Mickey Mouse arm/wand removed from Epcot

[ChrisFL]

It fits in with the glitz of Hollywood to have it in the park, but right now it blocks the nice view of the Chinese Theater.

that was the whole idea

 

[Mickdeb]

Oh, I will be sorry to see it go

I love that arm and the stars etc.

Deb

 

[cherbear]

Get me a wrench I'll help take that ugly thing down.

Can't wait for views like this again

Thank you for posting the pic! EPCOT and I share our birth year, so I am looking forward to it going back to the way it used to be. The wand was put up during another milestone in my life--high school graduation. Does anyone know what day they actually put the wand up (finished it)? I'm curious.

 

[scanne]

They're closing the ride this Monday? I love this ride - it's a classic. I knew Haunted Mansion would be closed, but I thought SE was closing later in the summer.

 

[Wish2BinWDW]

I'm glad it's going to be gone. I never liked it and always thought Spaceship Earth by itself was lovely.

 

[edcrbnsoul]

It made as much sense as having a giant Figment arm coming out of a window of Cinderellas Castle holding a giant penant that says Magic Kingdom.

 

[cherbear]

It made as much sense as having a giant Figment arm coming out of a window of Cinderellas Castle holding a giant penant that says Magic Kingdom.

 

[CaptainH00k]

I'm so happy that I'm probably going to have a crane, construction crap, and a half-mangled wand-arm in the background of my Epcot Spaceship Earth entrance photos now.

These guys really need to find better times to do this kind of stuff instead of July through September. Let's try January - March next time gang.

 

[BlindTyldak]

I'm so happy that I'm probably going to have a crane, construction crap, and a half-mangled wand-arm in the background of my Epcot Spaceship Earth entrance photos now.

These guys really need to find better times to do this kind of stuff instead of July through September. Let's try January - March next time gang.

I've been to Disney four times and have never once gotten an unobstructed or undecorated pic of the castle, if it makes you feel any better.

 

[Laura]

that was the whole idea

Yup, and it's such a shame, too.

 

[edcrbnsoul]

I've been to Disney four times and have never once gotten an unobstructed or undecorated pic of the castle, if it makes you feel any better.

Yup 2X in a row on my vacation once to due its most recent paint job and this time for Christmas light installation.

At least when I go in Oct. the wand will be gone!

 

[Laura]

They're closing the ride this Monday? I love this ride - it's a classic. I knew Haunted Mansion would be closed, but I thought SE was closing later in the summer.

That's the word, July 9.

 

[CaptainH00k]

I've been to Disney four times and have never once gotten an unobstructed or undecorated pic of the castle, if it makes you feel any better.

That really stinks. I've been to Epcot before the Arm, Wand and Lettering went up, but I never had a chance to go while it was up there. I was kinda looking forward to it.

I'm not messed up that it's going away. The timing of it all is the sour part.

My girlfriend and I will be there August 4 - August 9. It's her first time ever there and my 3rd.

We've now got the following "semi-downers" so to speak:
- Haunted Mansion closed
- Spaceship Earth closed
- Spaceship Earth photo will be interesting (I wonder how much will be up 30 days from now?)

This isn't all that bad, but still - geez - it's summer! It can wait until after the holidays

 

[poohs_hunny]

It made as much sense as having a giant Figment arm coming out of a window of Cinderellas Castle holding a giant penant that says Magic Kingdom.

Stop! Don't give them any ideas!

 

[H.E. Pennypacker]

I won't miss the wand. Glad to see it go. It turned what was an engineering and architectural marvel into a giant cartoon. Any chance they'll change the word "Epcot" back to "EPCOT", the way Walt envisioned it? That almost irritates me more than the wand. "EPCOT" meant something. "Epcot" is just a meaningless word that a lot of visitors probably don't know used to be an acronym, let alone what the acronym stands for.

And while they're at it, if they'd kindly kick Nemo and Friends out of the Living Seas, I'd be REALLY happy...

 

[teruterubouzu]

Get me a wrench I'll help take that ugly thing down.

Can't wait for views like this again

I can't wait either! I've been reading the wand rumors for quite some time and am so glad this is finally confirmed. The wand would be fine elsewhere, but, in my opinion, it was really incongruous with the theme of EPCOT.

 

[foxfire]

that was the whole idea

But why? That makes no sense to me. The hat location completely dispels the illusion of the 1930's -40's Hollywood era which is what that section of the park is meant to convey. It looks totally out of place at that particular spot but it could fit in nicely elsewhere.

 

[Laura]

But why? That makes no sense to me. The hat location completely dispels the illusion of the 1930's -40's Hollywood era which is what that section of the park is meant to convey. It looks totally out of place at that particular spot but it could fit in nicely elsewhere.

Apparently the folks who own the real Chinese Theater don't like people taking pics in front of a very good fake--licensing/copyright issues, etc. That's what I've heard, anyway. Don't know how true that is; they apparently didn't mind for quite a while. But it may have recently changed owners or something. I don't know.

 

[dameodie]

That's what I had heard - the ownership of the real Chinese theater changed hands, and with it, the rights for Disney to use its likeness in any marketing materials went away. Not sure why they didn't require them to tear the external facade down, maybe there was some kind of compromise.

 

[disneycruise05]

It's so great to see that it's offical.

Maybe they could make it a hard ticket event. Have a whole party celebrating the removal and such. Maybe we could spend an extra $5 bucks (wait...it's Disney...so $25) to take a sledgehammer to the wand. I know that I'll be in that line.

As for that hat, it's nice, but horribly out of place. I could do with it somewhere else on property.