Budget to Remove Wand Approved for this Fall

[marni1971]

thats what we in the trade call utter bollox.

:lol: You can`t say that.... can you?

Oh. You just did. :ROFLOL:

 

[joel_maxwell]

Which parts should we beleive? Hints...?

hints?... i just looking for the URl. i havent had time to go and find it. google + imagineering blog?

 

[mousermerf]

Reimagineering should be found vi a google of "imagineering rebirth" and the Bluesky thingy should be found via "blue sky disney"

 

[PigletIsMyCat]

First of all, after having read all 17 pages of posts IN ONE SITTING (thank you, thank you) I still can't understand where the art debate came from. Don't tell me, I don't care enough. All I know is that art is subjective, and people had differing opinions on it. Which is cool. But I was appalled at some of the condescending remarks made by certain posters to other members. I will never understand some people's needs to bully other people on the internet.

Also, cool news about the wand. I have only ever been to Epcot while the wand was in place, but I have always wanted to see it without, because I've seen pictures of what they use to do to the sphere.

While the wand is sparkly and shiny (and we all know how much I love sparkly and shiny things) and I will miss its sparkly, shinyness..........

I got caught up in imagining the sparkly-shinyness. I think it'll be rad without the wand and I can't wait to see the lighting they use on it.




Although, it would be cool if they put more sparkly bits on it......:lookaroun

 

[Goof-Man]

Wand Creates a Disney Tie In

Although I am somwhat neutral about the wand coming down, I must add that without the wand people do not think they are actually in WDW.

Everyone I talk to says I was in Florida and went to Epcot Center but I was not at Disney World. People confuse MGM with Universal because of their similar tie in. From a branding point of view the wand has served its purpose.

However, does the wand meet Walt's view of Epcot? Probably not, but lets not forget it all started with a mouse and has grown to what we know it today and that is nothing that Walt ever imagined.

Instead of sitting on the site bickering as to what we feel Disney should be like, we should all take a step back and think to ourselves why we have fallen in love with this place known as WDW. I think to myself every time I leave Epcot that this park is the most magical and the best place to just feel good. Will this feeling contine without the wand? Yes, and it will with the Wand as well.

Just my point of view. Have a great day!

 

[mousermerf]

Around the time the Wand went up, much of WDW wasn't really household knowledge. The cosmic concensus as it pertained to Epcot had faded since the park had its debut (at that time it was a rock star), AK was virtually unknown, and MGM was easily confused with Universal.

Epcot is really coming back into the public spotlight lately. Google Epcot and see how many times it comes up as a phrase or as a comparison or descriptor for something completely different. You wont find those uses with AK and MGM. Epcot and Disneyland are actually the most common Disney park references.

Epcot has gotten to a point now where the wand really isn't needed. People know it exists, and wether or not its Disney is irrelevent. It's Epcot, it is its own thing.

 

[dismedic1]

Although I am somwhat neutral about the wand coming down, I must add that without the wand people do not think they are actually in WDW.

Everyone I talk to says I was in Florida and went to Epcot Center but I was not at Disney World. People confuse MGM with Universal because of their similar tie in. From a branding point of view the wand has served its purpose.

However, does the wand meet Walt's view of Epcot? Probably not, but lets not forget it all started with a mouse and has grown to what we know it today and that is nothing that Walt ever imagined.

Instead of sitting on the site bickering as to what we feel Disney should be like, we should all take a step back and think to ourselves why we have fallen in love with this place known as WDW. I think to myself every time I leave Epcot that this park is the most magical and the best place to just feel good. Will this feeling continue without the wand? Yes, and it will with the Wand as well.

Just my point of view. Have a great day!

This is the best well stated posting about this subjectin 17 plus pages
Kudos to you for being logical and level headed,no whining about its up, no whining about it down, no tear it down because of issues just plain simple logic,

We visit Disney because of what each of us retains from it, Not because someone wants a museum park as some would like not because of all the changes but because of what we take away within ourselves with each visit the good with the bad the great with the not so great

 

[Goof-Man]

Edit: accidental post.

 

[CBOMB]

I am lucky enough to have seen SSE in the original and now with the wand. I am somewhat ambivalent as to whether or not they take the wand down. I am OK with taking it down because the old becomes new again, but it is just not that bog of a deal to me.:veryconfu

I've seen it both ways also, and freely admit it is a stunning structure without the Wand. I still look up in wonder everytime I walk beneath SSE. I also believe the Wand has become a part of Epcot also, and just deserves a spot somewhere.

 

[uklad79]

I had a look at the wand this week as it is so discussed on here and I never really had an opinion. Anyway looking at it for a few minutes you see how ugly it looks. It looks like something that should be in MGM with the steel work frame and some metal plates attached. It's the same way the streets of America is constructed. It's cheap and nasty looking. A better look would have been something that didn't show all the exposed frame work which makes the thing look like a half finished piece of construction from some views.

So is it going? any permits filed for demolition?

 

[CThaddeus]

Although I am somwhat neutral about the wand coming down, I must add that without the wand people do not think they are actually in WDW.

Everyone I talk to says I was in Florida and went to Epcot Center but I was not at Disney World. People confuse MGM with Universal because of their similar tie in. From a branding point of view the wand has served its purpose.

Actually, there's a flaw in what you're saying here, and you're contradicting yourself. You say "Everyone I talk to says I was in Florida and went to Epcot Center but I was not at Disney World," yet just one sentence later you say that "From a branding point of view the wand has served its purpose." If the Wand had served its purpose, wouldn't people also know that not only had they been to Epcot, but to Walt Disney World? I'm not trying to be mean, but the statements are conflicting.
I don't know. Personally, with all the advertising Disney does, I don't understand how anyone could not know these Parks are all part of Disney World. Before you get there there are maps, brochures, the WDW channel in most hotels, billboards, TV ads, the title sequence of The Magical World of Disney from the 90s showing Mickey atop Spaceship Earth (sans wand), free travel videos (advertised profusely on the internet), those free coupon books that describe all the Parks in Orlando, travel agencies and agents with tons of information, etc. And then there's that little thing called a Park Hopper ticket. Do some people actually think Disney would come up with a Park Hopper ticket to get them into Parks not owned by Disney? It has been like this since before the Wand made its sorry appearance. They might as well have animated the Wand to smack down on each person's head as they entered the Park, branding the word "Epcot" on their foreheads so no one would forget where they were...ever.

 

[SDav10495]

I have said it before and I will say it again:

There have always been, and will always be, dolts who have no idea they're in a Disney park if it's not Magic Kingdom.

If we say there need to be wands and hats to let the aforementioned dolts know what's up, we are admitting that wands and hats are really there to appeal to the lowest common denominator. That's not a demographic that major design decisions should be based upon.

Now, please don't think I'm saying these people are base and unintelligent (I just know that's going to offend someone who will see right past my point). I'm sure folks with PhDs make the same mistake. All I'm saying is wands and hats never stopped everyone from making those mistakes. I hear people all the time in Epcot, MGM, and Animal Kingdom--on park grounds, with said wands and hats staring them in the face--saying that they "already did Disney World the other day". I hear it a few times every trip, and it's clear that's not going to change. But it's hardly "everyone I talk to", nor is it even close to the majority of park guests.

I maintain that you can love the wand all you want, but I think the "Disney recognition" argument for why it should stay up is a rather silly one considering relatively few guests are really that ignorant about their surroundings (and those who are should clearly be more aware of where they're spending their day and their money). In the minds of those who love the wand, there should be better reasons why you'd like it to stay than "it reminds people they're in Disney World".

 

[brkgnews]

Well, opinion or not, Disney sides with me and the darn thing is coming down.

Yay! Lest we forget to revel and all amid this bickering.

I stand by my previous "w00t."

 

[Goof-Man]

Actually, "From a branding point of view the wand has served its purpose." If the Wand had served its purpose, wouldn't people also know that not only had they been to Epcot, but to Walt Disney World? I'm not trying to be mean, but the statements are conflicting.
quote]

Sorry I meant prior to the wand. People always assumed that Epcot was something other than disney.

 

[Kingdom WDW]

Ok, before I get shot for saying another thing about the wand, you notice that all of the park maps and stuff don't have the wand on the maps...

Did Disney have too lazy drawers or do you think execs knew about the whole wand thing?

I leave you to ponder, and shoot yourselves over it.

-Throws 14-Day MagicYourWayPass with Water Park Expansion and Park hopping options into middle of Town Square and runs down Main Street-

 

[JML42691]

Ok, before I get shot for saying another thing about the wand, you notice that all of the park maps and stuff don't have the wand on the maps...

Did Disney have too lazy drawers or do you think execs knew about the whole wand thing?

I leave you to ponder, and shoot yourselves over it.

-Throws 14-Day MagicYourWayPass with Water Park Expansion and Park hopping options into middle of Town Square and runs down Main Street-

I questioned this in another recent wand thread started by CBOMB. Kyle's response to that was:

it's definitely been that way for several years. I wanna say the wand was removed within a couple years of the Millennium Celebration ending. This is a circa 2002 map with Wand:

By 2003, we see Mission: SPACE has appeared and no Wand:

The reason why it was changed was because the old map with the wand showed the area to look like there was a direct path from SSE to UOE. Guests couldn't find this path and thus the map was updated with no wand.

 

[Kingdom WDW]

Kinda off topic, but what is that building that the UOE label is covering?

 

[mousermerf]

That'd be the kennel. Interesting notes from newer maps... They've redrawn the Land building several times and Leave a Legacy is item #1 on the map - which will obviously need a redraw soon.

 

[Figment82]

I wish they would take off the satelitte dishes - they've been gone for years.

 

[mousermerf]

Things that are still wrong on the newest map:

Color of Living Seas
Towers at Innoventions no longer exist
East Satellites no longer exist
Joy of Tea is not on the map