Getting Rid of the Hat Ruin HS Hub?

blueboxdoctor

blueboxdoctor

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I was recently in WDW a couple weeks ago and it was my first time there since removing the now iconic hat from the center hub of Hollywood Studios. I didn't like the move when it was announced but they assured us the movie ride would become the central focus, so I thought that might look pretty nice. So I go there and to my unpleasant surprise, they replaced the hat with an obnoxious DJ setup. I don't want to sound like an old man, but if I want to listen to bass all day I'd rather go to an actual club.

It was so loud it completely ruined the atmosphere of their main street type area in the front of the park. Even worse, for those dining at the Brown Derby, it may as well be requested to not sit outside, as there's pretty much no way to enjoy your dining experience with some guy shouting into a microphone and dance music blasting. Not to mention the Brown Derby is what I think is called a premium restaurant (i.e. requires 2 dining points from the dining plan whereas others require just 1).

I know HS doesn't have much of a coherent theme these days, but a dance party is not at all what it should be.

Just wondering, what are your thoughts on this change at the park?

(Note, I enjoyed the rest of the trip, so that's a big plus, though I still don't like getting rid of the waterfall in the Polynesian lobby)
 
brb1006

brb1006

Well-Known Member
My High School guidance counselor disliked the idea of the hat getting removed during our third visit to WDW for our Senior Trip earlier this year before I graduated. He asked me why they are removing it from the park and I told him why and he said" he disliked the view without it."
 
roj2323

roj2323

Well-Known Member
I agree that the DJ is annoying but it's not a new development. The DJ has been in that area off and on for Years including several years before the hat was removed. This goes back to at least 2009 which was my first experience with the park.
 
Master Yoda

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
marni1971 said:
Getting rid of the hat is one of the best things to happen in WDW since 2007.

The DJ is a typically stupid local short sighted decision by a local management group that don't understand Disney parks. See Tomorrowland.
Click to expand...
This^^^^

May day trip to DHS a couple of weeks ago was my first time there since the hat had been removed. I almost forgot how much better the entrance looked without that abomination in place.
 
Raineman

Raineman

Well-Known Member
blueboxdoctor said:
I was recently in WDW a couple weeks ago and it was my first time there since removing the now iconic hat from the center hub of Hollywood Studios. I didn't like the move when it was announced but they assured us the movie ride would become the central focus, so I thought that might look pretty nice. So I go there and to my unpleasant surprise, they replaced the hat with an obnoxious DJ setup. I don't want to sound like an old man, but if I want to listen to bass all day I'd rather go to an actual club.

It was so loud it completely ruined the atmosphere of their main street type area in the front of the park. Even worse, for those dining at the Brown Derby, it may as well be requested to not sit outside, as there's pretty much no way to enjoy your dining experience with some guy shouting into a microphone and dance music blasting. Not to mention the Brown Derby is what I think is called a premium restaurant (i.e. requires 2 dining points from the dining plan whereas others require just 1).

I know HS doesn't have much of a coherent theme these days, but a dance party is not at all what it should be.

Just wondering, what are your thoughts on this change at the park?

(Note, I enjoyed the rest of the trip, so that's a big plus, though I still don't like getting rid of the waterfall in the Polynesian lobby)
Click to expand...
Getting rid of the hat was great, replacing it with a stage and DJ-not great. I was always under the impression that the DHS hub was designed so that when you walk through the front gates, you get that view of the Chinese Theater at the end of the street-basically, DHS version of Main Street/castle at MK. Having anything in the hub that does not allow this view is a bad decision, IMO.
 
Brad Bishop

Brad Bishop

Well-Known Member
<sardonicism>
But the stage and the DJ are what we see every time I go to DHS! It's what makes DHS "magical"
</sardonicism>

I really wish the folks at WDW would get the idea that front and center isn't the best spot for a stage. At Disneyland Paris they put it just off to the east. They still have the castle as the backdrop but it doesn't ruin the atmosphere in front of the castle.

At WDW they made the hub into an amphitheater. DHS is pretty much the same where the stupid stage is up just about every time I go there blocking the view. It's thematically wrong. It's wrong in Tomorrowland. It doesn't make any more sense than putting up a dance party in Frontierland or over by Pirates.

I went to WDW over Labor Day and purchased an AP figuring that I'd go again a few times, especially to SWW which my daughter loves.

Then, at the beginning of November, I went to DLR and it was awesome. It was very busy, but it was great. I liked the atmosphere. I liked DCA (kind of what DHS ought to be in some regards) and DL was just great.

After going to DLR, and this is from a guy who grew up in Florida in the 1970s and remembers all of the idiotic, "but ours is bigger"-nonsense with regards to WDW vs DL: DLR was the better experience.

I freaking live in Atlanta which means WDW can easily be a long-weekend trip and I'd rather save my cash and hit CA and DLR.

In my opinion they've so screwed up WDW that I'm kind of done going there:
- Epcot is woefully out of date.
- Epcot's World Showcase is lacking in the countries/attractions dept.
- MK just got New Fantasyland which I was initially excited for but it feels like off the shelf rides.
- DHS which, granted, they appear to be trying to fix, has always been "blah". It wouldn't survive on it's own had it not been the "well, while we're here"-park
- Animal Kingdom, which I actually kind of like, is pretty thin. Again, they're trying to fix it but it's been a 4-6 hour park for 1.5 decades. The Rivers of Light stuff looks fantastic. Pandora - meh.

I'm not saying that I'll never do WDW again - afterall, I have a AP that expires in 8 months so I'll probably hit it.. That being said, in the future, I'll likely just plan a week a year to hit CA and to DLR. The castle shouldn't have a stage in front of it. The hub shouldn't be an amphitheater. DHS ought to have more. AK ought to have more. Epcot ought to be more than festivals in the Fall and Spring.

The Monorail ought to be more than city-bus service (or not) on the "highway in the sky".

For the prices that they currently command, they shouldn't be making excuses but, instead, should be making it right. Too much uptime for the Monorails? Build more bays. Buy more trains. Employ more maintenance and cleaning crews. When I'm paying top dollar to stay at a deluxe resort on the monorail what I'm not paying for is excuses.

..a bit off topic but it just bugs me how all of the little screw-ups have added up.
 
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ShoalFox

ShoalFox

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
Yes
Not at all. I've only been to Studios once since the removal, but there was a stage in its place because it was the summer :banghead:

I won't have any time to go to that park in January, so it'll probably be a while before I get to see the park, sans BAH
 
networkpro

networkpro

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
Yes
I like it gone as it has increased the value of an oil painting my DW bought for me by Larry Dodson..

Seriously DHS was there before the hat, and now after the hat. I'm just saddened by the dispersal of pins to other shops.
 
R

Rickster7

Active Member
So glad it is finally gone. Just once I would like to walk into HS and not see that hat or a stage at the end of this street. Now I hope this thread dies.
 
D

dizda

Well-Known Member
The hat was not part of the planned sight line for DHS and was a poor decision. It has now been corrected. The DJ is another poor decision. Let us hope that it too will be corrected.
 
cat hem

cat hem

Active Member
I really dislike the DJ thing. At certain times that section of the park is at an impasse. Impossible to get through or around. The music is so loud and un-themparklike just ug! I get the occasional street show type thing. but the all day long thump thump thump....
 
Cmdr_Crimson

Cmdr_Crimson

Well-Known Member
There was never a Hat To Begin with....
Fqe2C1Y.gif

Move Along....
 
The Empress Lilly

The Empress Lilly

Well-Known Member
marni1971 said:
The DJ location is a typically stupid local short sighted decision by a local management group that don't understand Disney parks. See Tomorrowland.
Click to expand...
How does that work anyway?

There is an entertainment budget, and middle park management allocates it to a dance party because the hub area is underutilised? Do they get a report about overcrowding, on Sunset and Mickey Ave, and then try to move crowds to empty spaces? Is 'Dance Party' a common tool they have been taught to employ?

Do they just want to spend the full budget for fear the budget will get decreased next year otherwise?
 

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