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Why the wand must go

Jeff Pepper at 2719 Hyperion sums up my feelings on the wand and the controversy surrounding it exactly:

I am somewhat incredulous at the notion of people who, in defending the infamous Mickey hand and wand that has adorned Spaceship Earth at Epcot all these recent years, take to task those who were generally in favor of its removal. This tactic, to label those who disliked the structure as crazy, out-of-touch purists is a bit extreme and very much misrepresents many who have articulated sound, rational and educated opinions on the matter.

To begin with, let me just say that I never hated the Wand. It was an eye-catching, festive adornment that enhanced Epcot’s position as the center point of Walt Disney World’s Millennium Celebration. It had a New Years Eve party style to it that directly related to the festivities it represented. I viewed it in the same manner that I viewed the birthday caked-themed Cinderella castle back in 1996—a fun, short term bit of whimsy. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Read more of this excellent article.

Btw, I will point out that I had the news of the eventual wand removal all the way back in January.

6 thoughts on “Why the wand must go”

  1. I’m relatively new to the joys of Disney, but am familiar with the wand and its controversy… “purist” slant or not…

    In any regard, I found the wand to be in line with something that Walt himself was often quick to remind everyone (and I’m paraphrasing): “Remember, it was all started by a mouse.”

    In that sense, the wand could have stayed for 100 more years, or could go this week, but in the sense of that quote it did belong, though the park certainly does benefit from the new sense of potential retrenching that its removal may signify…

  2. Epcot (I wish it was still EPCOT Center) is not the Magic Kingdom. It is possible to have four theme parks (six, counting the water parks), have them all be “Disney”, and not have them be each other. It’s not like I want Disney characters out of Epcot. I just want Epcot to be EPCOT Center and not the Magic Kingdom, Disney-MGM Studios, or Animal Kingdom. It has two major themes… the future and world culture. Is that too hard to focus on?

  3. Well, Ken, Epcot STILL focuses on those two major themes, even if you don’t get it. And it’s still Epcot, even though the word “Center” was dropped from the name.

    And it is still different from the other parks. They’ve never tried to be each other and never will. Just because they change attractions doesn’t mean they’re trying to imitate another park–they’re just trying to make it more accessible to entire families and make it better.

    And putting too much focus on certain little things (like a park’s name) gets annoying.

    Times change, you know.

    And JoAnne, the cake and wand weren’t ugly.

  4. KINGCRAB, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, even at WDW…but then, maybe I am a purist..

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