I too have been to Epcot both before and after the wand and to me the wand (like the castle cake) was a fun and interesting addition for the mellenium celebration. It would have been tollerable for two years.
I really don't see it being a permanent addition. I think Disney is giving the wand a run for its money so to say. The wand to me does not evoke the magic at all. It takes away from it!
I'll never understand why people still do not realise that Epcot is part of WDW. I knew that when I was a little kid. The wand and stars evoke the marketing that is the current Disney.
Leave a legacy, while a nice idea, was poorly executed IMO, and though there is nothing I can do to change it, and it doesn't ruin my trips to Epcot, even though I say ewww everytime I go by them, I do hope someday a new entrance can be designed that can take inspiration from the old entrance and can better intigrate it with leave a legacy.
The wand stars have been up for too long. They may entertain, but hardly inform or inspire. They take away from an amazing achievement in architecture and imagineering.
The hat on the other hand is just in a poor place. It could do much better as the entrance to the park via ticket booths or fantasmic or elsewhere. The earful tower will always be the symbol of MGM because it is a spin off of the water towers of old studios and in the backlot for obvious reasons, who says it has to be at the front of the park?! The great movie ride glorified the chinese theatre by putting it at the end of hollywood boulevard so all could see the park's flagship attration NOT the park's symbol. The hat is mere pin shop, and even on the lines of fantasia, the sorcerer hat cannot symbolize the famous films that the GMR can do.
*runs off to buy a dole whip*
