Hall of Presidents

[Nick]

Remember when Hall of Presidents was supposed to reopen in a few days? Yeah, well Disney finally broke their silence on the topic and said that President Trump will in fact have a speaking role and they gave a vague "late 2017" opening date for the attraction.

Trump to have speaking role in Hall of Presidents

MOD NOTE: Please keep all discussion focused on the Hall of Presidents attraction and please refrain from bringing politics into the conversation as much as possible. Those that go against these parameters are subject to disciplinary action. Thank You.

 

[tielo]

Remember when Hall of Presidents was supposed to reopen in a few days? Yeah, well Disney finally broke their silence on the topic and said that President Trump will in fact have a speaking role and they gave a vague "late 2017" opening date for the attraction.

Trump to have speaking role in Hall of Presidents

I love it!
Goofy to one side of the park, Orange bird on the other side and Trump in the middle. It balances the park out just fine.

 

[Viator]

Remember when Hall of Presidents was supposed to reopen in a few days? Yeah, well Disney finally broke their silence on the topic and said that President Trump will in fact have a speaking role and they gave a vague "late 2017" opening date for the attraction.

Trump to have speaking role in Hall of Presidents

And now The Hill is reporting this in particular..which, scares me.

Trump team battling Disney over speech in ‘Hall of Presidents’ attraction: report | TheHill

 

[Andysol]

Trump team battling Disney over speech in ‘Hall of Presidents’ attraction: report | TheHill

"The source said the company fears a boycott of the theme parks should the president take to Twitter to express his grievances."


You can't make this stuff up. I love the drama created in such a non-story.

 

[LieutLaww]

I can see Disney scrapping the speaking part if his team push too much, Disney wont want the trouble it could bring depending on what is in the speech his team comes up with.

 

[Nick]

Let's be clear about the statement Disney put out yesterday - in no way was that a confirmation that he WILL speak. They said they have "plans" for him to speak and Iger told CNN last month that they sent a speech for the Trump team to edit. What they edit it to could be something completely different and something WDI may even deem inappropriate depending on how they go about the speech.

If Trump doesn't want to record or proves to be a problem, he won't speak (Just Lincoln and Washington) or the attraction won't reopen for the time being.

 

[JoeCamel]

Let's be clear about the statement Disney put out yesterday - in no way was that a confirmation that he WILL speak. They said they have "plans" for him to speak and Iger told CNN last month that they sent a speech for the Trump team to edit. What they edit it to could be something completely different and something WDI may even deem inappropriate depending on how they go about the speech.

If Trump doesn't want to record or proves to be a problem, he won't speak (Just Lincoln and Washington) or the attraction won't reopen for the time being.

Bring on the Muppets!

 

[Miketheboss]

Can't wait to see him. Gonna go with a red hat and cheetos.

 

[GadgetGuru]

I can't help but wonder why Disney hasn't shut Hall of Presidents down at this point. This controversy happens every 4/8 years. And now, with politics being what it is, it's only going to get worse.

I really hope that this gets turned into that rumored Muppets show. Or heck, anything else.

 

[Nick]

I can't help but wonder why Disney hasn't shut Hall of Presidents down at this point. This controversy happens every 4/8 years. And now, with politics being what it is, it's only going to get worse.

I really hope that this gets turned into that rumored Muppets show. Or heck, anything else.

The show isn't the problem, it was the decision in 1993 to have Bill Clinton speak that really changed this attraction forever. Now it is expected that every newly elected president will get a speaking role when in reality they should just announce during election season that they will be doing away with the President speaking. I think Disney may have actually done that, but it would've looked bad to potentially shun the first female President had Hillary won. Disney tries to stay as apolitical as is possible when it comes to this attraction.

The Muppets would be a horrible fit for a full fledged attraction in Liberty Square. Their current show is cute and fun, but a full attraction is too much, especially for an IP that has a land in a separate park.

I will admit though that HoP isn't even the best History-based attraction at WDW. American Adventure blows HoP out of the water, imo.

 

[Alicia]

I like thinking about how there are more people on stage during the show than usually are in the audience when I see it. All of them up there, staring back at the couple dozen of us that are just trying to get out of the heat. It's weird. I love it.

 

[Viator]

Personally, even though I think it would bring controversy in a different way; I think it'd make sense that they would just replace the show with Great Moments with Lincoln at this point than to bring Trump to Hall of Presidents.

In my take; Trump has brought too many controversial moments that adding him onto the attraction will bring massive issues on response either way so-far in his presidency.

I don't think presidental figures should leave Magic Kingdom, but I do think that Hall of Presidents needs to go.

 

[Nick]

Personally, even though I think it would bring controversy in a different way; I think it'd make sense that they would just replace the show with Great Moments with Lincoln at this point than to bring Trump to Hall of Presidents.

In my take; Trump has brought too many controversial moments that adding him onto the attraction will bring massive issues on response either way so-far in his presidency.

I don't think presidental figures should leave Magic Kingdom, but I do think that Hall of Presidents needs to go.

If i'm a betting man, Disney will delay this as long as possible, I wouldn't be surprised if this time next year it's still closed.

 

[Miketheboss]

If i'm a betting man, Disney will delay this as long as possible, I wouldn't be surprised if this time next year it's still closed.

This shows us how "sensitive" people are nowadays. Can't wait until 2020 when Ivanka is up on that stage too. lol

 

[Nick]

This shows us how "sensitive" people are nowadays. Can't wait until 2020 when Ivanka is up on that stage too. lol

To get the President to speak and his voice in the attraction, he needs to cooperate too, you know.

 

[Viator]

If i'm a betting man, Disney will delay this as long as possible, I wouldn't be surprised if this time next year it's still closed.

So essentially, what your saying it will become the "20K leagues" of closures for Walt Disney World.

 

[Nick]

So essentially, what your saying it will become the "20K leagues" of closures for Walt Disney World.

I really don't think they'd just let it sit if it even got to that point. They could easily revert back to the original Washington/Lincoln HoP within a few nights.

Besides, I think Trump will make sure he's in the attraction. Remember, he has a huge Twitter audience. All he has to do is tell his supporters not to go to WDW anymore as they have been "very unfair" and Disney will have a PR nightmare that they don't need.

 

[Miketheboss]

To get the President to speak and his voice in the attraction, he needs to cooperate too, you know.

I'm sure he wants to be in the attraction. They should put a phone in his hand. He probably wants to say he's going to "make America great again" and Disneys like....no.

 

[Nick]

I'm sure he wants to be in the attraction. He probably wants to say he's going to "make America great again" and Disneys like....no.

Disney didn't allow Obama to say "YES WE CAN". They try to keep the speeches as generic as possible.

 

[Miketheboss]

Disney didn't allow Obama to say "YES WE CAN". They try to keep the speeches as generic as possible.

I agree with Disney but if he's asking for his AA to be wearing his signiture red hat, they should do it. This will be interesting. lmao