The Removal of the Sorcerers Hat

So today I thought I would discuss my thoughts on the removal of the Sorcerer's hat at Disney's Hollywood Studios. I do have memories of a hat-less Hollywood Boulevard, and memories of when I saw the hat for the first time. I thought, "Finally MGM has a real icon!" I thought the park icon should be front and center like the Tree of Life, Spaceship Earth, and Cinderella Castle.
 
I knew the water tower was the icon, but to me the icon should be seen from any part of the park, and you could only see The Earful Tower from the Backlot Tour and some areas in the distance. It wasn't until I started going to Disney message boards that I even realized people didn't like the hat. They brought up good points that I hadn't really thought about.

First of all, it disrupts the theme. Hollywood Boulevard really does feel like you're going downtown in California. The hat at the end of the street kills that as everything on Hollywood Boulevard is a replica of buildings in Hollywood and various other places. There's a great article about this at yesterland.com called "Real Buildings That Inspired MGM Studios." It's six parts and shows how many of the facades, fountains, and stores are inspired by real buildings and such. That's why The Chinese Theater at the end of the street fits in so well, being that it's a replica. You have to appreciate how much thought is put into these facades, like most areas of Disney, when most guests likely do not give a second thought about what these buildings are.

Secondly, it kind of looks like a giant parking cone. Once that was pointed out, I couldn't stop seeing it as a big cone with stars on it. Finally, the area underneath the hat originally had kiosks underneath it with facts about Walt Disney. That evolved into One Man's Dream in a new location, turning the area below the hat into a generic pin store. I think that was a bad decision and added another level of  tackiness to the hat.

Obviously the hat needs to go from its current spot, but I think the park still needs an icon. Maybe one that's outside the park gates so that it doesn't intrude on the carefully thought out layout. The Earful Tower was mainly seen from the Backlot Tour and with that closing, we won't have any way to get a good view of it. I think they could make a better, more permanent looking and less parking cone-like hat outside the park. Or something entirely different. My only question left is- will the giant hidden Mickey in the middle of the hub be restored?

What do you think of the removal of The Sorcerer's Hat? Do you think it should be moved to a new location of the park? Do you think the park needs a new icon? Comment below!