Give it up, Bob!  I know.  I know.  The hat’s nearly gone.  Or, gone already, as far as I know.  I haven’t scanned through pics on Twitter and Facebook in a few days.

I can’t help it, my friends.  I just think that Fantasia and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice are vintage Disney.  That hat, as commercial as it was, is vintage Disney.  Or, it was, at least.

Sigh.  Evidently, I’m very much in the minority.  Most fans seem to be glad to see it gone.

Allears.net still says on their site that the hat “… follows Disney’s icon[ic] tradition of Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom, Spaceship Earth at Epcot and The Tree of Life at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.”

I’m sure they’ll amend that web page at some point, but I don’t see anyone proposing the demolition of the castle and the big, silver “golf ball”.  Hey!  They’re “sprucing” up the Animal Kingdom’s tree.

Of course, the Sorcerer’s Hat held no architectural comparison to the three much-larger park icons, but it begs the question … did Disney’s Hollywood Studios ever really have a park icon?

Was the Earffel Tower really an “icon”, per se?  It is generally accepted as the hat’s predecessor.

It “lives” out on the back lot, however.  You know, the place where the Studio Backlot Tour used to do business?  If it didn’t serve a functional use as a water tower, would it get shut down next?

Or, how about the Chinese Theater?  Sure, it houses the The Great Movie Ride, but, assuming that attraction survives Disney’s re-imagination of the park, can the building, itself, really be named an “icon”?

How about the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror?  We absolutely love it, eh?  We just, a few days ago, re-elected it as the All in WDW Readers’ Favorite Hollywood Studios Attraction.

Is it an “icon” on the par with the castle, though?  Does it “stand up” to Spaceship Earth?  Can it represent an entire park?

The vast majority of fans expect Disney to announce a Star Wars Land and a Pixar Place sometime in the future.  Will either of those “lands” come with some new, gigantic “iconic” figure?

Will the park be adorned with a not-so-life-sized Death Star?  Will Disney build enormous statues of Buzz and Woody?  I guess we’ll have to wait and see.  Boy, this park really is in transition.

While we wait to see what Disney has in mind for the park-yet-to-be-renamed’s future, let’s get back to the hat.  For old times sake, let’s give the sorcerer’s headwear one more bit of “love”.

Let’s reminisce with one last shot of trivia … it’s long gone (no, it’s not), but do you remember how the hat was decorated?

Which one of these descriptions fit best?  The Sorcerer’s Hat is adorned with …