Is the clock ticking on the Sorcerer Mickey Hat icon at the Studios? YES!

Phil12

Phil12

Well-Known Member
G00fyDad said:
I present...... The Big Deal.
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I hope you realize that those photos actually tend to disprove your point because they were taken with different lenses. The photo on the left was taken with a long focus telephoto lens. The foreground and the background is compressed and it makes the Chinese theater appear to be bigger. If you compare the other buildings along Hollywood Blvd. between the two photos you'll notice that all the buildings in the left photo are bigger than those in the right photo. Also, the compression is so great in the left photo that two of the buildings in the right photo have been compressed out of existence!

What these photos try to do is make people believe that the Chinese theater is a prominent landmark in the park. In reality, the Chinese theater is barely noticeable to the naked eye from the entrance to DHS .
 
lazyboy97o

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
Phil12 said:
I hope you realize that those photos actually tend to disprove your point because they were taken with different lenses. The photo on the left was taken with a long focus telephoto lens. The foreground and the background is compressed and it makes the Chinese theater appear to be bigger. If you compare the other buildings along Hollywood Blvd. between the two photos you'll notice that all the buildings in the left photo are bigger than those in the right photo. Also, the compression is so great in the left photo that two of the buildings in the right photo have been compressed out of existence!

What these photos try to do is make people believe that the Chinese theater is a prominent landmark in the park. In reality, the Chinese theater is barely noticeable to the naked eye from the entrance to DHS .
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Is Sleeping Beauty Castle also not a prominent landmark? It is smaller than the Chinese Theater and Hollywood Boulevard's length and sense of scale come directly from Disneyland.
 
FigmentForver96

FigmentForver96

Well-Known Member
ISTCNavigator57 said:
Indeed. And if we are honest, there is nothing particularly spectacular about the Chinese Theatre. It's a replica of a real building the houses a ride we love to hate. I happen to have never found the hat to be impressive enough to be a park icon. If you compare it to the level of detail in the other three icons, it is a joke. Had they built something nicer and just demoed the Chinese Theatre, we might feel differently. The water tower isn't really adequate either since you cant really see it without the BLT. Move it behind the Chinese Theatre and we'd have a relatively easy winner. I think there is a big enough area behind the Theatre (just north of that new Joffreys by Midway Mania) that would have the appropriate perspective. Cheaper than moving the hat...
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You might love to hate the ride but I'm sure there are plenty of people here who would argue that.
 
Phil12

Phil12

Well-Known Member
lazyboy97o said:
Is Sleeping Beauty Castle also not a prominent landmark? It is smaller than the Chinese Theater and Hollywood Boulevard's length and sense of scale come directly from Disneyland.
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I'll be the first to admit that they did a bad job with the Chinese theater. It doesn't have the sight lines Sleeping Beauty Castle possesses. I think the last 13 years of the BAH are a true testament to that fact. I'm looking forward to the establishment of a new park icon although we may have to wait a few years before it comes. The water tower is still a good option and if they moved it to the BAH site it would be perfect.
 
lazyboy97o

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
Phil12 said:
I'll be the first to admit that they did a bad job with the Chinese theater. It doesn't have the sight lines Sleeping Beauty Castle possesses. I think the last 13 years of the BAH are a true testament to that fact. I'm looking forward to the establishment of a new park icon although we may have to wait a few years before it comes. The water tower is still a good option and if they moved it to the BAH site it would be perfect.
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The primary sightline for Sleeping Beauty Castle and the Chinese Theater are exactly the same. You're just flailing about.
 
Tom

Tom

Beta Return
Phil12 said:
I'll be the first to admit that they did a bad job with the Chinese theater. It doesn't have the sight lines Sleeping Beauty Castle possesses. I think the last 13 years of the BAH are a true testament to that fact. I'm looking forward to the establishment of a new park icon although we may have to wait a few years before it comes. The water tower is still a good option and if they moved it to the BAH site it would be perfect.
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It's an exact replica. Did you want them to blow it out of proportion and look out of place?
 
Phil12

Phil12

Well-Known Member
Tom said:
It's an exact replica. Did you want them to blow it out of proportion and look out of place?
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No, not at all. The point is that you can only see a small part of the Chinese theater from the end of Hollywood Blvd. Look at the photos of the building and you'll only be able to see the center section of the theater. The right and left parts of the building are cut off from the view down Hollywood Blvd. It simply does not serve the various purposes associated with the other park icons.

All of the other parks have huge icons that can be clearly seen in a 360 degree area. The Chinese theater does not offer that vista. The BAH does offer that vista. Does DHS need an icon of this sort? Perhaps not. However, the Chinese theater never filled the same sort of role as the other icons do for the other parks. For me personally, it makes no difference. However for new visitors I think its important to have an extra large icon to use as a landmark for the purposes of easy navigation around the parks.

I can distinctly remember my first trip to Disneyland way back in the 1960's and Sleeping Beauty Castle was an easy landmark to find from most locations within the park. The same thing is true of the other park icons at WDW. It's my opinion that DHS will need to find another icon for the park (after the BAH is gone) because the Chinese theater just doesn't serve as a good visible landmark.
 
Phil12

Phil12

Well-Known Member
lazyboy97o said:
It is you're fault that this is simply not true and yet you keep coming up with crazy excuses to try and convince others of your nonsense.
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Perhaps the small size of DHS negates the need for a big icon with park wide vistas to aid navigation. It would seem that the biggest objection to the BAH is that it is not thematically appropriate for old Hollywood.
 
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marni1971

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
Phil12 said:
It simply does not serve the various purposes associated with the other park icons.
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So? It was never meant to.

It was a focal point, a backdrop, a termination of the boulevard, a weenie and a facade to the parks signature E ticket.

The icon was the water tower. Thankfully the eyesore is going very very soon.

The view will soon be as originally intended again.
 
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Kman101

Kman101

Well-Known Member
People need to remember, you may like the hat but it was NEVER meant to be the park icon. Sorry. It just wasn't. Ever. It stayed that way because they didn't want to bother tearing it down and they sold it as the new park icon. It was ALWAYS meant to be temporary. Temporary just sometimes lasts over a decade at WDW ;)
 
raymusiccity

raymusiccity

Well-Known Member
Kman101 said:
People need to remember, you may like the hat but it was NEVER meant to be the park icon. Sorry. It just wasn't. Ever. It stayed that way because they didn't want to bother tearing it down and they sold it as the new park icon. It was ALWAYS meant to be temporary. Temporary just sometimes lasts over a decade at WDW ;)
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Exactly. If Disney can't build something new, they just rename it. The 'temporary' Mickey's Toontown Fair, became Mickey's Birthdayland, them morphed into Mickey's Starland (whatever that means !)....now I suppose they call it an anex to New Fantasyland?
 
G00fyDad

G00fyDad

Well-Known Member
Phil12 said:
I hope you realize that those photos actually tend to disprove your point because they were taken with different lenses. The photo on the left was taken with a long focus telephoto lens. The foreground and the background is compressed and it makes the Chinese theater appear to be bigger. If you compare the other buildings along Hollywood Blvd. between the two photos you'll notice that all the buildings in the left photo are bigger than those in the right photo. Also, the compression is so great in the left photo that two of the buildings in the right photo have been compressed out of existence!

What these photos try to do is make people believe that the Chinese theater is a prominent landmark in the park. In reality, the Chinese theater is barely noticeable to the naked eye from the entrance to DHS .
Click to expand...


I don't care about camera lenses. That argument is invalid. If I stand at the end of the street and stare in that direction with my squishy eyeballs I'd rather see the theater and not the BAH.
 
PorterRedkey

PorterRedkey

Well-Known Member
Seabasealpha1 said:
Easy does it there killers...I just escaped that "place" a year ago... ;)

Love the vid though! LOL
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I am sure it has gotten better since I left. I went back in the 90's when it was on Playboy's list of top "party" schools. Needless to say, I didn't do well and I don't remember much except that I had a lot of fun.

I am glad you made it out! :)
 

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