Any truth to this rumor???

[Bob O]

On another web site there was a rumor i saw and does anybody know if there was ever any truth to it.
For those who claim the giant Sorcerer Mickey's has has forever defaced the elegant main thoroughfare in Disney-MGM Studios, be glad the imagineers didnt have their full ,gaudy way. This past week while aboard the Disney magic cruise ship, and imagineer invovled with the project said that original plans called for Mickey's ears to be Ferris Wheels. Guests would be spun in and out of the hat, picking up a little of the Walt story each rotation. Again ,the budget saw otherwise. Might have been neat.
What do you think of this rumor and the ride concept???

 

[Peter Pirate]

Bob, we agree on something!... I think it could've been neat too. The problem I think, besids budgetary, was that this would have HAD to have been a permanent structure (relatively). As it is now, it could be removed at the end of the celebration or should the theatre be renovated into something new & cool (not that it isn't btw)...But had this be done, no way it could be coming down soon and look at it from their view, this was risky place to install anything...

 

[KNWVIKING]

An earlier thread by JimB mentioned the original concept of the hat being twice the size it is now & having mini ferris wheels in the ears. It didn't say they would actually carry guests. He goes on to say they decided against it not for $$$ reasons but because it would have been just too large for the scale of everything else around it.

 

[Planogirl]

Mickey with spinning ears? Why not let his nose be a spinner? Somehow this doesn't sound all that attractive to me.

 

[DisneyKidds]

That d#$% hat is an abomination . One can only hope it will go after the 100 years celebration . The thought of it being a ride, twice as tall, with spinning Mickey ears - the thought makes me ill . Furthermore, if such a thing had been done it would probably have been permanent.

One of the things that is so magical about the Disney experience to me is the aesthetics of the parks. MGM used to be so cool in that regard. Walking down the main drag, the Chinese theatre looming, Gone with the Wind music playing - very cool. It had a sense of history, a sense of purpose. It tied into the movie studio/entertainment theme of the park. As has been discussed, so much of what WDW does is take you to another time, another place. It was very 'Disney'. Ah, the days of watching Sorcery in the Sky exploding over the theatre. Now what do you have? A big, gaudy, hat where they hawk trinkets. Yes, it ties into the theme a bit as it is Sorceror Mickey's hat from Fantasia, but it completely ruined the aesthetics of MGM, IMO. The idea that it could be gaudier, with spinning ears and who knows what else, no thank you.

I would imagine this was one idea that was not axed by the bean counters, but passed on because it was just plain wrong for the park. Whoever came up the concept was getting a bit carried away if you ask me. Of course, that assumes it ever was a concept.

 

[Peter Pirate]

A side note: Just more proof that we Car 1er's are not just clones of each other. 'Kidds' hates the hat, I like it...See we can share our basic phlosophies and still have differences of opinions within the group! That's why riding in car #1 is so cooool! And thats why we shouldn't be lumped together as a multibodied creature with one head - nice imagery, huh?

 

[DisneyKidds]

Pirate - don't take away their mutibodied, one headed image - it is something they are counting on at AK. The park won't be complete without that mythical creature that never was .

Glad you like the hat (promise I won't hold it against you).

p.s. - see, a staunch Car #1er can dislike something the Brand did and not abandon the vehicle.

 

[raidermatt]

I would imagine this was one idea that was not axed by the bean counters, but passed on because it was just plain wrong for the park. Whoever came up the concept was getting a bit carried away if you ask me. Of course, that assumes it ever was a concept.

The rumor I read says that it was axed because they realized it was wrong, not because of cost (that's not to say it wouldn't have been axed for budgetary reasons if it came to that).

Still, in any creative process, there are (or at least should be), many ideas thrown out. Many turn out to be duds and never progress, but that's how we sometimes hear about something that was considered, but just seemed ridiculous.

 

[Bob O]

I thought it was interesting as i never heard of this rumor before.