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I saw the hat needs to go. the whole flow of MGM was ruined!!! you used to be able to look down and see the theatre. why build the theatre if you cant see it.[/QUOTE]
I was there last year, and I took a behind the scenes tour. The cast member mentioned that the owners of the Chinese theater had not renewed an agreement with Disney for use of their building facade (apparently Disney paid some sort of licsensing fee to the owners). At any rate, rather than be forced to tear it down, the owners of the Chinese Theater (it's owned by a big chain, but I don't know which one) agreed to let Disney keep it up their if they constructed something that blocked it's view, thus removing it as a focal point.
And so, the hat was placed in front of the theater, complete with a souvenir shop right below it. I don't know how much of this is true, but It seems plausible. If anyone else can confirm this, it would be appreciated.
At any rate, if this is true, we probably won't be seeing the hat go away for awhile.