.

MK is still the MK, but it's gotten to be a kiddie-park with horrible upkeep and no sense for the traditions that built the park. Vast areas that had attractions, shops and dining locations are empty and look dilapitated, something that goes against everything Walt stood for. Then we have the characterization/Pixarization of every land.

Disney-MGM Studios was devleoped without a master plan and it shows.
It suffers largely the same problems as the other parks, but this one always had an identity crisis after the mid-90s when it was obvious Florida wasn't going to become the second Hollywood.

But adding the hat, which destroys the whole look of the park (for anyone who wants to counter anything positive bout the horrendous pin shack, place it in front of Cindy's castle and you'll get a idea of why it doesn't belong there) and then killing the Feature Animation Department that produced Mulan, Lilo & Stitch and Brother Bear ... not to mention the Roger Rabbit shorts and parts of many other films from Lion King to Tarzan, and that park is just depressing. What's it's identity? No one at Disney knows either.

[WDW1974]

Now I see the hat as a symbol of Disney motion pictures. In fact, I could even say that it is a symbol of animation. Who is the symbol of Disney? Mickey. What was his biggest role? The sorcerer's apprentice. Wouldn't it make sense to have a part of that film as the symbol of DMGM?

The hat was added partly because there used to be no distinct icon of DMGM. The other three parks have icons that are easy to tell (Tree, Castle & SSE). DMGM on the other hand had 3 things that could have been considered icons. Usually, the tallest thing in the park is the icon....therefore it would have been Tower of Terror (but that wouldn't have been a good icon for the whole park). On the other hand, the icon is usually the first thing you see when you enter the park....therefore the Chinese Theater should have been the icon (but it simply wasn't powerful enough). Then of course, you have the 'official' icon of the park...the earful tower, except that the only place you can see it from within the park is on the Backlot Tour (& again, it isn't really powerful). Now, let's look at the hat. It is the first thing you see in the park, it is relatively tall & is certainly powerful enough to be the symbol.

God, you sound like a Disney publicist ... and they are very scary folks!

The icon as far as selling the park was always the Earful Tower because it represented the water towers found on movie backlots in the early days of movie-making. This WAS the icon. It was on all the brochures, promotional materials and merchandise. This is a fact.

Still with me, Mikey? Gotta ask because Disney keeps referring to the short attention spans of today's youth when ever they make a 90 second attraction instead of a 20 minute show.

The hat was added for two reasons ... no, make that three.
1.) It was a cheap and tacky sales tool for the 100 Years of Magic marketing campaign;
2.) They had plans to gut the theater and put a thrill ride there;
3.) The Disney-fication of everything at WDW/new merchandise they could market.

That's it. Plain and simple.

The park's Hollywood Blvd had a beautiful design with a very logical weenie at the end in the Chinese Theater. The Big *** Hat doesn't fit with the architecture and design of the area. Again, a fact, whether you choose to acknowledge it as such. Would it have been fine at the park's main entrance? Sure. Would it have been better as a portal to a Disney Animation attraction. Absolutely. But where it is completely destroys the look of the park that the designers intended.

Epcot's main theme (well, mostly Future World's theme) is edutainment. The new attractions built still carry that theme. Nemo and friends are still going to be teaching us (in a more entertaining way). Ellen still teaches us about energy (again, in a more entertaining way). Mission: Space & Test Track teach us about Space and how cars are tested. JIIWF shows us how we should use our imagination. And Soarin' teaches us about the various biomes on earth. The only change is that they are now targeting a younger audience because most people under the age of 21 used to think Epcot was 'boring.'

-Michael

All I'm going to say about this is that you are simply regurgitating Disney PR/marketing spin.

[danyoung]

...boring rides that simple guests find thrilling like Test Track...

You calling me simple? What am I thinking - of COURSE you are!

The park's Hollywood Blvd had a beautiful design with a very logical weenie at the end in the Chinese Theater. The Big *** Hat doesn't fit with the architecture and design of the area. Again, a fact, whether you choose to acknowledge it as such. Would it have been fine at the park's main entrance? Sure. Would it have been better as a portal to a Disney Animation attraction. Absolutely. But where it is completely destroys the look of the park that the designers intended.

I couldn't have put it better myself. The hat itself? Not so bad. The place that they chose to put it? Unbelievably horrible!

[TheDisneyInquisitor]

The icon as far as selling the park was always the Earful Tower because it represented the water towers found on movie backlots in the early days of movie-making. This WAS the icon. It was on all the brochures, promotional materials and merchandise. This is a fact.

Was the earful tower the official icon....yes; however, it was not always the thing people associated the park with. If you took a survey pre-hat (that said "What one thing do you associate with DMGM), I can almost guarantee that it would be more or less equally split up between the theater, the water tower & the Hollywood Tower Hotel. Now with the hat, there is no question as to what the icon is.

2.) They had plans to gut the theater and put a thrill ride there;

Do you have any proof of this, because the only rumor I've ever heard about a GMR replacement was a similar ride based on villains.

The park's Hollywood Blvd had a beautiful design with a very logical weenie at the end in the Chinese Theater..........................................

I originally was going to post a big thing here, but what it comes down to is whether you like this.....

or this.....

Personally, I'm a fan of the first.

All I'm going to say about this is that you are simply regurgitating Disney PR/marketing spin.

No....I am stating my own opinion. I'm saying what I feel.

-Michael

[Disney Analyst]

It is an eyesore!

[pyrateslife4me84]

It is an eyesore!

So is a giant golf ball, a water tower with mouse ears, and a fake tree with animals carved into the side. The hat and the wand are not the first examples of Disney building gaudy, over-the-top park icons that would look ridiculous anywhere off property. I will say this, though--the nighttime lighting on the Mickey hat puts what was seen on the Chinese Theatre to shame.

[WDW1974]

You calling me simple? What am I thinking - of COURSE you are!

Of course I am, Danny. We BOTH know my world revolves around you (see that was an insult, I insinuated that you were the size of a small planetoid!)

Actually, Dan, I have been known to enjoy a quick spin on TT. But it still constantly breaks down ... and on a thrill level, it's akin to driving down I-95 in a convertible. I find it to be the most overrated attraction in WDW history.

I couldn't have put it better myself. The hat itself? Not so bad. The place that they chose to put it? Unbelievably horrible!

That's my 'only' complaint with it ... but that is like saying other than his policies and world view, I really like our Prez!

[WDW1974]

Was the earful tower the official icon....yes; however, it was not always the thing people associated the park with. If you took a survey pre-hat (that said "What one thing do you associate with DMGM), I can almost guarantee that it would be more or less equally split up between the theater, the water tower & the Hollywood Tower Hotel. Now with the hat, there is no question as to what the icon is.


Do you have any proof of this, because the only rumor I've ever heard about a GMR replacement was a similar ride based on villains.


I originally was going to post a big thing here, but what it comes down to is whether you like this.....

or this.....

Personally, I'm a fan of the first.

No....I am stating my own opinion. I'm saying what I feel.

-Michael

From the top ... what guests may or may not have thought the icon was pre-BAH doesn't really matter. And, for the record, I believe most thought the Theater because it occupies the same physical placement as the icons of all the other parks.

The proposed GMR replacement was indeed to be a villians themed thrill ride.

As to the 'big' thing you were going to post, go right ahead. Just remember, Mikey, we won't get this time back at the end of our lives however .

At which YOU prefer, that's been stated. But as a fan of Disney parks I would guess you are a fan of their design and the BAH totally screwed up the design of the park whether you like it or not.

Finally, as to you saying what you believe, that's fine. But it is still regurgitating Disney PR/marketing spin. Don't go to the dark side, Ani ... come back ... come back ... (queue Lord Vader's theme)

[MickeyMania]

Yes, the hat does scream animation, all right, but the rest of the street is supposed to say Southern California, and the hat doesn't fit in.

I think it's a cute prop, but I wish it was somewhere else or wasn't so big. If it was shrunk down to play the Partners statue to the theater's DL castle (which itself isn't very big) it would "click." But instead they tried to make a new park icon and figured people wouldn't remember. Lame.

[TheDisneyInquisitor]

As to the 'big' thing you were going to post, go right ahead. Just remember, Mikey, we won't get this time back at the end of our lives however .

Perhaps later I'll post it. I'd post it now, but I'm in school (not in study hall...in an actual class )

[pyrateslife4me84]

Yes, the hat does scream animation, all right, but the rest of the street is supposed to say Southern California, and the hat doesn't fit in.

I think it's a cute prop, but I wish it was somewhere else or wasn't so big. If it was shrunk down to play the Partners statue to the theater's DL castle (which itself isn't very big) it would "click." But instead they tried to make a new park icon and figured people wouldn't remember. Lame.

I think that is where the theme change is...I don't think it's supposed to be themed as a true Hollywood anymore, but rather as a large backlot where the front of the park happens to be a Hollywood set...thus why there are soundstages all around...and a very visible Dinosaur Gertie in the middle of Echo Lake. It's definitely a jumbled theme, though, since I don't think they want the Tower of Terror to seem like a set so much as a real hotel.

[Pizzapants]

Wait whoa whoa whoa! I don't get this. I like the hat. I like the wand. It's all personal opinion really. But when someone says that the hat doesn't belong at the end of a street in Hollywood, then could someone tell me how a medieval (i can't spell) castle belongs at the end of a street modeled after a town in missouri from the early 1900s? No one has really mentioned that little irk. I have no problem with it at all, but it's the same idea as the hat.
And for the hat being nothing more than for pins... Disneyland's castle doesn't do anything at all (anymore.) I'm not attacking the castles, just in disbelief that no one really sees the similarities.