Hooray for Hollywood (Part 6): Hats, Tributes, and Movie-Making Magic



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Hey everyone and welcome to the Where In The Park Podcast. This is Amanda, and today, we are finishing our Hooray for Hollywood series! This 6-part series looked at the entire stretch of Hollywood Boulevard at Universal Studios Florida, stopping at each building and discovering its real-world connections to Hollywood, California. Today, we are wrapping up this series by learning more about the Brown Derby Hat Shop, Wicked: The Experience, and the Universal Studios Store.

Now, before we get started, if you missed parts 1-5 in our Hooray for Hollywood series, we highly recommend going back and checking those episodes out, as it will really help lay the groundwork here.

Hooray for Hollywood (Part 1): The Opening Credits - Cafés, Clubs, and Quiet Tributes
Hooray for Hollywood (Part 2): Facades, Film Stars & Forgotten Storefronts
Hooray for Hollywood (Part 3): Food, Film, and Facade Finales
Hooray for Hollywood (Part 4): Shakes, Shops, and Shutterbugs
Hooray for Hollywood (Part 5): Studios, Sodas, and Sunset Glamour

 

The Brown Derby Hat Shop

You can’t miss the Brown Derby Hat Shop – it’s the large brown building with the front entrance in the shape of a Bowler Hat! Here, when they are open, they sell hats (of course), but you might also find toys, plushies, backpacks, and even park essentials like sunscreen and baby supplies. As we are recording this, it is currently a discount shop for Team Members and Annual Passholders. Near the back of the hat shop on the left is a back door with a sign that used to read “No Deliveries 10am – 4pm”, but now says "Team Members Only", along with a sign above a doorbell that reads “ring bell for service”.

 

Same Name, Different Location, Different Use

Now, for those of us who are Disney Park goers, you may recognize this name from the restaurant that is at both Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disneyland Paris. The entrance of both of these restaurants does not feature the iconic hat, but there is reference to it on the signage for the building, and the inside is themed to the classic original from 1920s Hollywood.

The reason why Disney’s Brown Derby restaurants differ from the Brown Derby Hat Shop found at Universal is because they were inspired by 2 different Brown Derby Restaurants in Los Angeles!

Disney’s restaurants are based on the Spanish Colonial Revival style architecture found at the Hollywood Brown Derby at 1628 Vine Street in Hollywood, which served guests from 1929 to 1985. After its closing, there were two separate fires in 1987 and 1990 that damaged the building. It was demolished in 1994. Today, you can find the W Hotel at this location.

Universal’s Brown Derby is based on the original location on 3427 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. This is the one with the Bowler hat, which measured 28 feet in diameter and 17.5 inches high, and served guests around the same time frame: from 1926 until the mid-1980s. In 1937, the Brown Derby restaurant moved a block away to 3347 Wilshire, where the new hat would be placed as one corner of the large building. The old hat would be demolished. This original location, as well as its relocation, were the only ones to feature this iconic look. Today, the restaurant is no longer, but its hat is still visible at 3377 Wilshire – as part of the design of a 3-floor mini-mall called Brown Derby Plaza.

Back at the shop at Universal Florida, just outside the doors to the shop is a plaque on the ground which reads:

The Brown Derby

Herbert K. Somborn

Founder

1929

Herbert K. Somborn was the president of Equity Pictures. In the mid-1920s, Los Angeles was booming with new restaurants making their grand-opening announcements seemingly every other week. Herbert decided to enter the business and submitted a building permit application to the city on November 17, 1926, with Raymond J. Kieffer listed as the architect. This new restaurant was to be built at 3427 Wilshire Boulevard, between Mariposa and Alexandria avenues, across the street from where Herbert lived. It is interesting to note, though, that the plaque says 1929, when he founded the restaurant in 1926, and the original location opened in 1927. We have found similar discrepancies in years on several other plaques around the building facades along Hollywood Boulevard, and we are still trying to dig deeper as to why this is. If you have any details, definitely let us know!

 

Wait…What Street Are We On, Again?

After the Brown Derby is an intersection. In Part 1, we talked about this intersection, but we have learned some new insights since then, and there is actually a lot to unpack here!

Okay, so first, know that there are separate sides of this intersection at Universal Florida:

The corner of the Brown Derby had the street sign of Ivar Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard. These signs are dark blue with white lettering, which is a replica of what you’ll find at this intersection today in California.

The opposite corner had another set of street signs of Rodeo Drive and Selma Avenue that are white with black lettering and black framing, similar to the style you’d find down Rodeo Drive. Now, these streets actually do not cross, which led us down the rabbit hole as to why these particular streets were chosen.

Now – big disclaimer here – I said these corners *HAD* street signs. Back when we were there in 2024, both sets of signs were at the park. However, when we went back in September of 2025, as well as on a live stream from @ThemeParkGiant 9 days ago as of this episode’s release, both the signs for Rodeo and Selma were missing. So we hope that when you go to the park next, the signs will be there. 

This intersection is actually a huge part of the storytelling in multiple ways. First, picture this as your working movie studio. As a director, you want your camera to be at certain angles, and the street signs to reflect the area you are in.

If you are standing next to Mocambo, facing the Bourne Stuntacular, you’ll only see the streets signs of Rodeo Drive on one side of the street, and Hollywood Blvd on the other – which, if you’re at this intersection in California, means you are in Beverly Hills. This is also apparent by the large Beverly Hills sign at the end of the street next to the Bourne Stuntacular show.

Now turn around, and stand next to the Brown Derby, facing Mocambo. There, if your camera is angled correctly, you should only see the street signs of Ivar Ave. and Selma Ave. These streets are not only in Hollywood, but if you take Selma Ave all the way down, turn right onto Sunset Blvd, go down 4 blocks, and you’d be at Mocambo. Two blocks before that would be Olive Drive, which is where Ciro’s used to be. So while that may be a bit of a stretch, it stands to reason that these streets do belong here. But surely there’s more to the story – right? Who are Ivar and Selma?

Well, Ivar Alexander Weid (pronounced ‘weed’) was born in 1837 in Denmark and immigrated to the United States in 1861. After serving as a Union captain in the Civil War, he and he wife Marie moved to Los Angeles, California in 1870. In 1876, he got a job with the U.S. government as a “revenue gauger”, otherwise known as a customs inspector. The job included 640-acres of federally-owned land around present-day Western Ave. and Santa Monica Blvd. Ivar started farming and flipping the land, earning wealth and property, and becoming an early pioneer. One of his properties included a 240-acre ranch in Holly Canyon – named for the wild California holly that grew there. This area was later called Weid Canyon after him. Ivar partnered with wealthy realtor Harvey Wilcox on a number of properties in Southern California. Now, there is a theory out there that one day, Ivar had a conversation with Harvey’s wife, Daeida, about his field of holly plants, and suggested the name Hollywood. Thus, the surrounding land became Hollywood. Again, that is just a theory, but it is a pretty good one. Another theory, according to the book The Story of Hollywood by Gregory Paul Williams, was that Daeida was on a train ride back to Ohio when she overheard the word “Hollywood” from a woman nearby who had an estate in Illinois by the same name.

In any case, Harvey and Daeida had 120 acres of land in Hollywood, California, which is the section of Hollywood today from Franklin Avenue to Sunset Blvd (north to south), and Whitley Ave to Gower Street (west to east). In this rectangular piece of land, you’ll find many iconic locations, as Hollywood Blvd runs right through the middle of this area. You will also find Wilcox Ave, Ivar Ave, and Selma Ave. 

Going back to the book The Story of Hollywood, there is an excerpt in which the author describes how Harvey and Daeida would map out their property, and took great amusement in the naming of streets.

“For a personal touch, there was a street for Harvey -- Wilcox Avenue, and one for Daeida -- Dae Avenue (later Hudson Avenue and Schrader Boulevard). They named two streets after the children of Mr. Weid [sic]... His two children crossed the Wilcox property daily on their way to a one-room school at Sunset and Gordon. Daeida named the children's path after them, Ivar and Selma Avenues."

What’s interesting about this excerpt is that the additional intersection in our puzzle here. Although we don’t know the full extent of Ivar’s land, or that of the Wilcox’s, the pieces we do know, we are able to map out above. You’ll find that the walk to school does not including going through Wilcox’s known property. This tells us that they all had different plots of land scattered about, and not one massive plot of land.

Anyway, as for Selma Avenue – Selma is Ivar’s daughter. While she has 4 other siblings, to our knowledge, she is the only one of Ivar’s children with a street name. If you have any other details about this, definitely let us know!

I know that was a long walk about street names, but I personally found it interesting, and had a lot of fun exploring Google Maps and learning more about it, so I thought you might get a kick out of it as well.

Alright – now let’s return to Universal Studios Florida, shall we?

 

Wicked: The Experience

Continuing down the street, you’ll find a large building on the corner, featuring Wicked: The Experience, which includes immersive theming, photo ops, exclusive merchandise, and authentic and replica costumes from the film “Wicked: For Good.” Again – that is as we are recording this – the movie came out a few months ago, so the shop could change at any time.

While the exhibits inside this building have changed over time, the actual building itself has not. Not much is available about the building, and there appears to be no connection to an actual building in Hollywood, California. That said, let’s take a look at the different exhibits and shops that have been at this location.

When Universal Studios Florida first opened in 1990, this space was part of the park’s early Hollywood Boulevard retail footprint. In the early years, it housed film memorabilia and collectibles—very much in line with Universal’s original identity as a working studio and a place to celebrate classic Hollywood.

Then in 1992, this building became something really special: Lucy: A Tribute. This was a walk-through museum dedicated to Lucille Ball and the legacy of I Love Lucy. You could see costumes, personal memorabilia, and learn about the early days of television production. It wasn’t just a gift shop—it was a love letter to classic TV and to one of the most influential performers in entertainment history. It was especially fitting that this building was across the street from Mocambo, which, as you may recall from Part 1 of this series, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were regulars at Mocambo, whose main stage was the inspiration the famous performance of Desi and his band at the Tropicana Club. Lucy: A Tribute stayed at Universal for more than two decades, finally closing in 2015. Lucy is still honored in the parks, though – for example, you can find her star along the Walk of Fame, located in front of the Brown Derby Hat Shop.

Around the same time, the left side of this building also included the Betty Boop store, which was marketed as the home of the “World’s Largest Betty Boop Collection.”

In 2016, the building was converted to the Hello Kitty Store, bringing in bright colors, and cute aesthetics for a new generation of park guests.

Then, in 2023, the middle section became UNIVRS, a fashion-forward retail space that focused on limited-edition merchandise and streetwear-inspired clothing tied to Universal franchises. The Hello Kitty Store would remain on the right side of the building.


Then, in September of 2024, Universal overhauled the entire building to make room for Wicked: The Experience, which opened in November that year. And, as I alluded to at the top of this section, the outside of the building has recently changed for the sequel: Wicked: For Good.

And what I love about this timeline is how clearly it mirrors Universal’s evolving priorities over time. This building has gone from celebrating Hollywood history to honoring television legends, to IP-driven retail, and now to immersive, film-based experiences. It’s the same footprint—but the storytelling goal has shifted over time.

 

Universal Studio Store

Speaking of storytelling, the last building in this series is the Universal Studios Store, which, if you’re walking in the direction we’ve been going, is at the far end of the street, across from the Wicked: The Experience building. This large store serves as one of the park’s main flagship merchandise locations and is where you’ll find a wide variety of character-inspired merchandise, keepsakes, and collectibles.

Before heading inside, though, the front of this building has a lot to take in. Above the Universal Studios Store sign is a triptych of three paintings with images in various reds, blues, and cream tones.

Each panel is framed separately, but has a uniform curve at the top and squared off at the bottom. This tells us that each panel of the mural can stand alone in telling its own story. However, when observed as a whole, each panel serves as but a chapter in the overall story of Hollywood and movie-making, with scenes throughout cinematic history that intentionally overlap visually, allowing your eyes to easily move from one scene to the next.

So let’s take a moment to learn more about each section. 

 

The Left Panel

On the left panel, you’ll spot chaotic filmmaking energy — cameras, spotlights, stunt performers, and moments of danger frozen in time. You’ll also find different genres of movies, depicted here, including two scenes of action.

There is one scene at the top of the panel where a guy is being pushed backwards out of a window, its curtain flowing with movement. There are two men above the window with a tree branch, and a boom mic. This would indicate that they are filming in a soundstage.

Another scene at the bottom of the panel in which a car with an angry male driver is heading straight for a man trying to run away, with the passenger jumping out of the car just before the crash!

You have other genres as well: There are three dancers that may be depicting a musical.

There’s a monster figure with his back to us, shielding his eyes from a studio spotlight. Another interpretation is that this is no monster, but actually a director with his back to us, using his finger framing toward a studio spotlight shining on the couple to his right, engaged in a romantic drama scene, in which a male actor is approaching a female, who has turned her head away from him toward the viewer.

Lastly, there is a war scene in which fighter planes are above a body of water.

All while a camera operator and director in more subdued colors film quietly on the far left of the panel.

 

The Center Panel

In the center panel, the mural shifts into storytelling throughout history. The top part shows four nude men who are in some way holding onto an open book. Two are holding the Comedy and Tragedy masks, each of which have distinct expressions and long hair. While not exact, I am reminded of those from Ancient Greece. This open book could be that of a script for a play during this time. One of the men is releasing items from two containers that then fall toward the middle of the panel, which could symbolize the passing down of storytelling through the centuries.

Behind the men is a more recent cityscape, with large buildings and spotlights on top – further highlighting the passing of time and honoring the ancient past in the movie-making process today.

The lower part of this panel features a large spotlight and a working director with a megaphone, with the light casting down onto two well-dressed elites.

Just out of the spotlight is a man in a hat who has reached into the light to pick a piece of the falling items released from the ancient actor above. The man’s left hand is on the left shoulder of the Academy Award of Merit – otherwise known as the Oscar award, which is fitting, as the marquee below him reads ‘Academy Awards Tonight,’ with a crowd entering the building and paparazzi following behind.

To the left is a movie theater, playing what might be Zorro or The Princess Bride… not sure – but there’s a sword fight going on.

And to the left of that is more behind-the-scenes magic with another large spotlight and two people – though I’m not sure what they are doing… there’s a man sitting on a stool… and a woman below him… maybe reading a script? I’m not really sure. It’s at the very bottom and it’s hard for me to make out.

 

The Right Panel

Moving on to the right panel, at the very top, you have two guys in movie theater seats, actively discussing the scene in front of them – which what looks to be the torch of the Statue of Liberty, with a person at the top reaching over in a failed attempt to save his falling friend. This depicts the editing process.

Below this scene are band players, which clearly emphasizes the importance of music in every movie.

To the left of them is a guy on a ladder with a spotlight behind him, holding what looks like a plane, with the cameraman on the ground underneath to capture the perfect angle.

Below that is a picture of a large ape, who is quite angry, and is holding something in each hand, though it is unclear what they are. To me, this is placed within this panel to 1) visually counter the monster on the far-left panel, but 2) to highlight the different techniques used to create such movies as King Kong, like stop-motion animation, puppetry, and miniature rear projection.

To the right of the ape is a man standing behind a lighted-framed mirror. His arm is up and over the mirror and he’s holding a makeup brush – applying something to the woman in the forefront. The mirror reflects a large eye – though not a female’s eye. This to me symbolizes that this is what the movie-goers will see – the final product, the made-up version after hair and makeup are finished.

Finally, at the bottom of this panel is more movie-making magic, including a movie reel, who’s film is being closely examined by two men.

The bottom right shows a lighter sketch (in comparison) of a man possibly switching the reels on a movie projector.

The piece is signed here as “S.D. Lot 3, 1990”, which is what we think the year is… it’s hard to read. But! It would make sense, as this is when the park opened.

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What makes this mural so powerful is that none of these are literal screenshots from movies—and yet they feel instantly familiar.

Now, the description that I just provided is just a high-level overview of each mural section as I interpret it. As with any work of art, each person has a different interpretation, and that’s okay. In researching this episode, there was absolutely no information that I could find that had a concrete “this is what this panel means”. We invite you to share in the comments below as to what themes or movie scenes you see when you take a closer look — because everyone brings their own movie memories and interpretation to this piece. And if you know if any facts about this mural definitely let us know!

To the right of the main shop entrance is a bronze plaque that reads:

The Lindberg Building

Dedicated to the Memory of

Chuck Lindberg

Chuck’s face is shown in the middle of the plaque, under the inscription, with his birth year of 1931 and year of his passing of 1989. There are then two flaming torches that are framing either side of the plaque.

Not to be confused with WWII Marine Charles W. ‘Chuck’ Lindberg, this Chuck Lindberg was the director of merchandise for Universal Studios. While he passed away shortly before Universal Florida opened in 1990, he was instrumental in curating the collection of movie memorabilia for displays in shops as well as some for guests to purchase. Unfortunately, not much else is known about him, so this plaque is a nice way to honor his contributions to the company that might otherwise be lost to time.

 

That’s A Wrap

And as they say in Hollywood – “That’s a Wrap!” We have come to the end of the Hollywood section of Universal Studios Florida. Over the last few months, we have explored each building of this area, and we hope that you now have a deeper understanding and appreciation for the craftsmanship and attention to detail that the park designers have intentionally placed in this land.

We would love to hear your thoughts about this series, as we have similar series in mind for different areas of this park, as well as other Universal and Disney parks. So let us know – did you like this format? Should we have each episode of the series in back-to-back episodes, or space them out over time? Share your thoughts over at our private Facebook Group – Where In The Park Explorers, or DM us @WhereInThePark on your favorite social media platform. The links to everything are in the show notes below!

Until next time, we’ll see you somewhere in the park. Bye for now!

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Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, and each is notated accordingly. If you click and make a purchase using these links, Where In The Park may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. These commissions are used to cover podcast operational costs. Thank you for your support!

 

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