Woooo a wand thread....it's like Elvis.....it never goes away....perhaps there will be professional wand tribute signs some day like on the 25th anniversary the day the last of the wand was completely removed. :lookaroun
The wand was built to be a symbolic structure of the Mellenium Celebration. Interestingly enough there were a group of Imagineers that voiced their opinion of not only the cost of building the structure, but also the design itself.
The main person who got the wand rolling.....er pad pun.....his name escapes me
...he is also credible with the giant Sorceror Mickey Hat at MGM.
Anyhow there was a big cosmetic change at Epcot in 1999, particularly in Future World in preparation for the Mellenium. Some liked it. Other didn't. Controversial even to this day among Disney fans.
Anyhow the wand was supposed to be temporary. Though its strucutre could withstand that of a hurricane, unless the structure was compeltelty retrofitted, it could only safetly last from 1999 to 2009....2010 was pushing it.
AT&T and Disney worked a financial plan to build the wand. AT&T also put money into the New Global Neighborhood as well as fixing some parts of Spaceship Earth itself.
However when the Mellenium Celebration ended.....the wand structure....more costly than the Cinderella Castle Cake 25th Anniversary overlay....was just too expensive to take down. It wasn't in anyone's budget. So rather than having to spend the money to change the years on the wand i.e. 2001, 2002, etc until money would be spent to take the entire wand down. The easier way was to change the sign to say "Epcot".
AT&T then left as sponsor, killing all hopes of the wand to be taken down in 2002/2003 with no cofinancer for the wand's removal. Seimens steps in, negotiations are made, and the wand finally is removed while SSE remains closed for its rehab and also in time for Epcot's 25th.
While the wand did provide branding for Epcot as a Disney park because of Mickey's arm, it was something that wasn't taken extremely seriously, and the comments of the wand being a permanent structure were nothing more than a blue sky idea.
Spaceship Earth was designed to be a structure in and of itself. Only the graceful and tall washington palm trees would be on its side. Many of the palm trees were carefully placed in the sense of one tree being slightly taller than the other creating a pattern.
There was never an intention of a 1939 world's fair trylon and perisphere structure.
While some liked the wand, and even thought it was magical, spaceship earth was iconic and magical enough as it was and always is. It was simply a great Disney created strucutre. It didn't need mickey mouse. Spaceship Earth WAS Disney.
Anyhow...with the peeling paint, fading mickey arm cutouts, and burnt out bulbs....the wand was a pain to take care of.
:lol:
