Every Disney World park has its own unique icon. EPCOT is Spaceship Earth, Animal Kingdom is The Tree of Life (which we recently reported is dying. You can read that story here), and Magic Kingdom is Cinderella Castle. What is the Hollywood Studios icon? Technically Tower of Terror, however, that will soon change for the better.
In 2001, Disney debuted Mickey’s Sorcerer’s Hat as the icon for Hollywood Studios. They built it for the 100 Years of Magic Celebration, which celebrated the 100th anniversary of the birth of Walt Disney. However, to the disappointment of many, the famous Sorcerer’s Hat was removed from the park in 2015 with little explanation from Disney. Once the hat was removed, the Earful Tower became the new park icon, but only for a year, as that was destroyed in 2015.
Much like the other park icons, it sat at the center of the park and was one of the first things guests see when they walk in. It had an incredible impact and towered over the park at 122 feet tall. The Sorcerer’s Hat was truly iconic to Hollywood Studios and was such a sight for sore eyes when you entered the park and walked down Hollywood Boulevard.
Disney just announced they will be bringing back the Sorcerer’s Hat for the Walt Disney Company 100th Anniversary, which starts on January 1, 2023. This celebration is also known as Disney 100 Years of Wonder. According to an internal source, the hat was removed in pieces, with the intent on easily reconstructing it in 2023 for this 100th anniversary. Needless to say, Disney is always one step ahead.
The new construction will break ground in the next week and Disney is hoping to have the hat fully constructed by January 1, 2023. This gives them just under 2 months to fully assemble the hat. It is a tight time frame, but deferring projects like the Tron Lightcycle Coaster until 2024, which we reported on here, helps allot resources to projects like this.
We are extremely excited for the return of the hat. Finally Hollywood Studios will have a notable icon in the middle of the park again. There is no word on how long the hat will be around for, but we expect a few years at least. It is great to see Disney returning to some of the nostalgic pieces in their parks that everyone loves. Are you excited for the Sorcerer’s Hat to return to Hollywood Studios in 2023?
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Really bummed that it is now April 2023 and the sorcerer’s hat never came back.
Big shame. Maybe one day
How has the public response been to the announcement of the Sorcerer’s Hat’s return?