Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>Those seem like logical ideas, but you don't need to remove the park's central icon to do those things. I get the feeling they're about to do a DCA style makeover.<< The park has been in need of a DCA style makeover for many years, but it's gotten especially bad in the last couple years. I suspect that whatever gets added (it could easily be 2-3 new 'lands') will be on the DCA-level of detail, and hopefully will give the park some purpose again. Especially with so many attractions being closed (and LMA's days being numbered, by all accounts) it's going to be a rough few years to get through the transition As for the hat, it's been my understanding that WDI has been actively trying to remove it for several years; one Imagineer said at a D23 event in 2009 that they were doing everything they could to get rid of it. I imagine that the bigger project gave them the budget to do it, and removing it will allow the park to get a new (or old) icon to help quickly reflect that big changes have happened, much like the Carthay Circle or "Big Brother" Mickey ferris wheel at DCA
Originally Posted By FerretAfros FWIW, I just checked Facebook and it shows the Sorcerer's Hat as being one of the trending topics, along with Hannah Graham and yesterday's school shooting in Washington. Despite Disney not putting out a press release, it seems like this has caught on quickly!
Originally Posted By RoadTrip It is the one park icon that I will be VERY HAPPY to see go. It completely changed the feel of Hollywood Boulevard, and in way the entire park. It was kind of like announcing "Never mind... this park isn't really about movie making after all." On a semi-related note: On a thread about The Hat on Facebook, one moronic (in my opinion) person wondered how Disney can tear down a beautiful icon like The Hat while letting "the golf ball" at Epcot continue to stand... after all, it doesn't even LOOK like a SPACESHIP. SMDH
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt I've never seen The Hat in person. That's just how long it's been since I've been to DHS.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip The hat itself isn't bad. The location was horrible. Internet speculation at the time was that Disney could not come to an agreement with MGM on continued use of the films. The thought was Disney put the Hat up in anticipation of the removal of the Great Movie Ride. It was about that time Disney took "MGM" out of the park's name.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>On a thread about The Hat on Facebook, one moronic (in my opinion) person wondered how Disney can tear down a beautiful icon like The Hat while letting "the golf ball" at Epcot continue to stand... after all, it doesn't even LOOK like a SPACESHIP.<< Yep. People will have every opinion imaginable. Although everybody on fansites pretty much hates the hat, the general public kind of likes it. It's one of those "groupthink" situations. But among many other reasons, SSE shouldn't be removed because that would mean taking out the ride; the hat is a simple structure with nothing in it (other than the pin/hat store at its base)
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>The location was horrible. Internet speculation at the time was that Disney could not come to an agreement with MGM on continued use of the films.<< That always confused me, since the original theater had no ties to MGM, other than having shown some of its movies there (as well as plenty of movies from other studios). Additionally, copyright laws put the original Chinese Theater's design into public domain, so Disney was free to use it however they wanted >>The thought was Disney put the Hat up in anticipation of the removal of the Great Movie Ride.<< Interesting; I've only begun to hear rumbles of GMR's removal more recently (though it's not currently in danger), but I wasn't really tuned in during the early 00's >>It was about that time Disney took "MGM" out of the park's name.<< The Hat was installed in late 2001 for the celebration of Walt's 100th birthday, but the name change wasn't until 2008. However, it did seem to signal a shift in what they wanted the park to be, as it was around the same time that the park lost the tight focus on filmmaking and started to become more of a catch-all for things that didn't quite fit anywhere else. Hopefully whatever the coming changes are will help the park gain a new focus
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORDDU: About a year and a half ago, I think, my sisters and I created a post about the removal of the hat. A cast member friend of ours who works at DHS informed us that the hat was supposed to have been gone by now. Then, when it didn't happen, our cast member friend was frustrated because his supervisor had assured his entire team back stage that the hat was to be removed soon. ORWEN: Well, it was just a rumor at the time. But at least it's finally happening.
Originally Posted By mrkthompsn I remember the park icon wasn't the Chinese Theater. It was the Earful Tower.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORDDU: This park's icon has changed a couple of times over the years. At one point it was, indeed, the earful Tower.
Originally Posted By dagobert I think that the water tower is the perfect park icon for a studios park. Everyone knows the Warner Bros. or Disney Lots in Burank with the water towers. If I'm not mistaken Paramount also has a water tower. At DHS they should have put it in a more prominent area, like at WDSP, where it sits near the entrance. Is the water tower at DCA still there?
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I agree that the water tower is a good icon, but it's in a bad location. It used to be much more visible from the tram tour, but its visibility decreased as the length of the tour decreased; now there are only a couple spots inside the park that you can see it from. It also used to be more visible from World Dr, but the trees have grown enough that they block most of the view I think that DCA's tower is still there as well, but it's similarly hard to see especially with all of the Mad T Party junk they've had back there for a couple years now. I believe that it was also placed near the edge of the park to serve as a weenie from the Harbor Blvd drop-off area, but similar to the WDW tower, it's become blocked as the bushes have grown in. If DCA's backlot ever gets a proper redo into a full-fledged Hollywood area (rather than faux film sets), I would expect that the water tower would be removed
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORDDU: My sisters and I prefer something more original for a park icon than a water tower. Why copy some other studio's icon when you're a company already known for being more original?
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt How are you supposed to stand in front of a water tower for pictures? Let's see... there's a castle, the world's first geodesic sphere, the world's largest artificial tree... and a water tower?? Disney may have intended for the Earful Tower to be the park's icon, but not only is it impossible to get close to, it isn't a particularly charming structure or remarkable. I hate The Hat, but at least it made for a unique photo op.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>...it isn't a particularly charming structure or remarkable.<< Well it does have those giant ears on it. Whether that makes it charming is up for debate, but it certainly doesn't look like any normal water tower that I've ever seen
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance I agree that not being able to snap family pictures in front of Water Tower will limit it's ability to be the park's "icon", though I guess the same could be said for DCA's Grizzly Peak, and perhaps why it never really caught on as DCA's park icon. And regardless of how charming the water tower is, it's still just a water tower.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>...though I guess the same could be said for DCA's Grizzly Peak, and perhaps why it never really caught on as DCA's park icon.<< I think that one is more due to its angle within the park. It's visible from several places, but they're all fairly deep within the park so you're not as focused on a family photo at that moment. They used to station PhotoPass photographers at the waterfall along the parade route, which would include the bear in the background, but I think they stopped doing that a few years ago when the foliage began to really cover it up I'm also not sure if Grizzly Peak was ever truly intended to be the park's icon; from what I could tell, that was the sun and its various incarnations through the park. The most obvious were the Sun Icon in the front of the park and the Sun Wheel in Paradise Pier, but there's also the eternal sunset at the end of the street in the Backlot, the various suns in Eureka!, and a 3D sun incorporated into the Golden Dreams mural for the Golden State district; each district of the park had its own version of the sun. It's more abstract than other park icons, but it was one of the few clever design themes that ran throughout the entire park
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>My sisters and I prefer something more original for a park icon than a water tower. Why copy some other studio's icon when you're a company already known for being more original?<<< I wouldn't say that Disney is copying other studio's icons. In Burbank Disney has its own tower and so it's part of Disney. The tower structure isn't beautiful, but for me a water tower is an integral part of a film studio. At DHS they can't put it in a more prominent location, since most of the park doesn't look like a studio. In Paris the entrance area resembles a movie studio from the 30s and so the water tower fits perfectly. And it can be seen from the resort hub. It's a landmark, but I think WDSO's icon is the ToT, because it's right in the middle of the park.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros The Disney Studios in Burbank do have a water tower, but interestingly it doesn't have the giant mouse ears on top. I guess they were added when the theme park was being designed; it's kind of interesting since everybody now assumes that the original water tower looks like that too <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.disneydispatch.com/content/columns/its-all-in-a-nametag/2011/12-magical-mystery-nametag-tour/tower.jpg">http://www.disneydispatch.com/...ower.jpg</a> However, if they change the theme from a backlot/working studio to individual lands themed to specific movies, I'm not sure that the water tower would make a lot of sense. Unless they can find a movie that celebrates everything Hollywood (The Artist and Sunset Boulevard both come to mind, but neither would make great locations), I'm not sure that the water tower would make a lot of sense any more. I'm really curious to see what direction they're planning to take with the park and how it turns out; although I'm sure franchise-land would be popular when it first opened, I have to wonder about its staying power
Originally Posted By mrkthompsn The funny thing about the Warner Bros. water tower is that it's not even owned by them. It's a small plot of government utility land surrounded by their studio property. The utility just let them use it for branding their company.
