The Park Formerly Known as Disney's Hollywood Studios? Yep ...

tirian

tirian

Well-Known Member
I'm glad Disney is finally bringing in people with artistic vision and taste to update the WDW parks instead of filling them with glitter and telling us it's MAGIC. The Wand and BAH had nothing to do with "real" Disney; they were plastic icons created by over-eager marketers who didn't understand that Disney was more than preschool toys.

If Walt himself didn't need a giant Mickey Mouse towering over Sleeping Beauty Castle, and if he managed to keep ALL "Disney" character rides contained within Fantasyland, we don't need Mickey's body parts littering our parks or characters in World Showcase.

He was satisfied with a floral Mickey at the entrance because he knew the public expected the Mouse; but he also knew that his park would need to seem real enough to transport guests through their imaginations. Today's WDI and WDC execs could learn from this restraint.


Siren said:
Wow, another name change -- I think it's embarrassing. They should just call it Walt Disney Studios or Disney Studios and be done with it. I don't know what else you can possibly call it. It's funny how Universal and Busch Gardens and every other theme park has never had to change their name. It seems so odd to me.

And also, I know the tacky BAH is slated for demolition but I do *not* like the idea of the Chinese theater as the landmark of the park -- it really needs to be something Disney and eye catching.

I'm sorry but this is a Hollywood icon not Disney. And, the water tower is just blah!



I kind of see your point but Epcot, DHS, and DAK are not really valid experiences -- because they're not complete parks, at least not yet. For me, there is not enough in those parks by themselves to warrant a trip to WDW. MK is my favorite, AK is a close second, DHS is third, and Epcot is last, imo. The other parks are wonderful put pale in comparison to MK. The "Disney Parks" thing does annoy me though, it just lacks something.
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Figaro928

Well-Known Member
G00fyDad said:
Because the icon should be a Disney icon or a unique icon that Disney can "make its own". The icon for a Disney park should not be an icon that represents another brand. No matter how closely tied that brand is to Disney.
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While I agree with you on a certain personal level, I honestly believe Disney itself does not. C'mon... if Disney could post up a giant Death Star next to the tree of life on every single map, video, pin ETC you don't think they will?
 
G00fyDad

G00fyDad

Well-Known Member
catfury said:
While I agree with you on a certain personal level, I honestly believe Disney itself does not. C'mon... if Disney could post up a giant Death Star next to the tree of life on every single map, video, pin ETC you don't think they will?
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No, I don't agree. They may want to cash in on the success of Star Wars, but as a business they need to keep a branding all their own. That doesn't mean they won't use the heck out of ideas like yours, but as an official park icon, no. They'll keep it Disney, or original.
 
S

Siren

Well-Known Member
G00fyDad said:
Yes. The sight of that picture made my wife cringe. She hates the hate as much as I do, and we both want the old view back.
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LOL, I'm really impressed. You just are too funny! And I agree, there is nothing unique about the theater at all -- it's already been done better, elsewhere.

G00fyDad said:
Because the icon should be a Disney icon or a unique icon that Disney can "make its own". The icon for a Disney park should not be an icon that represents another brand. No matter how closely tied that brand is to Disney.
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Thank you. Your post is written so eloquently and I totally agree with you. I tend to prefer one of a kind and unique creations over duplicated, unoriginal ones.
 
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Figaro928

Well-Known Member
G00fyDad said:
No, I don't agree. They may want to cash in on the success of Star Wars, but as a business they need to keep a branding all their own. That doesn't mean they won't use the heck out of ideas like yours, but as an official park icon, no. They'll keep it Disney, or original.
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I really REALLY hope you're right. But the Chinese theatre doesn't have the oomph and awe that the other 3 park's icons have. Same goes for The Earful Tower - and that has the double disadvantage of being in the back of the park. If DHS wants an icon with the same level of eye catching amazement, they are going to have to build a new one. Do you really think they would build something original and only Disney when they are probably already planning on investing and building for Pixar and Star Wars.

Unless Frozenland comes to DHS, complete with ice castle, an original Disney Icon in DHS isn't hopeful. (and i'd take a giant lamp/deathstar over arrendale any day)... But again, I really hope you're right
 
G00fyDad

G00fyDad

Well-Known Member
catfury said:
I really REALLY hope you're right. But the Chinese theatre doesn't have the oomph and awe that the other 3 park's icons have. Same goes for The Earful Tower - and that has the double disadvantage of being in the back of the park. If DHS wants an icon with the same level of eye catching amazement, they are going to have to build a new one. Do you really think they would build something original and only Disney when they are probably already planning on investing and building for Pixar and Star Wars.

Unless Frozenland comes to DHS, complete with ice castle, an original Disney Icon in DHS isn't hopeful. (and i'd take a giant lamp/deathstar over arrendale any day)... But again, I really hope you're right
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Yes. I do. As a business like Disney they will want to keep their brand in the parks all their own. It would look ridiculous to use something from a different franchise as the icon for one of its parks. I get where you are going with the "appeal to the masses", but from a business standpoint that doesn't make much sense. They could easily bring back the tower by moving it (it is non-function) to the front and to the side of the theater. OR they could build a totally new icon that will represent the new look, feel, and atmosphere of the new theme for the park. My money is on the latter.
 
BrerJon

BrerJon

Well-Known Member
catfury said:
I really REALLY hope you're right. But the Chinese theatre doesn't have the oomph and awe that the other 3 park's icons have. Same goes for The Earful Tower - and that has the double disadvantage of being in the back of the park. If DHS wants an icon with the same level of eye catching amazement, they are going to have to build a new one.
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Why do they *need* an icon? I don't see Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios or Sea World having icons, and they do OK.
 
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Figaro928

Well-Known Member
G00fyDad said:
Yes. I do. As a business like Disney they will want to keep their brand in the parks all their own. It would look ridiculous to use something from a different franchise as the icon for one of its parks. I get where you are going with the "appeal to the masses", but from a business standpoint that doesn't make much sense. They could easily bring back the tower by moving it (it is non-function) to the front and to the side of the theater. OR they could build a totally new icon that will represent the new look, feel, and atmosphere of the new theme for the park. My money is on the latter.
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I hope they don't even consider using the tower to be honest... it's rather mundane and gives off the "studio" feel. It wouldn't give off the right vibe for what should be the new park.

Again, I do hope you're right in that they do build a new icon representative of what the park will be. Any
thoughts, ideas?
 
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Figaro928

Well-Known Member
BrerJon said:
Why do they *need* an icon? I don't see Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios or Sea World having icons, and they do OK.
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They're not Disney... Is it that obvious? Every Disney park worldwide has an iconic structure representative of the park as a whole. As weak as the BAH is/was, it was the focal spot.
 
BrerJon

BrerJon

Well-Known Member
catfury said:
They're not Disney... Is it that obvious? Every Disney park worldwide has an iconic structure representative of the park as a whole. As weak as the BAH is/was, it was the focal spot.
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But they have *two*, the Earful Tower and the Chinese Theater - there was never any need for a third icon, and both the original ones represent the park far better than a magical hat.
 
GoofGoof

GoofGoof

Premium Member
BrerJon said:
But they have *two*, the Earful Tower and the Chinese Theater - there was never any need for a third icon, and both the original ones represent the park far better than a magical hat.
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I think Tower of Terror acts as the unofficial icon. You can see it from certain areas outside of the park and its one of the headliner attractions. The hat may have been on maps, but ToT is always what I thought of for DHS.
 
GoofGoof

GoofGoof

Premium Member
I also think StarWars Land will have some sort of iconic structure. It may not be what they use on a map as THE icon, but it will act like Space Mountain at MK or Everest at DAK.
 
G00fyDad

G00fyDad

Well-Known Member
catfury said:
I hope they don't even consider using the tower to be honest... it's rather mundane and gives off the "studio" feel. It wouldn't give off the right vibe for what should be the new park.

Again, I do hope you're right in that they do build a new icon representative of what the park will be. Any
thoughts, ideas?
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Not without knowing what theme they will go with for the park. If the park keeps a "Hollywood" sort of feel then I like the mentioned mountainside icon with the Hollywoodland sign on it.
 

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