There are dozens of different rumors on this, but can anyone confirm/deny the myth that if the DHS Hat eventually comes down, the Chinese Theater will still have to be blocked with some sort of structure, or altered completely to keep it from being a park focal point?
I know it's a long shot, and the Hat may (sadly) remain forever. But if the day comes and that iconic eyesore is no more...will the beautiful theater get to reclaim it's throne as the masterful structure we see as we enter the park and stroll down Hollywood Blvd?
Reading various discussions on the subject, I'm getting the hunch that something would in fact take the place of the Hat if it were removed. If not, then the Chinese Theater would have to be altered to not resemble the Hollywood original, given it's place as a centerpiece on the park grounds. (Maybe changed to a Hyperion Theater in the likes of DCA's, or the Disney animation building at the Paris Studios) (?)
Back in the day when (then) Disney/MGM Studios used the Earful Tower as the park's "icon", it was still the Chinese Theater which took center stage as the focal point in TV specials, commercials, and other forms of media. Rumors surfaced that the owners of the Grauman's original out west were not happy about this, as the initial agreement was that the park could clone their signature structure as an outer shell for the GMR attraction...but had no idea it would evolve into such an iconic feature of the entire park. (Imagine if the Eiffel Tower of World Showcase's French pavilion gradually became the icon of Epcot). So rumors came about that Disney was forced one way or another to keep their Chinese Theater as a façade to an attraction only...but NOT as a symbol of an entire park. Then other rumors began to surface claiming those rumors were completely false, and Disney chose to hide the Theater at will, and has done so for this many years because they wanted to...not because they were forced to.
So which rumor(s) are correct? Does anyone have insider knowledge as to why the Hat remained so much longer than it's original purpose, and why Disney didn't see the Hat as much of an eyesore as the majority of it's public?
(Cover to an old WDW vacation planning VHS. This was from back when the Earful Tower was labeled as the park's icon. Rumor has it that things like this ticked-off the owners of Grauman's in Hollywood, as they felt Disney was using the structure to represent the entire park, rather than just house an attraction like intended.)
I know it's a long shot, and the Hat may (sadly) remain forever. But if the day comes and that iconic eyesore is no more...will the beautiful theater get to reclaim it's throne as the masterful structure we see as we enter the park and stroll down Hollywood Blvd?
Reading various discussions on the subject, I'm getting the hunch that something would in fact take the place of the Hat if it were removed. If not, then the Chinese Theater would have to be altered to not resemble the Hollywood original, given it's place as a centerpiece on the park grounds. (Maybe changed to a Hyperion Theater in the likes of DCA's, or the Disney animation building at the Paris Studios) (?)
Back in the day when (then) Disney/MGM Studios used the Earful Tower as the park's "icon", it was still the Chinese Theater which took center stage as the focal point in TV specials, commercials, and other forms of media. Rumors surfaced that the owners of the Grauman's original out west were not happy about this, as the initial agreement was that the park could clone their signature structure as an outer shell for the GMR attraction...but had no idea it would evolve into such an iconic feature of the entire park. (Imagine if the Eiffel Tower of World Showcase's French pavilion gradually became the icon of Epcot). So rumors came about that Disney was forced one way or another to keep their Chinese Theater as a façade to an attraction only...but NOT as a symbol of an entire park. Then other rumors began to surface claiming those rumors were completely false, and Disney chose to hide the Theater at will, and has done so for this many years because they wanted to...not because they were forced to.
So which rumor(s) are correct? Does anyone have insider knowledge as to why the Hat remained so much longer than it's original purpose, and why Disney didn't see the Hat as much of an eyesore as the majority of it's public?
(Cover to an old WDW vacation planning VHS. This was from back when the Earful Tower was labeled as the park's icon. Rumor has it that things like this ticked-off the owners of Grauman's in Hollywood, as they felt Disney was using the structure to represent the entire park, rather than just house an attraction like intended.)