Why does nobody like the hat??

[honeydiane1953]

I love the hat. It's a movie prop and beautiful at that!!

 

[KellyNY]

I would imagine if they did not have rights for an open view of (I'm assuming) the theater, this would have been addressed before the park opened in 1989. Not more than a decade after the park was opened. Unless of course, Disney lost such rights. But we'd all be well aware of that today.

I do not really remember details but I think their rights actually expired and this is why they had to do it.

 

[GBBTomorrow]

Not much more needs to be said as to why people shouldn't like the hat, but I'll elaborate anyway....and then I'll rant.

First let me ask, who wouldn't like a Sorcerer Mickey hat? A classic from an incredible piece of Disney animation. What is not to like is the placement, the purpose, and what it does to the Studios experience. Bottom line is that the hat has very little to do with Hollywood, the focus of the park.

Harken back to a day before 2001, if you will. You enter the Studios (I don't care if you call it MGM or Disney's Hollywood), and you are drawn down Hollywood Boulevard, past the buidlings and billboards appropriate to the time and theme (50's Hollywood), all the while beckoned by Grauman's Chinese Theatre in the distance. Enter the couryard in front of that wonderful re-creation of that historic Hollywood icon and your ears are filled with the sounds of classic Hollywood movie music. All of that helps to take you out of the central Florida swamp and put you squarely in the middle of 50's Hollywood. It was such a pleasant experience, and exactly the experience that Walt Disney himself would have wanted for the Studios. Post Walt managment actually got this aspect of the Studios very much right. Grauman's Theatre is to the Studios what Cindarella Castle is to the MK. Hollywood Boulevard is the equivalent of Main Street USA. It was all done the way it was for a reason, reason born from Walt Disney himself.

Then comes the hat. Again, I like hat's, just not this one, in this location. Tell me how it improved on the pre-hat experience you just had. Gone is the central theming, the weenie that completes the atmosphere. Not only is the Theatre gone (blocked), but so is much of the music, and with it the mood.

That is reason enough not to like the hat.

Now let me rail.......about what the hat represents to me. The hat replaced (blocked) one of the best things in the park. It ruined the theme and atmosphere. And for what? To celebrate 100 years? If that is what they wanted they could have put it somewhere else, or gotten rid of it after the celebration. No, the hat has become a nothing more than in icon to trinket sales and cross promotion. The wonderful atmosphere that once existed was replaced by a gaudy hat that does nothing more than sell merchandise, and provide a back drop for whatever the latest Disney Channel show or movie is that they can blare music at you from.

So I say.....Booo to the Big Ugly Hat!

'
I agree with your elaboration and with your rant. The thing I love about the Studios is that feeling that I just stepped into a movie. The theme is what makes the place so special, and the hat diminishes that theme. It doesn't match. It's a cool structure....would look great in the Animation Courtyard...but ultimately it's just a shop, and not even a cool or unique shop, just a place to buy pins. A pin station as an icon does not seem sufficient to me.

 

[MouseEarsForAll]

I loved the hat! People on DIS will complain about water being wet.

That should be a tag. Where is the tag fairy when you need her? That pretty much sums up the DIS.

 

[Fantasmiss]

Not much more needs to be said as to why people shouldn't like the hat

Thanks for tellng me what I "should" like or not. : /

 

[jenjie]

Did you like the pink birthday cake on the castle too?

That pink birthday cake was my first sighting of the castle. And it just didn't sit right with me.

 

[TunaSled]

Well, it's true that it's not pointless. There's a great big point right at the top of it.

Nice.

Wow... 8 pages of hat debate. Just like the old days...

And every year since the old days

 

[Mickeynutty]

As ghtx alluded to in his post, it's not the hat per se as much as where it is located. When Disney MGM Studios first opened there was pretty much a clear view all the way down Hollywood Blvd to the Chinese Theatre that houses the Great Movie Ride. This gave the entire "main street" the cohesive theming to the heyday of 20's and 30's Hollywood. With the introduction of the BAH, this site line was interrupted, and to many of us, destroyed the whole art deco feel of the park. And in fact, when the park first opened, it was not the hat that was the park icon (since it didn't exist). It was the earful tower- the water tower that you see off to the side of the park.

We don't really hate the hat. We just hate where the hat is at.

This is EXACTLY how my husband and I feel. MGM has always been my fav park, but I still wish the sight line had not been destroyed by the hat!!

 

[monkyby87]

I'm fairly young (25), but I remember when the hat wasn't there and the ear water tower was kind of the icon, in addition to the theater. Now the water tower seems all but abandoned. I guess the big hat was Disney's way of making it known that the park was now a true Disney park and not an MGM park. Oh the days when it was MGM Studios, when the backlot tour was worth doing...

 

[nansmama]

People resist change and that's why they don't like the hat. For many of us who never visited until after the hat was built, we don't know any better but to accept the hat. Personally, I think the hat is cool. If it blocks the Great Movie Ride, even cooler. That ride is one of my least faves.

ALL HAIL THE HAT.

 

[MissMouseInTheHouse2]

I like the hat a lot! However, I do wish that it didn't block Great Movie Rise/ "Chinese Theatre". I've gotten some great pictures of both structures though, and I don't wish for either of them to be gone

 

[cymbaldiva]

I'm new to the boards but i have been a lurker for a while and i see posts about the hat. Posts saying how it's ''Pathetic'' and ''Pointless''. Now i know it isn't as big as the others but it is still a great structure. If someone showed me that hat i would imeidiatly think of DHS. Just like evertime i see a golf ball i think ''EPCOT''

I hate the hat because it's ugly and blocks what was formerly a beautiful view. The fact that the view was destroyed for a pin shack only adds insult to injury.

You say you're new, so I'll let the golf ball comment slide.


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[Planogirl]

One problem I have with the theater being the main focus of Hollywood Studios is that the ride contained within it is very mediocre. The Great Movie ride really needs some help. Whether it's a refurb, replacement, or something else entirely. If the hat wasn't there I think there would be a bigger expectations of The Great Movie ride, and a lot of let down visitors IMO.

I like the hat, but as I've said before, I don't know any different so I can't compare it to the days without it.

Dan

I think that a pin shop is even more mediocre than the Great Movie Ride but of course it might be because we have no interest in pins.

 

[FantasiaMagic]

I LOVE the hat! It has a special place in my heart. Fantasia is such a great movie and was a big milestone for The Walt Disney Company. The hat is one of the great symbols representing what makes Walt Disney World wonderful!

 

[Reddog1134]

If I'm reading the info correctly, only buildings constructed AFTER December 1st 1990 have architectural copyrights.

Since Graumanns was built in 1926, no one would have a claim on it's look or design. So the assumption that Disney had to block the view would be false.

However, I'm not a copyright lawyer so if anyone here is an expert, please chime in.

http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ41.pdf

 

[DisneyKidds]

I LOVE the hat! It has a special place in my heart. Fantasia is such a great movie and was a big milestone for The Walt Disney Company. The hat is one of the great symbols representing what makes Walt Disney World wonderful!

I think anything to do with Sorcerer Mickey deserves a special place in any Disney fans heart, and Fantasia is an incredible piece of art. I agree with you on that.

With that agreement, I hope you don't mind if I ask a question. Please, don't take offense, as none is intended. My question is, have you read much about the history of Walt Disney, and the development of Disneyland and The Florida Project? If you have, we must meet up on the debate board and discuss further. If you haven't, it really is fascinating to look at the history of how Disney was born, and how it has evolved over the years.

To me, there is sooo much that makes Walt Disney World wonderful, and the hat, to me, is not one of them. If anything, that insipid giant marketing icon serves to counter what it is that I believe made/makes the Disney parks wonderful. Of course, everyone is entitled to believe something different.

 

[DisneyFive]

I think that a pin shop is even more mediocre than the Great Movie Ride but of course it might be because we have no interest in pins.

Yeah, we don't do any pin trading either, so the only use we have underneath the hat is for some shade. ...but I do love the hat.

Dan

 

[GrumpyBelle]

Personally I like the hat. Whenever I see it, I think DHS.

 

[mjallemand]

That's what you should see upon entering the park, not the tacky hat.

 

[ocean134]

I honestly had no opinion on the Hat until I read that others did. I frankly still have no opinion, I neither love or hate it. One of my favorite family photos was taken in front of the hat. Guess I'm a Hat 'ok-er'?