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Sorcerer Mickey Hat At MGM-Studios
- Thread starter Richboy
- Start date
imagineer boy
Well-Known Member
General Grizz said:BREAKING NEWS!
THIS SPEAKS FOR ITSELF!
Gee, I can just imagine them doing that for Mickey's 100th birthday saying it's "temporary" but they never take it down.
The biggest problem I have with the hat is that it was a porly done afterthought. The other 3 parks were designed around there center pieces where as the hat was just put were ever they had room. I have never been opposed to changing or updating the parks. I liked the “2000” on SE but the wand and the Epcot sign are a little cheesy.The renderings of the modifications to Cinderella’s castle look pretty good. The hat was an unneeded addition. I just don’t understand why each park needs a centerpiece. MGM’s water tower is in my opinion the icon of the park. In a perfect world management would admit the mistake and correct it. But we all know even WDW is not a perfect world…its pretty close but not quite there.
can i just say something that has nothing to do with what your talking about. Disney world on chrsitmas day was all full first the we had to wait for the pared(MVMCP)
then just as it stated in rain and it was canceled then every on e wnet mad and never got there hade stamped and around 6:00 it stoped raining so we hoped on the boat because I was staying at the (WL) and went back only to see the park empty only about a couply 200 people. we went on all the rides.
then just as it stated in rain and it was canceled then every on e wnet mad and never got there hade stamped and around 6:00 it stoped raining so we hoped on the boat because I was staying at the (WL) and went back only to see the park empty only about a couply 200 people. we went on all the rides.
That is not all that uncommon. Parades get canceled all the time due to rain and the parks are almost always deserted when the whether turns bad.126disney said:
Expo_Seeker40
Well-Known Member
Well as for the MGM Hat, I like the creativity of it, but when one realises that it is a gift shop and pin trading area, that kind of denounces it. The earful tower was always the so-called "official" symbol of the park, because that was something the Disney Co. had created just like the castle, SSE, and the tree of life. The Chineese Theater being a real icon in California could not be so much promoted like the Earful Tower, and though the Chineese Theater was promoted, but mostly as scenic views, and to give visitors an understanding about stepping back in time to the glorious Hollywood of the 30s and 40s.
To have this giant Sorcer Mickey hat down the street, is totally wrong IMHO. Here we have a serious note that the guests should be walking back in time to the glory days of hollywood, and seeing the Chineese Theater at the end of the street, now we have a giant cartoonish hat! The hat should have gone elsewhere in MGM Studious or somewhere at Fantasmic, and not infront of the Chineese Theater. The hat only repsresents one movie....Fantasia (if memory serves me)...while the theater represents not only glorious Hollywood, but the famous movies that made there appearance at the [real] chineese theater, and what the great movie ride makes of that.
I like the hat, but I don't like where it is at MGM, and I don't like it being advertised at the official icon of the park. :brick:
Now...as for the wand.... :lol:
SSE in all its various designs and concepts never had a wand next to it. Really now...Future World still is meant to be a bold and modern looking place, regaurdless of what is inside those pavilions. SSE was supposed to look simple. The entrance was supposed to look beautiful. Now it looks like a mistake.
Yes it was always funny to call SSE a golfball, but it was still and is today meant to be a post space age look at our world, and how it is a spaceship pearched on its pedistal ready to take off. That is the signifance of SSE, and the old EPCOT Center. When you could walk into the entrance and be amazed by all the various and well kept forms of trees, plants, and flowers, and the rows of Emeperor Palms leading up to SSE with the scultputre fountain underneath.
I can't believe they leveled all of this in 1999 to make way for such a dismal and boring entrance. It's so barren. Gone are the various color schemes of the old entrance, replaced by silver, brown, and pink. :zipit: Gone are the rows of Emperor Palms, now just empty planters with overgrown vegitation covering most of the future world entrance buildings. Gone is the scultpure fountain replaced with...nothing...or an anual topiary, and the fountain is of course pink, brown, and silver. Gone are the various flowers and rows of exotic plants..now replaced by leave-me-some-money. From the wand and stars on SSE, to the current entrance makes Epcot look even more crazy and fun to joke at, and this needs to change.
To have this giant Sorcer Mickey hat down the street, is totally wrong IMHO. Here we have a serious note that the guests should be walking back in time to the glory days of hollywood, and seeing the Chineese Theater at the end of the street, now we have a giant cartoonish hat! The hat should have gone elsewhere in MGM Studious or somewhere at Fantasmic, and not infront of the Chineese Theater. The hat only repsresents one movie....Fantasia (if memory serves me)...while the theater represents not only glorious Hollywood, but the famous movies that made there appearance at the [real] chineese theater, and what the great movie ride makes of that.
I like the hat, but I don't like where it is at MGM, and I don't like it being advertised at the official icon of the park. :brick:
Now...as for the wand.... :lol:
SSE in all its various designs and concepts never had a wand next to it. Really now...Future World still is meant to be a bold and modern looking place, regaurdless of what is inside those pavilions. SSE was supposed to look simple. The entrance was supposed to look beautiful. Now it looks like a mistake.
Yes it was always funny to call SSE a golfball, but it was still and is today meant to be a post space age look at our world, and how it is a spaceship pearched on its pedistal ready to take off. That is the signifance of SSE, and the old EPCOT Center. When you could walk into the entrance and be amazed by all the various and well kept forms of trees, plants, and flowers, and the rows of Emeperor Palms leading up to SSE with the scultputre fountain underneath.
I can't believe they leveled all of this in 1999 to make way for such a dismal and boring entrance. It's so barren. Gone are the various color schemes of the old entrance, replaced by silver, brown, and pink. :zipit: Gone are the rows of Emperor Palms, now just empty planters with overgrown vegitation covering most of the future world entrance buildings. Gone is the scultpure fountain replaced with...nothing...or an anual topiary, and the fountain is of course pink, brown, and silver. Gone are the various flowers and rows of exotic plants..now replaced by leave-me-some-money. From the wand and stars on SSE, to the current entrance makes Epcot look even more crazy and fun to joke at, and this needs to change.
steve2wdw
WDW Fan Since 1973
I like the hat too...but like everyone else, would rather see it somewhere else. To me, it's installation perplexed me, as it had nothing to do with Hollywood Blvd. They destroyed the original mood by throwing in a fantasy structure. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this isn't the only place that Disney has done this. Walt did it himself by placing a castle at the end of a Victorian Main Street and we all accept that with no hesitation. I guess what bothers me about the hat is the fact that they got it right the first time with the installation of a theatre that fits the period, but then threw out theming for a hat. And if I had to put money on it, I'd say the hat will be there for a long time.
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
Correct...some of us forget that most guests love the hat--it's very popular. That's the reason it was so hastily named the official park icon--because of how popular it was during 100 Years of Magic. One thing I do think they could have done would be to move the hat north about 75 feet, further away from the Chinese Theatre...the hat would be even more visible walking down Hollywood Boulevard, but you'd still have that courtyard to see the theatre...it would make it easier to take pictures of the theatre w/o having to tilt your camera up at about 45º.steve2wdw said:
I actually quite like the wand on spaceship earth...before it just seemed sort of plain!!
But wait, something tells me that i was told that the legacys could be gotten rid of anytime after 2010.....anyone else remember being told this??
Perhaps that means some changes are going too be happening then? Well if the legacys are being removed then obviously theres going too have too be some major work done around the entrance.....
But wait, something tells me that i was told that the legacys could be gotten rid of anytime after 2010.....anyone else remember being told this??
Perhaps that means some changes are going too be happening then? Well if the legacys are being removed then obviously theres going too have too be some major work done around the entrance.....
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
I thought it was longer than that...like 15 or 20+ years...*Andy* said:
Budahman
New Member
For me, one of the things I enjoy most about WDW is that things change. It's always fun to see what else they do or what changes had taken place since my last trip. Even if its within a few months. 
Sometimes it's hard to let go of favorites....like Horizons or World of Motion or ANY other attractions that we all love.
Now, the Hat at MGM--although I do like it, I really think it could be in a better place or maybe slighty smaller and not so overwheming.
I love the wand in Epcot, and I always like the small things they do to the Castle as far as decorating it (mostly becuase it know the castle stuff is temporary).
Sometimes it's hard to let go of favorites....like Horizons or World of Motion or ANY other attractions that we all love.
Now, the Hat at MGM--although I do like it, I really think it could be in a better place or maybe slighty smaller and not so overwheming.
I love the wand in Epcot, and I always like the small things they do to the Castle as far as decorating it (mostly becuase it know the castle stuff is temporary).
SpenceMan01
Well-Known Member
Trainee031589 said:
You better be careful or you'll have Michael Moore down there with a camera looking for OBL and giving Disney a bad name...all because they wouldn't distribute his movie :hammer:
Imagineer79
New Member
Hi all I am new to posting to these boards but have been a follower of this site for a little over a year now, and I wanted to share with you this little story of the Mickey Icon hat that I wrote for the Disney Forever web site back on March 8 04. I hope you all enjoy it and please, I mean not to start an arguments cause this was the story I was told by one of the Imagineers, and only know that.
The Mickey Icon hat at Disney MGM Studios is one of the most talked about and hated icons of all the Disney parks, right next to the wand at Epcot. While many of the guests that came to the park wondered why this structure was put in front of The Great Movie Ride blocking the wonderful view of the down Hollywood BLVD. Most of the guests think its because the Great Movie Ride was going to close down, or Disney was going to make it as new entrance to the attraction its self, but none of those were the correct answer. So here is the story of how an Icon be came and eye sore. First I found out about this while working Disney in the College Program in 2002 for the 100-year Celebration. I worked at The Great Movie ride and did parades and Fantasmic! While I was there I did one of follow the Imagineers Around for a Day tour, which I was lucky enough to get since there was never an Imagineer available to do this. The guy was awesome and took me all over the park and talked to me about the many different things about the studios. He was one of the Imagineers that worked on the design of the Icon and went into great detail about how and why it came to be. <O
></O>
Well the original idea for the 100yrs of magic was that each park was going to have some kind of icon for the 100yrs put into the entrance of each park at WDW. Well that fell through do to cost and what they should put in each park. The next idea was to have beams of colored spotlights shooting into the sky from each park and nightly there would be a huge fireworks display that can be seen all over the resort at the same time. That was ruled out due Animal kingdom being closed, and each park is to far out to do something like that. Then came the idea that what if there was an Icon that each Disney park (all of them including Cal, Tokyo and Paris) could have to show the 100-year Celebration. That’s were the Mickey hat icon came to be, see a while back there was vote in the parks asking people what Icon they think most represents Disney and they gave them a list. Supposedly it was the Mickey Hat, I was always going to Disneyland and I never remember them doing that, but that what I was told so. Anyways they planed area for the Icon was to be in front of the Magic Kingdom. Were the Monorail and security check is now. Some how they would have incorporated it into the front there, but there was not that much room available to put an Icon that large there. They then decided to put it on one of the islands out in the middle of Bay Lake, but a new problem arose. People would like to go up to the icon and there would be a million questions towards how to get to the island. Well that idea was scraped right a way since they were thinking about letting people walk around the island and have a shop and museum there, but then came traffic issues and boats and its was going to be more expensive then just putting it in front of the Kingdom. Now here comes the cool idea what if the icon was an attraction? See originally it was just going to be a statue with plaques and other things on and around it. So now the Imagineers decided lets add more to it and make it a grander scale. Well the two ears were going to be, get this Ferris Wheels, and the top of the icon was supposed to be an observation deck along with a whole area containg a tribute to Walt Disney. Well there were plenty of designs for this, and work was well under way designs and models came about and the decision was made to put this Icon at Downtown Disney, but then not came and issue they wanted one of the parks to have it, plus there was not enough people there that would go see it if it was at a park. The second area and last area that the icon was planned for was the Disney MGM Studios. It was going to be at the front entrance were the security checkpoint is now, and were the busses unload. Well new problems arose in this, since it was in front of the park how were they going to keep control of the crowds? Was there going to be a charge for the attraction? How many cast members were they going to need? What kind of problems traffic wise would it cause at the front of that park? All these questions worried the managers there while at the same time they had a little more then 14 months till the Celebration was to start. They had to make a decision and fast. So they scaled down the Icon took out the Farris Wheels and observation deck, and now needed a new place for it. So they finally the best location at the Studios was New York Street. Yes that were supposed be, cause they had future plans for that area. Again the managers did not like it cause it was not a central location that people would want to go out of their way to. There was talk for a little while to put it in the animation courtyard but again there were other plans for that area, and it was going to be put next to Catastrophe Canyon so people can see it when they drive in. Again the Imagineers wanted the guests to be able to walk p and explore it. So as a last minute decision they put it in front of The Great Movie ride. Due to all the scaling back and changing and not knowing were it was going to go the other Disney resorts backed out. So that’s the story of the Mickey Icon and how it came to be. Sorry for the long story and I know were are not supposed to talk about things like that but being that its a cool Disney Story for everyone to hear I thought I should tell. I was told the structure was to be up for 10 years, and I have no clue what they are going to do with it after that. Yes we did get a lot of complaints and some people did like it, but it is there to stay for a while. The Epcot Icon is the same 10 years planed but when I left I was told it was not going to be up as long. As far as The Great Movie ride is concerned. No its not closing down, yes it will get an update, nothing big, more like redoing of the soundtrack and other small things. The only big thing I know of is the redoing of the vehicles. No movement on them just redoing the shell. It is considered a Pirates or Haunted Mansion type attraction and does a lot of attendance, so it will be there a long time.
But just to let you know at one time they did consider changing the attraction.
Here is another update I did on it after I saw the response I got from the story.
The managers of the park were the ones that did not want the Icon as an attraction. They thought it would be more liability, plus not enough staff to take care of it. Also they did consider Epcot for the icon to go to, but Epcot was the main park for the Millennium Celebration, and Magic Kingdom was the center for the 25 anniversary. So that is Why Disney MGM Studios became the center of the 100-year celebration. Also Animal Kingdom will be the next to host a celebration. My guess is the 35th anniversary of Disney World. The management had decided that so all that parks could get something new. Anyways sorry about all the drifting off but the whole Icon idea was they wanted something that signified Disney really well. Well for like two years they had been taking a poll on what they should use as an icon at all the Disney parks, and Sorcerer Mickey was the one that people had picked as a good icon. So they worked it from there. Also since the 100yrs of magic was to be celebrated at all the parks around the world. Each park was to get the icon in some way, but became too expensive. Disneyland’s icon was to be put in-between Cal Adventure and Disneyland. Tokyo’s was to be in front of Disneyland, and Paris well the new entrance to Disney Studios, and be a preview center for it.
The Mickey Icon hat at Disney MGM Studios is one of the most talked about and hated icons of all the Disney parks, right next to the wand at Epcot. While many of the guests that came to the park wondered why this structure was put in front of The Great Movie Ride blocking the wonderful view of the down Hollywood BLVD. Most of the guests think its because the Great Movie Ride was going to close down, or Disney was going to make it as new entrance to the attraction its self, but none of those were the correct answer. So here is the story of how an Icon be came and eye sore. First I found out about this while working Disney in the College Program in 2002 for the 100-year Celebration. I worked at The Great Movie ride and did parades and Fantasmic! While I was there I did one of follow the Imagineers Around for a Day tour, which I was lucky enough to get since there was never an Imagineer available to do this. The guy was awesome and took me all over the park and talked to me about the many different things about the studios. He was one of the Imagineers that worked on the design of the Icon and went into great detail about how and why it came to be. <O
></O>Well the original idea for the 100yrs of magic was that each park was going to have some kind of icon for the 100yrs put into the entrance of each park at WDW. Well that fell through do to cost and what they should put in each park. The next idea was to have beams of colored spotlights shooting into the sky from each park and nightly there would be a huge fireworks display that can be seen all over the resort at the same time. That was ruled out due Animal kingdom being closed, and each park is to far out to do something like that. Then came the idea that what if there was an Icon that each Disney park (all of them including Cal, Tokyo and Paris) could have to show the 100-year Celebration. That’s were the Mickey hat icon came to be, see a while back there was vote in the parks asking people what Icon they think most represents Disney and they gave them a list. Supposedly it was the Mickey Hat, I was always going to Disneyland and I never remember them doing that, but that what I was told so. Anyways they planed area for the Icon was to be in front of the Magic Kingdom. Were the Monorail and security check is now. Some how they would have incorporated it into the front there, but there was not that much room available to put an Icon that large there. They then decided to put it on one of the islands out in the middle of Bay Lake, but a new problem arose. People would like to go up to the icon and there would be a million questions towards how to get to the island. Well that idea was scraped right a way since they were thinking about letting people walk around the island and have a shop and museum there, but then came traffic issues and boats and its was going to be more expensive then just putting it in front of the Kingdom. Now here comes the cool idea what if the icon was an attraction? See originally it was just going to be a statue with plaques and other things on and around it. So now the Imagineers decided lets add more to it and make it a grander scale. Well the two ears were going to be, get this Ferris Wheels, and the top of the icon was supposed to be an observation deck along with a whole area containg a tribute to Walt Disney. Well there were plenty of designs for this, and work was well under way designs and models came about and the decision was made to put this Icon at Downtown Disney, but then not came and issue they wanted one of the parks to have it, plus there was not enough people there that would go see it if it was at a park. The second area and last area that the icon was planned for was the Disney MGM Studios. It was going to be at the front entrance were the security checkpoint is now, and were the busses unload. Well new problems arose in this, since it was in front of the park how were they going to keep control of the crowds? Was there going to be a charge for the attraction? How many cast members were they going to need? What kind of problems traffic wise would it cause at the front of that park? All these questions worried the managers there while at the same time they had a little more then 14 months till the Celebration was to start. They had to make a decision and fast. So they scaled down the Icon took out the Farris Wheels and observation deck, and now needed a new place for it. So they finally the best location at the Studios was New York Street. Yes that were supposed be, cause they had future plans for that area. Again the managers did not like it cause it was not a central location that people would want to go out of their way to. There was talk for a little while to put it in the animation courtyard but again there were other plans for that area, and it was going to be put next to Catastrophe Canyon so people can see it when they drive in. Again the Imagineers wanted the guests to be able to walk p and explore it. So as a last minute decision they put it in front of The Great Movie ride. Due to all the scaling back and changing and not knowing were it was going to go the other Disney resorts backed out. So that’s the story of the Mickey Icon and how it came to be. Sorry for the long story and I know were are not supposed to talk about things like that but being that its a cool Disney Story for everyone to hear I thought I should tell. I was told the structure was to be up for 10 years, and I have no clue what they are going to do with it after that. Yes we did get a lot of complaints and some people did like it, but it is there to stay for a while. The Epcot Icon is the same 10 years planed but when I left I was told it was not going to be up as long. As far as The Great Movie ride is concerned. No its not closing down, yes it will get an update, nothing big, more like redoing of the soundtrack and other small things. The only big thing I know of is the redoing of the vehicles. No movement on them just redoing the shell. It is considered a Pirates or Haunted Mansion type attraction and does a lot of attendance, so it will be there a long time.
But just to let you know at one time they did consider changing the attraction.
Here is another update I did on it after I saw the response I got from the story.
The managers of the park were the ones that did not want the Icon as an attraction. They thought it would be more liability, plus not enough staff to take care of it. Also they did consider Epcot for the icon to go to, but Epcot was the main park for the Millennium Celebration, and Magic Kingdom was the center for the 25 anniversary. So that is Why Disney MGM Studios became the center of the 100-year celebration. Also Animal Kingdom will be the next to host a celebration. My guess is the 35th anniversary of Disney World. The management had decided that so all that parks could get something new. Anyways sorry about all the drifting off but the whole Icon idea was they wanted something that signified Disney really well. Well for like two years they had been taking a poll on what they should use as an icon at all the Disney parks, and Sorcerer Mickey was the one that people had picked as a good icon. So they worked it from there. Also since the 100yrs of magic was to be celebrated at all the parks around the world. Each park was to get the icon in some way, but became too expensive. Disneyland’s icon was to be put in-between Cal Adventure and Disneyland. Tokyo’s was to be in front of Disneyland, and Paris well the new entrance to Disney Studios, and be a preview center for it.
CrombieRyan1892
New Member
The hat wouldnt be bad, if it wasnt covering up suck a great icon (The Chinese Theatre.) Its realli sad that the hard work that went into making that exact replica of the theatre is being covered up. If they want to keep the hat, ok, why dont they move it the animation area (after all the hat is from an animated movie.) Hey why not install fiber obtics on it so that at night the hat can make characted of favorite animated movies. As for the theatre so much could be done with it, a nice nittitme parade could be made that like a movie premier at the Chinese theater. Kinda like a 40's old fashioned type things, with vintage cars and a red carpet and the photographers and everthing. Doing this would give a nice boost to the ride capacity on the Great Movie Ride after the parade, and then maybi Eisney can invest on a rehaul of the current scenes in the classic attraction inside the theatre.
SpenceMan01
Well-Known Member
CrombieRyan1892 said:
Intended typo: Eisner + Disney?
You know, I just realized that Eisner and Disney are so similar grammatically speaking. Kinda gives me the creeps.
"And lastly, before my retirement, I shall change the name of the company to Eisney"
*shudder*