Epcot VP Announces Removal of Mickey Mouse Arm and Wand Structure

[WDWfanatic742]

Reports are that the crane was being set up last night near SSE

The webcam from the swan and dolphin hotel clearly shows the crane next to the wand.

[Electro-Gurl]

ok i am well not happy basically

it wont look right without the hand and the logo.
i mean it is a disney park after all. and its gonan look quite bad wit jus a silly ball there.

unless there gonna put something up for the aniversary

[pshokie]

I am no psychologist or anything, but I think this thread really points out how important our first exposure to something is in determining our opinions of it. What I am getting at is that most of the posters here who say they want the arm/wand to stay had their first visit to Epcot and Spaceship Earth after the arm/wand was in place. On the other hand, most of the posters who say they want it to go had their first visit before the arm/wand went up.

Now don’t get in a lather thinking that I am saying this is an across the board comment because it certainly is not. It is just a comment based on the posters to this thread up to this point. This was just something interesting that I noticed.

I am so sorry the boards were down on Friday. I was out all weekend and could not post on this specific thread, but I have posted on others that were created....

For the record, I am a pro-wand person, and I am sad to see it go.

But I quoted the above because it struck a cord with me..... Reading the entire thread, a couple things struck me.

• As quoted, fIrst visits impact perception. I briefly saw Epcot in the distance in 1988, but I never entered the park (Band trip to MK). My second trip to Epot (first real trip) was in 2001, so I guess that why I am a "wand person". Never truely seen Epcot without it.
• The realization that the wand (in some shape or form) has been up for 8 years (2000-2007). It has been "sans wand" for 17 years(1982-1999). So basically, 1/3 of its lifetime has been with the wand. If you have only seen the Epcot in the last 1/3 of its lifetime....the wand is Epcot to you.
• Lastly, all children under the age of 8 have never seen it in any other form.

I bolded the last part for a simple reason. While I can appreciate that those who have been coming to WDW for years and years and years have never liked the wand, there are others to consider as well. Children. And along that line, I would ask as politely as I can, that people acknowlegde this point of view (even if it is not there own), and tone down some of the close to venom-spitting-glee that the wand is coming down.

There are those that are truely sad about these events.

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest, and I am now off of my wand (and hat ) soapbox.

[JPL]

The Crane has arrived right on Schedule

Check out the Webcam
Epcot Webcam

[DVCWDWMEMBER]

It will be nice to see Spaceship Earth back to the way it was before 2000. When the Arm and Wand were first put on I was not keen on it at all. It has sort of grown on me over the last few years but I will not cry about it.

[battle beast]

Does anyone have pictures of the progress so far?

[JPL]

Since it just started I am going to guess the progrees is minimal. Over the next week we should see more pictures and maybe even video floating around the internet

[BrerSchultzy]

[*] Lastly, all children under the age of 8 have never seen it in any other form.

And I think THAT is a very large part of why so many of the anti-wand people are throwing parties (myself included). Not only have these children grown up knowing only the wand, but they also were deprived of what Epcot used to be...Horizons, World of Motion, Universe of Energy (oil shale, the rock that burns), Original JII, Communicore, Tom Morrow, The Computer Song, Tomorrow's Child, It's Fun to Be Free, Making Memories, Listen to the Land, Kitchen Kabaret, Cranium Command, the Making of Me, the Odyssey....the list could go on and on. Back in the day, Epcot was MORE than an amusement park...it was truly a THEME park...not so much anymore. Now it's no better than a Busch Gardens on steroids.

And to a lot of us, the removal of the wand (and more importantly VP Rex) signifies a desire to go back to EPCOT 89, and away from "Disney's Epcot".

I understand that the wand holds significance for a lot of people....but the removal of the wand holds significance AND promise to those of us that remember EPCOT.

Now...let's all hug and grab a drink!

[Gator]

What a sad day for all the kids who only know the wand.

Now we go back to the boring golf ball. Why not paint it white and have Titlest sponser it. OR cut it in half and call it Half Dome.

What I will experience is true heartbroken tears I'll see from my daughter when she see Mickey's wand now missing.

[BrerSchultzy]

What a sad day for all the kids who only know the wand.

Now we go back to the boring golf ball. Why not paint it white and have Titlest sponser it. OR cut it in half and call it Half Dome.

What I will experience is true heartbroken tears I'll see from my daughter when she see Mickey's wand now missing.

I am sorry that your daughter will be heartbroken over the loss of the wand. But maybe she'll be excited. Maybe you'll love it. Almost everyone who saw Spaceship Earth originally is in awe of it. With the wand, it's just a billboard. Without the wand, it's a symbol. Without the wand, it's an impressive structure (after 25 years, it's still the worlds largest geodescic sphere).

And oh by the way....the wand was always intended to come down. In fact, it was supposed to come down five years ago, but they decided to keep it. If it had stayed, it would have become dangerous, because it was not built to last decades....it was built to last years.

So, what about that hug?

[big blue and hairy]

I am no psychologist or anything, but I think this thread really points out how important our first exposure to something is in determining our opinions of it. What I am getting at is that most of the posters here who say they want the arm/wand to stay had their first visit to Epcot and Spaceship Earth after the arm/wand was in place. On the other hand, most of the posters who say they want it to go had their first visit before the arm/wand went up.

Well, I guess I'm the wierd one (wouldn't be the first time). I saw SSE without the wand at least three of four times before it went up and I like the wand.

I will say though, if it was only meant to be temporary and only built to temporary specs, the only options would be remove it or replace it. Remove it is certainly the cheaper option. I understand the folks who hated the wand and I certainly won't hate it without the wand, but I still like it.

[Golf Grumpy]

i know why they did it, but I do not agree. I loved the arm and sign, they were very nice. but oh well, cooperate rules.

[jean in nh]

I love seeing this icon at Epcot-true, it was not part of the original but MICKEY IS WDW, Epcot included...I will miss seeing the giant hand and wand!!
There should have been a vote by the public before removing such a recognizable and fun "light in the sky!"
Truly bummed, upset, and NOT ok about this!! It almost makes me want to boycott WDW!

[bwgens]

Lets get down to the basics of the discussion. The wand was only meant to be temporary, no different than the Christmas or Halloween decorations really, and it has been allowed to stay for several additional years. Spaceship Earth does not need any "decorations" to inspire awe in the millions of visitors to come. Now, I never really minded the wand being there, I actually liked it for its time. However, I always knew that it was a temporary addition and enjoyed it while it was there. The argument that "children" will be upset that it isn't there doesn't make any sense to me at all. I will grant they may miss the wand, but WDW is an ever-changing place, and I would hope that most adults explain that to their children, because that is one of the most magical parts of WDW.

[mainemajor]

Space Ship Earth
The last time I thought about Earth I thought of a ball shaped object, never did a wand come to mind. The origonal design is beautiful all by itself - just like our world

[garymacd]

Darn! We're going back in September. Where am I going to have a nap now?

['Guest' of the MasterControlProgram]

I just realized something. So, my girlfriend and I first went to WDW together in January 2002. I think it was the 100 Years celebration. It definately was when we went back in September of that year. I made sure to bring a vcr in September to tape the WDW channel's "World Tour" and I think it was the same as it was in January. By the end of February 2003 (back again!) they were changing it and by November 2003 (back again squared!) they had the "top ten" format instead. Okay, so does anyone remember the World Tour? I imported it into iMovie and took a look at ... the Epcot segment opens with a point of view of riding in the front seat of the monorail around SSE w/o the wand! But by that point, the y2k celebration that ushered in the wand was over. But it was too much trouble it seems to update the stock footage! Guess they planned on taking down the wand "real soon" ... just didn't.

I am in the "never seen SSE w/o wand" camp. Perhaps it would not have been too bad if the temporary nature stayed true... but the wand lingered. I realized that SSE was not pure w/ the wand bumping up against it. I wished I could get a picture of SSE free and clear. It wasn't all bad having the wand there ... for a while. But of course it would have to go. And it didn't. And I still took pictures of SSE ... and lost my one really decent one at night all lit up when a hard drive died. Now I feel I am going to miss is. I won't be able to get the same shot when we go back this coming October. I will, however, finally get to see SSE the way I always wondered about from afar, in my mind trying to imagine being there in the 80s & 90s... the way "archive" pictures showed SSE. The wand was there for our last trip (when we got married) and now it'll be different. Kinda like missing Tarzan Rocks simply b/c its gone (btw, we loved it ... no ... we still love it as it lives in our memories and in Tokyo I hear).

So am I glad its gone or bemoan the removal? I'm torn. Wishing that it'd be there when we check in, then gone before we check out ... that's a wish dreams just ain't gonna bring true no matter what that wooden puppet lovin' insect says. We only went to MK on our first trip and as I child there was no Epcot so I knew our short trip that had us here there and (not quite) everywhere was incomplete ... but I didn't realize what I might be missing until the day we left Orlando and in the morning found this "boardwalk" place my girlfriend had heard about and discovered Int'l Gateway. I just had to see what was on the other side of those turnstyles. Yeah, its neat how the Contemporary is close to MK, but the setup of the Epcot resorts ... wow! And when we went back I fell in love with Epcot. That's Epcot with the wand. Horizons was already gone, so Mission:Space only added to the package. I will miss WoL. It's that change thing that's been mentioned. That last trip... we ate at Alfredo's on our honeymoon along with our family that made it there for the ceremony. I'll miss Alferdo's. The new place may be similar or even better ... but it'll be different.

Too bad about LaL. We had our pictures taken after the wedding. At least we'll have that. But I wanted the family coming with us for the big trip in October to get engravings too. I understand that it wasn't going to be forever, like the Walk Around the World. So something else will replace it. Likely not in time for our trip, but maybe another time. I never saw the entrance to Epcot any other way than w/ LaL. But I welcome the movement (not removal) to another place. Something not likely to be done with those WaW stones. Then we can find our LaL pictures at the new location.

Seems to me that the wand stayed around too long. It'd be easier to see it go if it went sooner. Like 2003 or early 2004 - at the latest. If it were gone by our January 2006 wedding at WDW, then I might not have too much tugging at my heart strings about it going away, even though I sorta wanted it gone. Our daughter will never have seen SSE any other way than the original look sans wand, so it's all moot for her.

[WDWfanatic742]

Pictures in the park just show that the construction walls are up and nothing much. This morning from the Swan and Dolphin Hotels cam the crane was not where it was yesterday, and by 6:30 it was back to it's original state and down out of the way. Whether or not anything happened, remains to be seen because you can't see much from those camera's.

[Stu29573]

I am sorry that your daughter will be heartbroken over the loss of the wand. But maybe she'll be excited. Maybe you'll love it. Almost everyone who saw Spaceship Earth originally is in awe of it. With the wand, it's just a billboard. Without the wand, it's a symbol. Without the wand, it's an impressive structure (after 25 years, it's still the worlds largest geodescic sphere).

SSE looks MUCH larger without the wand and hand. They really throw off the perspective...

[GothMickey]

I wish the wand would disappear over night but that won't be the case. Wand removal will probably takes several weeks though.