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

[heath.sneyd]

@jakeadventures posted a picture on Twitter, golden spiral thing is being removed

For those who can't see it at work...

I can tell you exactly when it'll happen. Our DHS day in the 22nd. That's when the crane will go up. It'll be lovely behind all my Memory Maker photos on the Blvd that day.

My luck it'll still be coming down the last week of February. We'll have matching pictures!

 

[Goofyernmost]

Any noticeable changes??

Yup... it's got a construction wall around it. That wasn't there for the last 14 years.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Yeah..Right...Like the Value Resorts "Really" Need another Sorcerer Hat..Just go to All Star Movies and there you go!

Why did they paint the sorting hat blue?

 

[ExtinctJenn]

Am I the only one who keeps looking at the picture with the wall up around it and thinking "I don't remember it being THAT big!"?

 

[JohnD]

For those who can't see it at work...

My luck it'll still be coming down the last week of February. We'll have matching pictures!

Would love a live web cam.

 

[Figments Friend]

As I look at my awesome nighttime Epcot shot that gets so many compliments, I shudder to think of how it would have looked pre 2007. You know why I have no such shot? Because I wouldn't have bothered to take it because of that ugly wand! Likewise the hat. The hat is nice, don't get me wrong. It in no way approaches the inappropriateness and ugliness of that wand. It would be great in a public square in Downtown Disney, or over an information booth at TTC, or over a tollbooth. It just overtook that very small hub of a very small park and dwarfed greater things that were there.

Yes, the Wand was quite intrusive to Spaceship Earth*s aura.
Not only did it look like a cardboard cutout stuck to the side of it, it*s size diminished the scale of the sphere.

I will confess this however - For the 1999-2000 Millennium Celebration, for which the Wand was installed for, it was a interesting scenic addition for the year.
Much like the Hat however, it*s *temporary* residence was stretched over eight years instead of one which became a issue for some.
When the word officially came it was being removed before EPCOT*s 25th Anniversary, i have to say many were ecstatic with glee to see it finally come down.

For photos, i personally find some of the most beautiful images of Spaceship Earth to be taken pre-1990s.
It was in it*s original intended glory for the most part, with the tall original palm trees flanking it and the futuristic color-shifting fountain sculpture still present.
The lighting palette was also nice..as originally intended.

 

[articos]

I really do not want to read through any of the 190 pages, but could someone please tell me when this will be completed? Would like to know if there is any chance of it being 100% gone by the time I get there in late march

It will be. Project timeframe is estimated at 3-6 weeks.

 

[articos]

Found this web page about Leave a Legacy:

http://www.passporter.com/wdw/leavealegacy.htm

According to this site the agreement said:

"Agreeing that the image and/or sculpture may be replaced or relocated within Walt Disney World at any time, and that the image may be permanently removed on or after the twentieth anniversary of its installation. "

Correct. The monoliths can be relocated at any time, and after 20 years there is no further obligation to continue displaying the image at all.

 

[Figments Friend]

Wonderful to hear that it will be a short time frame for removal.

Pass the champagne...

 

[Mike S]

I personally find some of the most beautiful images of Spaceship Earth to be taken pre-1990s.
It was in it*s original intended glory for the most part, with the tall original palm trees flanking it and the futuristic color-shifting fountain sculpture still present.
The lighting palette was also nice..as originally intended.

It doesn't have to be a pre 90's picture. I have a picture with the original fountain and the Palm trees from 1996 in front of me right now. Of course the picture is more focused on my 3 year old self rather than Spaceship Earth but it still counts right?

 

[articos]

Wonderful to hear that it will be a short time frame for removal.

Pass the champagne...

Let's see if they hit their dates, though. I'd wait a couple weeks to see progress before uncorking. But it is a simple removal, so it shouldn't take too long.

 

[CheekBoys]

Let's see if they hit their dates, though. I'd wait a couple weeks to see progress before uncorking. But it is a simple removal, so it shouldn't take too long.

Hopefully I will be able to see the Chinese Theater without the hat in front of it, at least for the most part,when we go on February 5-6

 

[Figments Friend]

Let's hope they have a louder voice than the geniuses in their ranks who thought the idea up in the first place.

I would not direct blame entirely towards our friends at WDI.
It was a business move from marketers to come up with another way to get Guests to pay for a *stone marker* at the Parks.

*Leave A Legacy* was a sequel to the lucrative walkway stones sales sold in the mid to late 1990s that line the entrance to DLR, WDWs MK, and around the surrounding Lagoon.
Disney made a couple of truckloads of money selling those, and they were quite popular with Guests, so naturally the marketing team was tasked with coming up with something new in that vein.
*LaL* was it.
A pure cash-grab.

 

[Brad Bishop]

Moving them and adding a few palm trees would free up a lot of walking space.

They are definitely placed in such a way, angled, that it works against the flow of traffic both with arriving at the park and with leaving. You have to go against the grain if you want to walk through them.

 

[articos]

I would not direct blame entirely towards our friends at WDI.
It was a business move from marketers to come up with another way to get Guests to pay for a *stone marker*at the Parks.

*Leave A Legacy* was a sequel to the lucrative walkway stones sales sold in the mid to late 1990s that line the entrance to DLR, WDWs MK, and around the surrounding Lagoon.
Disney made a couple of truckloads of money selling those, and they were quite popular with Guests, so naturally the marketing team was tasked with coming up with something new in that vein.
*LaL* was it.
A pure cash-grab.

LaL was entirely Marketing. WDI was/is not a fan.

 

[Gabe1]

It's odd how much press it's getting for sure but I'm not sure that it will change their plans. That said, with the wand removal taking less than 2 months and being a bit more complex, I just can't see a valid reason for it to take too long!

I'm surprised at the bad press too. Being it was suppose to be there from 2001-end of 2002 to celebrate
100 years of magic, well we are long past the 100 years of magic.

I'm wondering if they are doing all the prep and just waiting for the marathoners to be gone if they need to bring cranes and heavy equipment in to move around the heavy steel? If that is the case why not just leave it alone until after marathon weekend?

 

[Cesar R M]

Any noticeable changes??

it has 1 day more of dust perhaps?

 

[Cesar R M]

maybe this is all a joke and they are just re-painting or adding some snow and ice so it's more "frozen"? haha

 

[Cesar R M]

I guess that makes sense... looking at it.. the spiral thingy, the mickey hand, and the ears would have to go before the main blue hat itself

so. who won the bet? many said the hand was going first.

 

[pumpkin7]

I am too suprised how many people on Facebook are devastated at the removal of big blue. I've felt like an outsider most of the time saying its outlived its welcome.
Lots of annoying comments though; why are they removing it? But it's an icon! What will be replacing it? What will be the park icon now? Where will I take my annual picture? But now my kids will never get to see it.
Ugh.
And I don't think I have a single picture infront of it... lol.