MGM Studios Hat

[Mansion Butler]

I remember loving MGM when I was a kid. The movie sets. Attractions that actually took you 'behind the scenes' and made you feel like you were in the middle of a film production. I have vague memories of being strapped to a giant bee in front of a blue screen and being edited into a scene from Honey I Shrunk the Kids. Now the park is such a mix mash of random stuff that I don't think it has a real personality of its own anymore. When I was there last September, we left after spending 4 hours wandering around wondering 'what is there to do while we wait for Fantasmic other than RnRollercoaster, TOT and star tours'? Sounds Dangerous? No thank you. Narnia? I want those 10 minutes of my life back. Indiana Jones? Oh wait, just missed this show, maybe the next one. Back lot tour? I can't believe they even dare to call it that anymore. If I had my way the park would be split into 3 'lands'. The right side of the park would be 'Hollywood Land'. That would work well with RnRollercoaster and TOT. The back of the park would be 'Pixar Land' (and looks to be happening). And the left side of the park would be 'Lusasfilm/Henson land'. Whatever they do, it's going to have to be a lot. More than just adding Toy Story mania. The whole park needs a new identity, and a ton of work to make it a 'must visit' again.

It really has fallen hard and fast. Once upon a time it was such an amazing park. It still has amazing, immersive little details, but it has no cohesion. One thing has seemingly nothing to do with the other. The entry way has lost it's once stellar recreation, alot of the attractions are getting old and stale, and the attraction of an actual studio area no longer exists since, you know, the studio no longer exists. Losing Roger Rabbit has also hurt them alot, and they have so much unused space. What space they do use is usually the home of some cheap, second-rate filler.

When I go to MGM now, I mostly spend time looking at things as they once were. It still has great restaurants, some wonderfully themed rides and some immersive details, but those things go away so quickly and you're just left with a park wondering "where'd they go wrong."

'Course, with MGM, you know just how they went wrong.

 

[Mansion Butler]

I think it could work. It's big, in the front, and people's eyes would be attracted to it, and you sould still be able to buy pins and find maps in there. Isn't the theatre is one of the recreations of an actual landmark. I don't know if it's Disneyfied, but it is a recreation of a beautiful landmark that represents Hollywood.

So you really think putting the theater as a grand enterance view once again will satisfy Warner Bros?

And yes, the theater is a beautiful landmark that's being destroyed by the hat. But if you move the hat, you destroy a different recreation AND you no longer satisfy the folks Disney's in trouble with. You really think if there was nothing blocking the theater it wouldn't be the weenie? The weenie is NEVER in front of the park.


They could make the hat the official landmark all they want, I can't believe you don't think people would focus more on the theater. The hat would essentially be like the train station in the Magic Kingdom. Only they'd be calling it the official icon. But they called the Earful Tower the icon.

Which do you think people think of more with TDS?

This?

Or this?

 

[StageFrenzy]

lol, i changed it to that before you even replied...which is kinda funny.

Disney has a couple of imagineering rules when it comes to "how to create a successful 'weenie'"

they need to see it as a center point, so they always know how to reach various locations of the park. so, if they look over from star tours and see tower of terror...they will say ' lets just go over there to ride rockn rollar coaster and tower of terror.' or 'oh, thats where fantasmic is'. when they see the big blue hat, it is an easy way to remember how to get out, or how to get from point a to point b. also, when someone enters the park, it gives them something to get to. the park isnt letting everything out all at once. they slowly let it out as you enter. just like the magic kingdom. the castle is there to act as the hub and each land has its own weenie, so its really easy to get around.

if it was at the front, a)it would block everything else and b) it would be pointless as a navigator because 'the front of the park' is already good enough, and its stupid to have two at the same location. c) when the parks icon is at the front of the park, the park itself has nothing to build up to. they enter and its just WHAM right in your face. It kinda leaves little else to be desired. EPCOT is an exception because its kindof a two area park. The world showcase and future world are really two different entities, and each needs its own hub. Once you exit Spaceship earth you are in the middle of futureworld which leads you to everything you need to do. So, the 'weenie' idea still works. it is just applied differently in epcot. since MGM is like Magic Kingdom(having a main street to lead into the main area of the park), it really needs its weenie to be in the middle.

examples of weenies in magic kingdom:
space mountain, Cinderellas castle, splash mountain, etc...

examples of weenies in MGM:
big blue hat (used to be chinese theater), tower of terror, water tower, etc...

examples of weenies in Animal Kingdom:
tree of life, expedition everest, etc...

examples of weenies in EPCOT:
Spaceship Earth....any others?

The Soarin' building behind Canada.......

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

All this talk about themeing and immersion, its a studio that makes neither film nor TV, hows that for a theme.

 

[sanctumsolitude]

No, not crossroads. The entry plaza before you even get into the park.

 

[lilmizpixie3]

I really like the hat, especially at night. It adds more Mickey into the studios, if that makes any sense.

 

[RiversideBunny]

I really like the hat, especially at night. It adds more Mickey into the studios, if that makes any sense.

Yeah- what she said.
I like the hat, too.

 

[Mansion Butler]

All this talk about themeing and immersion, its a studio that makes neither film nor TV, hows that for a theme.

They actually do a pretty good job of that.

 

[Mansion Butler]

No, not crossroads. The entry plaza before you even get into the park.

See, I doubt many people here would have a problem with that. The problem is, that doesn't help any reason Disney put the hat there in the first place. You'd still have an uninterrupted sight line of the theater, and it would still be recognized, if unoffially, as the icon of MGM. Even if they did put the hat outside the park.

And really, it would be kind of silly for a park's icon to be outside the park, and not any sort of weenie drawing you into the park as you walk down the entryway.


No, unfortunately, the hat is where it needs to be. It's just a really dumb way to solve a problem caused mostly by annoying circumstances out of Disney's control. A bad solution to an already bad problem.

 

[jmvd20]

Why don't they just build a giant Mickey? After all they will have a spare hand and wand just laying around pretty soon, put the hat on top of him and POOF, we have sorcerer Mickey as the largest park icon ever...

 

[Eyorefan]

Whatever the legal problems, it was a cheap and nasty solution to the problem. If you were designing the area from scratch and needed a weenie you would never build a giant blue hat that ruined the scale and aesthetic at the end of the art deco 1930s Hollywood Blvd you painstakingly recreated as the entry into the park. It was just a cheap, gimmicky and quick way to both have an icon for the latest pointless celebration (then 100 Years of Magic) and get around the legal issues surrounding the theatre. I'm sure the facade could have been re-built in a way that wouldn't clash with its surroundings, but that would have taken some time and effort and perhaps a little more money. It also wouldn't provide a big and flashy marketing gimmick.

If the problem in terms of the 'icon' was that the water tower was located away from the guest areas at the back of the park, they should have taken a cue from Walt Disney Studios in Paris and moved it near the front of the park. But yet again that wouldn't have given them a big gaudy gimmick to follow the wand which followed the castle cake as the center piece of the 100 Years of Magic celebration which followed the Millennium Celebration that followed the 25th Anniversary celebration.

I love your post and tottally agree with you. Said though, I think the Hat works for Disney's vision of MGM for all the reasons you stated. Let's face it Disney rushed to open MGM because of Universal Orlando and ever since then everything they have done to it (and not done) has been rather half hearted.

Yes, they did build ToT and RnRC, but they built them practiclly side by side and have made no effort to balance out the rest of the part. Every attraction there (and there aren't many of them) is in need of a referb. Yes, they are finally building something new with TSM, but lets face it the Studios need a major overhaul, not just one new ride.

The day the Studios becames more than just an after thought to Disney Management is the day I say it is worthy of a better Icon. As for now, the one they have is a cheap marking gimmick that was hurried into production without a whole lot of thought and sadly it is the perfect fit for the spirit of Disney MGM Studios.

 

[Miss Bell]

I like the hat--just not the placement. I think it would be better suited to the right in the middle of the animation area--in that circle by Playhouse Disney, the animation tour, and the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. I know it would'nt be as iconic there, though.

I just miss the view down the Hollywood Street with the theatre at the end--it really made it seem like the Hollywood of old.

I wouldn't want to see it at the Crossroad, though--I think that would be over-powering as you walked in the gate.

 

[sanctumsolitude]

Whatever the legal problems, it was a cheap and nasty solution to the problem. If you were designing the area from scratch and needed a weenie you would never build a giant blue hat that ruined the scale and aesthetic at the end of the art deco 1930s Hollywood Blvd you painstakingly recreated as the entry into the park. It was just a cheap, gimmicky and quick way to both have an icon for the latest pointless celebration (then 100 Years of Magic) and get around the legal issues surrounding the theatre. I'm sure the facade could have been re-built in a way that wouldn't clash with its surroundings, but that would have taken some time and effort and perhaps a little more money. It also wouldn't provide a big and flashy marketing gimmick.

When you get right down to it, Sir_Cliff has it right. The hat should never have been built. Even with the legal troubles, the hat was a bad solution to the problem.

 

[GoofyFan1]

OK, whoever bet that hat threads would replace the wand threads has won the pot!

I'm just surprised that it took so long to get started.

 

[Mansion Butler]

Why don't they just build a giant Mickey? After all they will have a spare hand and wand just laying around pretty soon, put the hat on top of him and POOF, we have sorcerer Mickey as the largest park icon ever...

I just threw up in my mouth a little.

 

[Mansion Butler]

I like the hat--just not the placement. I think it would be better suited to the right in the middle of the animation area--in that circle by Playhouse Disney, the animation tour, and the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. I know it would'nt be as iconic there, though.

I just miss the view down the Hollywood Street with the theatre at the end--it really made it seem like the Hollywood of old.

I wouldn't want to see it at the Crossroad, though--I think that would be over-powering as you walked in the gate.

Yeah, the hat's not a bad structure. It's just bad where it is.

 

[Slowjack]

Whatever the legal problems, it was a cheap and nasty solution to the problem. If you were designing the area from scratch and needed a weenie you would never build a giant blue hat that ruined the scale and aesthetic at the end of the art deco 1930s Hollywood Blvd you painstakingly recreated as the entry into the park. It was just a cheap, gimmicky and quick way to both have an icon for the latest pointless celebration (then 100 Years of Magic) and get around the legal issues surrounding the theatre. I'm sure the facade could have been re-built in a way that wouldn't clash with its surroundings, but that would have taken some time and effort and perhaps a little more money. It also wouldn't provide a big and flashy marketing gimmick.

If the problem in terms of the 'icon' was that the water tower was located away from the guest areas at the back of the park, they should have taken a cue from Walt Disney Studios in Paris and moved it near the front of the park. But yet again that wouldn't have given them a big gaudy gimmick to follow the wand which followed the castle cake as the center piece of the 100 Years of Magic celebration which followed the Millennium Celebration that followed the 25th Anniversary celebration.

This post nicely sums up what I was going to say. I really don't have a problem with the idea of a giant Sorcerer Mickey hat as the centerpiece of the Studios, if the park had been designed with that in mind. But as it stands it simply doesn't fit. It appears they were shortsighted in designing the park with someone else's building design as the focal point, and then took a shortsighted method to fix the problem.

 

[Mansion Butler]

I don't know how someoen could use shortsighted to describe MGM. That's just unfair.

 

[comics101]

So you really think putting the theater as a grand enterance view once again will satisfy Warner Bros?

And yes, the theater is a beautiful landmark that's being destroyed by the hat. But if you move the hat, you destroy a different recreation AND you no longer satisfy the folks Disney's in trouble with. You really think if there was nothing blocking the theater it wouldn't be the weenie? The weenie is NEVER in front of the park.


They could make the hat the official landmark all they want, I can't believe you don't think people would focus more on the theater. The hat would essentially be like the train station in the Magic Kingdom. Only they'd be calling it the official icon. But they called the Earful Tower the icon.

I don't know if it would satisfy WB or not. I'm just a fan on a disscussion forum who wishes it would. Though I'm not positive, from reading things on these and other forums, it seems the main reason the theatre was often used as an icon by guests was because there wasn't any way you could go up to the water tower and take a picture with it. Not that a water tower is a great icon and something I'd want to take a picture with, but once again I think placing has to do alot with how it would work out. From what I understand the can't place it behind the theatre bc the theatre would be in pictures but if they could, I think that'd be a great place to put it. Or what if the placed it near the gate that leads to the animation courtyard? Then you get a picture with a studio looking type gate and the Earful Tower. Or so you could get your picture with Hollywood Blvd, they could place it near the entrance of the park. Heck, for all I care they could just get a new icon. I don't know, I'm just a fan wishing that they would move the hat. Even if they had to change the outside decor of the theatre so it isn't Mann's anymore that'd be fine, as long as it was the theme to Hollywood Blvd. To answer your question on whether I'd put it in the front, no. Thinking back on it that was a stupid idea, and I'd just get rid of the hat all together...

 

[Mansion Butler]

I'm just a fan wishing that they would move the hat.

I wish they'd move it, too. It just realistically, they can't. They could replace it, but something has to be there right now.