John says:
Enjoyed your photo essay on Hollywood Blvd. And, of course, agree with you strongly about the hat. In spades.
Here's what I found out about it. Perhaps someone has information that trumps this, but what I know came from a senior Imagineer in Glendale (one of the few still around!) whose primary job includes Disney-MGM Studios:
The hat was originally supposed to be outside the entry gate, but because of ingress/egress concerns from the park in the event of an emergency, its location was moved. When it was finally built, the hat ended up costing much more than originally anticipated. More than that, the cost of tearing it down is steep. Too steep for the tastes of the bean counters who run the parks. So the deal as it stands now is to keep the hat up for about another year before bringing it down again.
At least, that's the *plan*. As you've learned, the days of spending money to make money at the parks are long past (thank you, Michael Eisner and Paul Pressler), and given that there hasn't been a huge outcry about the ugliness and inappropriateness of the hat from guests, they may decide to keep it up a bit longer.
The best news, though, is that the hat was designed to be temporary. It was never intended as a permanent structure. At least, so says Imagineering. Theme Parks may have a different view!
I asked a cast member about the hat during my recent trip and he said that it was expected to remain for ten years.
I hope you're right, John, and he's dead wrong.
