Four Parks...One World..One Question..

[lazyboy97o]

To those you like the Hat, have you seen either Fantasia? When was the last time you watched either film? Do you even like either film?

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

The icon still should be Earful Tower..
It was an icon before the BAH Ruined it...Here's some examples..

 

[RoraBorieAlice]

It is an pretty structure and I get that it ties the part to Fantasia but, Personally... I think it is tacky placement. GCT is blocked and that takes away from the Movie Park aspect in my opinion. I don't hate it as much as the Birthday Castle from 1997 that killed my Disney Magic Music Days trip with my high school or the tacky Wand over Epcot but, it just kind of kills the view for me.....

 

[tracyandalex]

i actually like it, the only problem i have with it is how underwhelming it is once you get to the hat, and all that is there are some cameras and other junk. if there was more substance to it, then it would really create a footprint as the centerpiece of the park.

I consider it a centerpiece because of its presence with hoolywood/disney history. fantasia was mickeys first full length feature, and to have an icon to represent disney in hollywood there is nothing more fitting. thats why blocking the great movie ride is ok with me, a recreation of a hollywood staple is not what the park is all about, its about hollywood and disney as one.

I agree with this. I know a lot of people are all about the history of the theatre, but that's not a Disney icon and it's not Disney history. For me Mickey's sorccer hat is a representation of the great Mickey Mouse and the history of the Disney movies not just a hat he wore in a movie once. To me it represents Disney's Hollywood Studios.

 

[JillC LI]

It looks more Disney to me WITH the hat. Maybe it's just because Im so used to it, but it's just as GIANT and iconic as all of the other parks "symbol"....a random plain looking building in the back just makes it look bare.

Again, that could be because the hat is the only way I've ever really known it!

I have to agree with this. I find it festive and Disney-esque.

It not only ruins Hollywood Boulevard, it ruins one of the biggest and most awesome hidden mickeys!

Where was the hidden Mickey in the older photo?

 

[Clever Name]

I have to agree with this. I find it festive and Disney-esque.



Where was the hidden Mickey in the older photo?

It was an aerial hidden Mickey. GCT is the mouth. The hat was built later where the nose is located. Even if they removed the hat, the hidden Mickey is long gone.

 

[luv]

I didn't mind the wand...as a temporary thing. I realized immediately that it cheapened the ball, but it wasn't like the castle cake or anything.

When they decided to make it permanent, I wanted to puke. It was cute for a SHORT time.

I never thought the hat belonged or looked good where it was.

 

[mamamouse]

my first visit it was the water tower and I liked that much better,the hat is pretty but not where it is and definitely not for it's purpose.

 

[spacemt354]

To those you like the Hat, have you seen either Fantasia? When was the last time you watched either film? Do you even like either film?

I have seen both. I think the structure of the hat itself as a "weenie" for the park is much better than the Chinese Theater. Maybe it's because I've gotten used to it, but the hat doesn't annoy me as much as the wand used to on spaceship earth.

That being said though, I don't like the message behind the hat from the original Fantasia. In the sorcerer's apprentice scene, the hat represented a symbol of selfishness, power, and greed. Mickey used the hat to bring a broom to life so that he wouldn't have to carry water like his master asked him to. But Mickey could not control the power of the hat and things went down hill from there.

While I do agree the asthetic structure of the hat at the end of Hollywood Blvd does seem more "Disney-like" than the Chinese Theater, I'm not a fan of the park's icon being represented by a hat that elicits the notion of power and sophomoric behavior. That doesn't seem very "Disney-like" to me. So if we are going to have a big overhaul/expansion of DHS in the near future, the hat has to go, IMO. And then as others have suggested, the water tower, or ToT should be the park's icon into the future.

 

[pumpkin7]

It was an aerial hidden Mickey. GCT is the mouth. The hat was build later where the nose is located. Even if they removed the hat, the hidden Mickey is long gone.

I don't know you can still KIND of make it out on google maps... lol.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I have seen both. I think the structure of the hat itself as a "weenie" for the park is much better than the Chinese Theater. Maybe it's because I've gotten used to it, but the hat doesn't annoy me as much as the wand used to on spaceship earth.

That being said though, I don't like the message behind the hat from the original Fantasia. In the sorcerer's apprentice scene, the hat represented a symbol of selfishness, power, and greed. Mickey used the hat to bring a broom to life so that he wouldn't have to carry water like his master asked him to. But Mickey could not control the power of the hat and things went down hill from there.

While I do agree the asthetic structure of the hat at the end of Hollywood Blvd does seem more "Disney-like" than the Chinese Theater, I'm not a fan of the park's icon being represented by a hat that elicits the notion of power and sophomoric behavior. That doesn't seem very "Disney-like" to me. So if we are going to have a big overhaul/expansion of DHS in the near future, the hat has to go, IMO. And then as others have suggested, the water tower, or ToT should be the park's icon into the future.

I have said as much before. The Hat takes on the same role when it reappears in Mickey's PhilharMagic where it it is now the object of Donald's greed.

I still fail to see how a prop from a Disney film makes the area more "Disney." It only works if the baseline for measuring "Disney" is dismissive of themed entertainment as a "real" creative medium. Would the Hat or another film prop be more "Disney" than the Carthay Circle Theater at Disney's California Adventure?

 

[spacemt354]

I still fail to see how a prop from a Disney film makes the area more "Disney." It only works if the baseline for measuring "Disney" is dismissive of themed entertainment as a "real" creative medium. Would the Hat or another film prop be more "Disney" than the Carthay Circle Theater at Disney's California Adventure?

I compare DHS's layout to that of the Magic Kingdom. Main Street represents a street in a small town. There is no "Disney-like" props or film adaptations associated with it, aside from the gift shops inside. But on the outside, it looks like a regular town in the real world. What separates Main Street from the real world and what makes so great is the icon at the end of it, Cinderella's Castle. That is the Disney presense that makes the park unique and makes Main Street feel like home.

Removing the hat to reveal the Chinese Theater takes away some of that disney magic. Imagine walking down Main Street with the Train Station at the end of it. That's not a weenie, and yes, to me that makes the area feel less "Disney-like" despite the great themes.

For the better of the park though, the hat doesn need to be removed. I just hope that with the removal comes some new attractions, so that once I hit that large open area before the theater, I have something behind it (expanded Pixar Place?) that will influence me to explore beyond the theater.

And DCA has these new attractions that will influence me to go beyond the Carthay Circle Theater, which is why it's not as big of an issue out west, IMO.

 

[dreamfinder]

Walking down Hollywood Blvd, everything you see is retro to a point. Somewhat classic, and dignified. Sticking a giant hat in there is just terribly out of place. Could it have been done thematically to match the rest of the surrounding area? Possibly. But going from the theming of the walk up to the theatre, to sticking the massive primary colored hat in there with giant stars, is really no different than the castle cake was. Walking down Main Street with its turn of the century buildings, to suddenly seeing a giant pink cake castle. (Admittedly the normal castle is a stretch, but it's dignified and classic) Or watching Citizen Cane and having rosebud end up being Waldo from Muppets 3D. Something glaringly out of place.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I compare DHS's layout to that of the Magic Kingdom. Main Street represents a street in a small town. There is no "Disney-like" props or film adaptations associated with it, aside from the gift shops inside. But on the outside, it looks like a regular town in the real world. What separates Main Street from the real world and what makes so great is the icon at the end of it, Cinderella's Castle. That is the Disney presense that makes the park unique and makes Main Street feel like home.

Removing the hat to reveal the Chinese Theater takes away some of that disney magic. Imagine walking down Main Street with the Train Station at the end of it. That's not a weenie, and yes, to me that makes the area feel less "Disney-like" despite the great themes.

At the Disneylands, the respective Castles take the place of the large civic structure that typically defined the end of American Main Streets, just as another edge was defined by the railroad. Instead of a church or court house, we see the Castle, the civic becoming the romantic and the fantastic. While this was not the case with Hollywood, you're right that Weis were cognizant of Main Street, USA's success and replicated that for the Disney-MGM Studios. But the Disney-MGM Studios were not about creating a self-referential "Disney" experience. Yes, California Crazy could have been a means of presenting the Hat or some other object in the style appropriate to the time and place, but it does not really speak to a romantic notion of Hollywood where the Castle pushes the romantic townscape towards fantasy. The Chinese Theatre is a movie palace, it literally is a castle dedicated to cinema.

And DCA has these new attractions that will influence me to go beyond the Carthay Circle Theater, which is why it's not as big of an issue out west, IMO.

But as a hypothetical, would the Carthay Circle Theater have worked better at the Disney-MGM Studios than the Chinese Theatre? If so, why?

 

[I_heart_Tigger]

I don't hate the thought of the hat or even the look of the hat. I always thought it would have been nice as a focal point for fireworks rather than a pin shop. I also enjoyed the view of the theatre at the end of the street. It felt like the "Old Hollywood" theming was better that way.

 

[MKCP 1985]

To be concise, the hat takes away from what was there but adds nothing signifying "Hollywood." And let's be honest - before that hat went up, how many of us associated "Hollywood," with "The Sorceror's Apprentice?"

 

[Mrs.Toad]

It irritates me to no end, because the icon should be stunning and functional like the rest.
MK - Cindrella's Castle - restaurant, shops, lovely mosaic art, rooms above for the darn lucky...
Epcot - SSE - a classic ride
Tree of Life - pathways, stunning petroglyphs (ok, concrete or whatever really...lol) and the bug attraction

So we get the Hat icon and I think they sell pins underneath it.

ARRGGHH!

 

[cheezbat]

I agree with this. I know a lot of people are all about the history of the theatre, but that's not a Disney icon and it's not Disney history. For me Mickey's sorccer hat is a representation of the great Mickey Mouse and the history of the Disney movies not just a hat he wore in a movie once. To me it represents Disney's Hollywood Studios.

The Chinese theatre features what was once one of the grandest dark rides in Disney history...it was a focal point at the beginning of D/MGM Studios. I'll never forget my first visits to the park...seeing that building at the end of the Blvd...it to me is an icon of Hollywood and the way it once was portrayed, it was the Studios parks version of Cinderella Castle.

 

[Tinkerbella16]

I have been going to WDW since 1992, I was 6 years old and still remember that trip and every trip since then and the GMR was just always the icon of MGM- yes we still call it MGM to this day. I love the original MGM and what it once was, and this is a big part of that. It just takes away from the original icon. Especially since the thing just houses a small little gift shop.. isn't there enough stores in WDW?

 

[Silver Figment]

How does it fit as an icon? What does it have to do with Hollywood? Production? It is part of a short cartoon included in a feature that even many Disney fans are not too keen on actually watching. Why not a giant Steamboat Willie Hat? Or a giant version of Rosebud? Or a giant Umbrella? Or a giant anything that has appeared in a film of some note?

That scene in Fantasia is iconic and I feel a little bad for you if you don't see that. I just think that the replica of the chinese theater was not really a great icon for a Disney park considering it's not Disney. The hat works well because even if people don't know Fantasia that well, they usually know Sorcerer Mickey. It's something recognizable. For whatever reason when I think old hollywood in my mind, Fantasia fits in. Not knocking your opinion, just sharing mine.