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.
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.
Disney has finally made a statement about their ongoing update of the Hall of Presidents attraction at the Magic Kingdom.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Our latest photo report brings us back to the Magic Kingdom as closures and refurbishments begin to takeover for the rather short off-season in Orlando.
Welcome to the Magic Kingdom
I decided to rope drop the park earlier this week to see how the morning now unfolds with the moving of the welcome show and the opening of Main Street a full hour earlier.
The Walt Disney World Railroad was actively being worked on as we walked by.
Only the centralized security checkpoint was in use prior to park opening.
The Walt Disney World Railroad is closed for refurbishment and a large tarp covers the train station currently.
Annual Passholder entry lines are still in place, but sometimes can be longer than the regular entrance lines during this time of year with less tourists and more of the locals and annual visitors coming to the parks.
A number of stores and restaurants are open starting at 7:50AM (with a 9am park opening).
You can even start the day with some popcorn…
The meet and greets are not open, but the PhotoPass area and Curtain Call Collectibles are.
The Emporium is open while work is done to the facade.
If you need hats or pins at 8am, you can certainly buy them…
The Confectionery is also open at this time.
The Art of Disney and Uptown Jewelers do not open until the park does however.
The Emporium is open though.
Crowds were pretty light until about 8:45am.
The Crystal Arts shop opens with the rest of the park.
“When Donuts Are In a Sundae, You Can Have Ice Cream Anytime…”
Of course, the Main Street Bakery Starbucks is open for breakfast.
Lines were not unreasonable inside at around 8:20AM.
The Plaza Ice Cream Parlor is open for breakfast, serving Mickey Waffles, a doughnut sundae, and a variety of other items.
Be sure to check out our in-depth review of the new breakfast items here.
Casey’s Corner is also open for breakfast (and covered in the review linked above).
“Let the Magic Begin”
We walked up to the Castle around 8:50AM and things were still pretty manageable.
Just in-case you can’t find breakfast check-in…
Guests pretty much jam the walkway to the Mad Tea Party in hopes of garnering a short wait for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. If you aren’t near the front of this pack, don’t even bother.
We elected to wait about two people deep on one of the walkways through the Castle.
“Let the Magic Begins” starts at 8:55AM. Once it is over the characters are allowed to vacate the stage, and then guests are walked up the Castle walkways slowly until they merge at the top before going through. I was astonished at the ability of the cast to ensure that one path did not get anywhere faster than another, as once we go through the Castle, we merged seamlessly with those who tried to go around the Castle moat, down the side path between Liberty Square and Fantasyland. We then even were given the opportunity to catch up with some guests on their way to Peter Pan’s Flight (I assume from Be Our Guest breakfast), and we were all then released to go to the ride. I was amazed as the efficiency of the
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.
