Just as many people loved the hat as hate it. I for one am one of those that feel really sad to see it go
. It added something to the park, it is one of the most recognizable feature to the park. Like the tree of life etc. I mean is nothing sacred anymore.....whats up with all the changes. Disney is more than trying to capitalize on the newest thing you know. It's about parents wanting to share the things they remember from their childhood visits to the park. It's about tradition. New things are great but not at the expense of the classics!!
I can certainly understand why you may feel the way that you do, but a few things need to be clarified. First and foremost, the hat was never a "classic". What was a classic and always intended to be the focal point of the view down Hollywood Blvd is the Chinese Movie Theater. By removing the hat, which obstructed this view and disrupted the intended theme of the area, Disney would be - for once - returning to a "classic". I wish they would take this same stance with Imagination over in EPCOT.
There are a core group of Disney fanatics, who love the experience old and new......we contribute thousands of dollars each year to Disney (my family alone goes every year, at an average of 5000K). What about us....we represent Disneys bread and butter.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your $5K/year to Disney's coffers doesn't mean a hill of beans. Now what
would mean something is that if you and a boatload of other disgruntled customers voted with their pocketbooks and decided to stop rewarding Disney for "bad behavior" and decided to spend your vacation dollars elsewhere. Unfortunately, history tells us that's not going to happen over the removal of the hat. It didn't happen with 20K Leagues, it didn't happen with Horizons, it didn't happen with Imagination and it won't with Maelstrom, either. Unfortunately, Disney has a monopoly on, well... Disney. They often make decisions that upset a great number of people, but seldom do these decisions drive us Disney-crazed guests to spend our hard-earned vacation dollars elsewhere. Instead, we vent on these forums, hoot and holler like we're really steamed off, then vacation there anyways because that's precisely what we like to do regardless. If you really want to effect change, you're going to need to vote with your pocketbook and hope that a number of other consumers do, too for the very same reason. Then, and only then, will Disney begin to listen. Don't start holding your breath now, or you may turn the very color of the hat that is disappearing...
Also for those of you who like the new view of the chinese theater.......I have it on VERY good authority that it is also being removed to make way for the star wars expansion.
While I wouldn't rule this out, I'll believe it when I see it...