posted by Scott Powers The transformation of Walt Disney World’s third theme park into Disney’s Hollywood Studios already is visible though the park does not officially drop its old name Disney-MGM Studios until next Monday and the full transition should take months to complete. Some signs with the old name already have been taken down or painted over, including the one featuring the MGM lion trademark and Mickey Mouse (left) that adorned the archway (right) between the park’s central courtyard and the Animation Courtyard. The Mickey ears water tower, essentially the park’s road sign for traffic approaching from the south, also was painted over last week. New park maps and merchandise with the new logo should start appearing within a few days, a Disney spokesman said. New Disney’s Hollywood Studios signs should start going up Wednesday on and around the property, but some, including the water tower and the archway, will take weeks to complete. Across the resort, nearly 500 signs need to be changed, including more than 200 inside the Studios park. Others range from bus stop signs to medallion signs. Disney announced the name change in August, saying the new name will better reflect the company’s determination to create a broader, updated image for the park, which opened in 1989. The change also, however, ends a rocky, litigious partnership that had developed between Disney and the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. film company. The park’s new logo dumps MGM’s lion with Mickey Mouse, and replaces it with the torso, arms and head of Mickey Mouse, who is holding a filmmaker’s clapboard amid simple, brown lettering that gives the whole thing a retro-Hollywood look.
I wonder if any of MGM souvenirs will become valuable. ; I stocked up on a few pins when we were there. ; Sean bought a shot glass and we have all kinds of pictures of MGM studios.
New name. Still my favorite park. When we were there in Aug '05 I was in the Indiana Jones Stunt show. Lots of fun.
