Walt Disney World this week brought back its Epcot entrance fountain sculpture, to the delight of old-school Epcot fans. That got me thinking about what other long-gone theme park icons fans most would like to see return.
I'm not talking about rides, shows, restaurants or other locations here. I'm talking about relatively small things, like those three clear pylons in Epcot's fountain. So individuals signs, sculptures, statues, topiaries, etc. would count here - something a park could bring back to please fans without breaking the bank. Maybe individual food items or souvenirs, too.
Ideas?
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The Wand at Epcot and the Hat at Hollywood Studios.
I'll show myself out.
What about bringing back the California in Disney’s California Adventure?
-Disneyland’s Tomorrowland’s french fry rocks
-Cinderella castle 25th anniversary special edition: candy
-How the great movie ride was originally the park icon of Hollywood studios then it was the hat and then the hat left so it went to tower of terror and not back to the Chinese movie theatre
- Cinderella castle special edition: Muppets
Recently Kings Island renovated its International Street, which brought new seating areas as well as new pavers and touched-up buildings.
They also changed the Royal Fountain so that it can "dance". While a nice thought the change apparently required the removal of the iconic big blue pedestals that sat along the center of the fountain. Along with the jets shooting into the sky the pedestals would have big waterfalls pouring off the sides. The entire scene was one of the grandest entrances to a park anywhere. The new fountain, while nice in its way, just isn't the same with its smaller, thinner jets.
It will be a long while but I hope someday soon the park comes to its senses and makes the Royal Fountain truly "royal" again.
The mimes at the Seaworld shows
SeaWorld Orlando still has a mime before the Clyde & Seamore shows. Thankfully that is one thing that hasn't been cut yet.
Orange Bird and the original Sunshine Tree Terrace in Adventureland at WDW ... complete with the original orange swirls. They were one of the highlights of a trip there when I was a kid ... the Dole whips just aren’t the same.
Edited to add that a further search on the Disney page implied that the citrus swirls ARE currently available. Hope they keep them! So I guess I just want more Orange Bird now :-)
Although I wouldn't call it iconic, I will never forgive Cedar Fair for what they did to Carowinds entrance. Leave it to Cedar Fair to take a nice looking antebellum area and bulldoze the whole thing just to replace it with a massive open area with a roller coaster on top. I get what they were going for but they could have at least put some effort into it with more trees, better landscaping, making the buildings more ornate....nope....bulldoze the whole area and make the entrance look like a prison. It's like they said "Well it looks good at Cedar Point so we'll just do the exact same thing at Carowinds" with no thought to anything else.
Completely agree about Carowinds. That entrance plaza is so uninviting and sterile.
Do not ... Mock ... The hat!
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The entrance to Six Flags over Georgia used to be through a beautiful garden with planter beds, and water fountains. The point where you passed through the turnstiles was graced by a collection of classic columns and more fountains. In the late 90's the entrance was reworked to provide a quasi Main Street entrance that I just never feel worked quite as well. Some of the columns remain, but they are hidden behind a clumsy gazebo. There are still some fountains, but not like what was once there.
As far as an iconic food offering, SFOG and SFOT both featured a frozen sherbet treat called a Cherry-Berry at SFOG and the Pink Thing at SFOT. They were a raspberry/cherry novelty and the plastic stick included a hidden surprise. They probably taste better in my memory, but I think many guests from the early yeas would love to have one for old times sake.