DHS Sorcerer's Hat to be removed

[larryz]

Now if it were only as easy to decipher "MDE".

Millions of Dollars Expended

 

[larryz]

The new location of the hat:

Well played, sir!

 

[ajlsjl]

I'm very excited to see this go. I always thought of the hat as an eyesore, blocking the park's true icon. Lets hope Disney doesn't replace it with something equally as ugly.

 

[Planogirl]

I'm very excited to see this go. I always thought of the hat as an eyesore, blocking the park's true icon. Lets hope Disney doesn't replace it with something equally as ugly.

Maybe a giant snowman or reindeer.

 

[mom2rtk]

Maybe a giant snowman or reindeer.

 

[flicx]

Millions of Dollars Expended

Close, but I believe it would have to be BDE. Billions of Dollars Expended.

 

[GatorChris]

What a flipping dumb call. I guess a decade plus of hearing a bunch of whiners on these boards has finally reached Disney's ears. For me and my family, this is one of our favorite spots/views of the entire resort (see Avatar). When I see pictures of Hollywood Blvd with the Hat, it takes me back to all my favorite moments from my first two trips and how much me and my wife loved this park and Icon. And now it will be gone.

So a big fat NO THANK YOU to all the folks who've been crying since 2001. All these posts of wanting to see the hat burn up, be crushed, sent flying into the sun is quite disturbing. Suppose someone like myself wished that during desconstruction the Hat fell over and forever took out the Mann... do you think I would get a bunch of flak for that? Yip. And yet I hear it from the Hat Haters at least once a week. And for what? Man, that Hat is cool. It's so Disney. It's so Mickey. It's so magical. The Mann? Not Disney at all. Not magical at all. So why the angst to bring it back?

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

No loss to me.

 

[floralmouse]

What a flipping dumb call. I guess a decade plus of hearing a bunch of whiners on these boards has finally reached Disney's ears. For me and my family, this is one of our favorite spots/views of the entire resort (see Avatar). When I see pictures of Hollywood Blvd with the Hat, it takes me back to all my favorite moments from my first two trips and how much me and my wife loved this park and Icon. And now it will be gone.

So a big fat NO THANK YOU to all the folks who've been crying since 2001. All these posts of wanting to see the hat burn up, be crushed, sent flying into the sun is quite disturbing. Suppose someone like myself wished that during desconstruction the Hat fell over and forever took out the Mann... do you think I would get a bunch of flak for that? Yip. And yet I hear it from the Hat Haters at least once a week. And for what? Man, that Hat is cool. It's so Disney. It's so Mickey. It's so magical. The Mann? Not Disney at all. Not magical at all. So why the angst to bring it back?

I find the theater very magical, but I'm a fan of old MGM movies. Everybody's got their thing.

 

[PoohsFan1]

There are construction walls up all over MK's hub.....and I believe they are scheduled through mid 2015. AK has walls up building Avatar and some other things. I can't think off hand of any in EPCOT, but if your goal it to miss all construction, I'd choose a different vacation spot, lol.

Disney does a decent job of putting up walls and then putting enough decor on them to "almost" make them fade into the landscape. Except for those of us that turn a corner and screech to a halt saying "where did _____ go", lol.

Oh no worries, I know about all of the other construction going around WDW but with the recent closures at DHS and who knows if there will be anymore from now until our trip, we decided to go ahead and forego our day there. My kids said that they really only wanted to go to DHS to ride RnRC and ToT which if that is the only reason then it isn't worth the ticket (don't get me wrong I love RnRc...not so much ToT though ). Instead we decided to go to Epcot for a second day. We go to WDW every year so missing it one trip is not going to hurt us.

 

[kbelle8995]

I'm actually okay with the hat going. It's time.

 

[GatorChris]

I'm actually okay with the hat going. It's time.

I think I've seen enough of Cinderella's Castle. It's been there since 1971!!! And it's just a restaurant anyway - a place to sell the customer something flashy. Definitely need something else there. Besides, it TOTALLY clashes with Main Street, USA. I mean, a 1000 year old castle at the end of a 1900s Missouri town???

Just using all of the arguments against Mickey's Hat for another Icon. Doesn't quite fit, does it. C'mon Disney. Just leave the Mickey Hat alone.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

I think I've seen enough of Cinderella's Castle. It's been there since 1971!!! And it's just a restaurant anyway - a place to sell the customer something flashy. Definitely need something else there. Besides, it TOTALLY clashes with Main Street, USA. I mean, a 1000 year old castle at the end of a 1900s Missouri town???

Just using all of the arguments against Mickey's Hat for another Icon. Doesn't quite fit, does it. C'mon Disney. Just leave the Mickey Hat alone.

I don't see them as the same, though. I have wonderful memories of walking down Hollywood Blvd. and seeing the theater at the end. It really made you feel like you were in an idealized Hollywood. I loved what the theme of the park once was. I felt like the hat really took away from the view which, in turn, took away from the story the park was trying to tell. Now, if they moved the hat somewhere else, I'd be fine with it. As is, I don't like where it is.


Oh, and with it gone, we will finally be able to see the largest hidden Mickey on property.... if I rent a plane to see it, that is.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I think I've seen enough of Cinderella's Castle. It's been there since 1971!!! And it's just a restaurant anyway - a place to sell the customer something flashy. Definitely need something else there. Besides, it TOTALLY clashes with Main Street, USA. I mean, a 1000 year old castle at the end of a 1900s Missouri town???

Just using all of the arguments against Mickey's Hat for another Icon. Doesn't quite fit, does it. C'mon Disney. Just leave the Mickey Hat alone.

The main difference is that MK was designed with the castle as the icon. DHS was not at all designed with the hat to be the icon.

 

[marauder]

Someone should go through this thread and see if all the people that say keep it, first visited the park in 2001 or later and all the people that say get rid of its first visit was before that.

My vote is that I am glad it is disappearing and my first visit was before the hat. Also glad to see the backlot tour go. The shrunk down version of the backlot tour was pail to what it use to be.

 

[GatorChris]

The main difference is that MK was designed with the castle as the icon. DHS was not at all designed with the hat to be the icon.

The Mann wasn't the Icon either. Some obscure tower buried in the back of the Studios - the park was built around that?

The Mann just isn't Disney. All it was placed there for was to compete with Universal which opened the same time. Let's face it - Universal is still kicking Disney's backside when it comes to re-creating Hollywood. So Disney gave identity to the park with the Sorcerer's Hat. Basically, "this is a magical park and movie magic is everywhere here". Made sense to me.

 

[Angel Ariel]

The Mann wasn't the Icon either. Some obscure tower buried in the back of the Studios - the park was built around that?
.

I will reword.my point,.as using icon muddled it.

MK was designed with Cinderella Castle to be what you saw at the end of Main Street.

DHS was not designed with the Hat to be what you saw at the end of its "main street" area (Can't remember what the entry street is called at DHS)

I like the hat itself, but I dislike its placement, and will not be sad to see the intended view at the end of the entry (Grauman's theatre) return.

 

[Disneylover99]

Disney gave identity to the park with the Sorcerer's Hat. Basically, "this is a magical park and movie magic is everywhere here". Made sense to me.

Makes sense to me too.

I understand why many people who visited the park prior to 2001 would prefer the hat to be gone. But to me, the hat fits the theme of HS perfectly.

 

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

Makes sense to me too.

I understand why many people who visited the park prior to 2001 would prefer the hat to be gone. But to me, the hat fits the theme of HS perfectly.

Particularly when you consider their featured evening entertainment show.

 

[squirrel4569]

My first trip to MGM/DHS was in 1999, before the hat arrived and when I returned in 2004 I didn't have a problem with it. I still don't have a problem with it. I think it's a better icon for the park than the water tower or ToT. I think that one of the important parts of an icon for the park is that it should be visible when you walk in and you should be able to see it outside of the park.

I don't have an issue with taking it away, although moving it elsewhere would be difficult, it would be nice to still see it somewhere.

My bigger issue is the continual removal of things from DHS with no new things being announced to replace them. With Maelstrom leaving they announced that a new attraction was taking it's place. When they shut down Camp Minnie-Mickey and FOTLK they announced Avatarland and a new theatre for FOTLK. With DHS? Nothing. Not a word. I do believe new things will come, but I'd like to hear something official about the overall plan for the park and a timeline for when we can expect the new things. DHS used to be one of my favorite parks and while I still enjoy a lot of the things there, it's sad to see it getting picked apart over the years like it has.