RUMOR: The Hall of Presidents at the Magic Kingdom to Remain Closed Into 2018

WDWNT on November 10, 2017

Here we are one year after the Presidential Election and the Hall of Presidents attraction at the Magic Kingdom still remains closed. In fairness, Disney said it would open before the end of 2017, however, that is looking less and less likely at this point.

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According to guest relations cast members at the front of the park, the attraction is now set to open in “mid-2018”. When we reached out to Disney’s PR Department to clarify this, they stated that they had “no comment” on the time frame, even refusing to adhere to the pre-announced late-2017 opening. Cast members outside of the attraction are still saying it will open later this year, so I guess different departments have different answers at this point. Honestly, the bottom line is nobody knows.

Disney stated previously that the attraction would return as promised with Donald Trump in audio-animatronics form delivering a speech of some kind, as has been tradition in the attraction since the early 1990’s.

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UPDATE: Disney Confirms Donald Trump Will Speak, Sets New Opening Date for Hall of Presidents

WDWNT on July 13, 2017

Disney has finally made a statement about their ongoing update of the Hall of Presidents attraction at the Magic Kingdom.
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According to News 13…

“The same thing that we’ve done with other presidents, is the same plan we have for President Trump,” said Jacquee Wahler, Vice President of communications (Walt Disney World).

They went on to clarify that Donald Trump and his audio-animatronic figure will speak in the show, just as the last 3 presidents added have.

Disney also stated that the attraction will re-open in late 2017, citing “technical problems” as the reason for the delay.

UPDATE: Disney Denies Media Reports, Claims Extensive Theater Upgrades Responsible for Hall of Presidents Opening Delay

WDWNT on July 13, 2017

/></p> <p>The following statement was just issued by Thomas Smith, Editorial Content Director for Disney Parks on the <a href=Disney Parks Blog:

Since the Magic Kingdom Park opened in 1971, The Hall of Presidents has brought together a one-of-a-kind look at the office of the President of the United States through film and the magic of Disney’s Audio-Animatronics technology. Despite some media reports to the contrary, President Trump will have a speaking role in The Hall of Presidents, like every president since 1993. We have been working closely with the current White House — just as we have with previous administrations — and the president’s recording session has been scheduled. The attraction will re-open in late 2017.

Whenever we refurbish one of our attractions, we take the opportunity to consider a broad range of enhancements. In this case, The Hall of Presidents is getting a new show, and a complete theater upgrade including a new sound system, lighting and high-definition projection system. The multi-screen viewing experience you may have seen in prior versions of the attraction is returning with an even wider vantage point of our country’s history.

The statement was forced by the media firestorm that followed our piece on the delayed re-opening of the Hall of Presidents. Of course, Disney did confirm that President Trump would speak in the attraction after that, but erroneous reports from media sites that there was some sort of tension between the White House and Disney pretty much left them in need of some public post on the topic.

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Disney World Postponing Hall of Presidents Reopening Until After July 4th

WDWNT on June 25, 2017

Walt Disney World will likely not be reopening the Hall of Presidents at the Magic Kingdom in time for the 4th of July holiday as originally planned.

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Despite zero announcements since the attraction closed in January, Disney closed the Hall of Presidents attraction to add new president Donald Trump to the show. Internal documents stated that the show would re-open in late June 2017, but are now simply stating “Summer 2017”. Cast members standing outside of the closed attraction are also telling guests that it will not reopen prior to July 4th.

Disney has still made no public statement on when it will reopen and what role Donald Trump will have in the attraction. It is unknown if the delays are related to remaining work to be done or for political reasons and public appearance.

What is Happening to the Hall of Presidents at the Magic Kingdom? Will Donald Trump Speak?

WDWNT on April 27, 2017

The Hall of Presidents at Walt Disney World closed for refurbishment over 3 months ago, with little to no announcement from Disney as to what changes were going to be made. The 2016 Presidential election was a controversial one, and that was long before a winner had even been decided. However, the real controversy now is if the current President of the United States will continue to be offered a speaking role in the attraction.

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Starting in the early 1990’s, the current President of the United States was not only added to the attraction, but given a speaking role in it, beginning with Bill Clinton. George W. Bush and Barack Obama followed, provided speaking roles and also bringing about considerable rewrites and changes to the existing attraction.

While it has been confirmed that Donald Trump will be added to at the attraction in audio-animatronics form, it is still unknown if he will speak, despite the fact that we are now just 2 months away from the reopening of the Hall of Presidents.

Rumors indicate that Disney may never even release a statement when the attraction reopens (to avoid backlash in either direction), but according to sources, Donald Trump will simply stand in the background with other presidents during the classic attraction’s stirring finale. Speaking roles in the attraction will likely be kept to George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and it is not expected at this time that Morgan Freeman will return as the narrator. This is all unconfirmed at this time, but that’s at least the buzz around cast members in the Magic Kingdom.

I’m sure Disney is hoping that all of the media buzz around Pandora: The World of AVATAR will distract from the Hall of Presidents scheduled reopening in late-June 2017, but whatever may happen, we will continue to bring you updates on the fate of the opening day Magic Kingdom attraction.

Donald Trump is Going to be in The Hall of Presidents at the Magic Kingdom

WDWNT on November 18, 2016

With the results of the United States presidential election official, it is now a certainty that a Donald Trump audio-animatronics figure will join the ranks at the opening-day Magic Kingdom attraction, the Hall of Presidents. The attraction of course includes every United States President in history.

Donald Trump to join the Hall of Presidents at the Magic Kingdom

Donald Trump to join the Hall of Presidents at the Magic Kingdom

That being said, there are unanswered questions. Will he have a speaking part? What other changes will be made to the show?

With the election of Bill Clinton in 1993, Disney started adding current presidents with speaking roles actually recorded by the Commander in Chief. Clinton, Bush, and Obama all had these starring roles in the show, but will Trump? Certainly there was a lot of uncertainty when George Bush took the office of President, but Disney still went through with it. It will be interesting to see if Trump is simply added to the show or if he is given the same opportunity that was given to the last 3 Presidents of the United States.

Either way, if you enjoy the “A Celebration of Liberty’s Leaders” version of the Hall of Presidents, you have until January 17th to see it at the Magic Kingdom.