Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Disney version of Trump still unknown
When the Hall of Presidents reopens at Walt Disney World, an animatronic version of President Donald Trump will be there.
Beyond that, the company hasn’t said what his role in the Magic Kingdom attraction will be. Among the unanswered questions: Will the new Trump figure have lines in the presentation as his predecessor Barack Obama did?
Theme-park watchers are speculating while waiting to see how Disney deals with the change in command.
“I think Disney has a very fine line where they have to respect the office of the presidency and the attraction itself and still not offend anyone,” said John Saccheri, who runs bigfatpanda.com, a website that follows Central Florida theme parks. “I truly believe they are going to have it be very brief, and he’ll say something like, ‘Make America great again.’ I don’t think they’ll get much more into it than that.”
The attraction, which opened with the Magic Kingdom in 1971, is not open to park visitors while it undergoes maintenance and refurbishment, including the addition of the Trump figure. A sign at the entrance says it’s “currently being prepared to welcome our new president.” The Hall closed in mid-January, and earlier reports had the Hall reopening in late June. Disney World’s website does not list a time frame for its down time.
The attraction’s 2008-09 rehab lasted eight months, and it included updates to its light, sound, mechanical, projection and show systems.
The most recent version of the show featured a segment with Obama’s figure speaking and speeches by George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. They stood alongside animatronics of every U.S. president. That presentation was preceded by a film, narrated by Morgan Freeman, spotlighting a handful of presidents and their humble beginnings.
Eight years ago, President Obama recorded the spiel for Disney. There have been no announcements about Trump doing the same. Bill Clinton and George W. Bush recorded for the Hall of Presidents.
It could be that Trump will have a nonspeaking role, said Matt Roseboom, owner of Orlando-based Attractions magazine.
“They’ll probably want to limit speaking to some ‘classic presidents’ — somebody like Lincoln or Washington,” Roseboom said.
A petition on the change.org website calls for the Trump figure to remain silent.
“We ask that Walt Disney World take a stand against divisive and hurtful rhetoric and have the backs of millions of Americans and people worldwide whose day would be ruined by the depiction of a speech by Donald Trump,” the petition ends. It has more than 13,000 online supporters.
“Typically, Disney doesn’t listen to any kind of petition,” Roseboom said.
The contentious nature of recent elections leads Denise Preskitt to hope that Disney won’t have future sitting presidents speak in the attraction.
“It never used to be that I would hear a lot of boos at the Hall of Presidents, but the last, you know, maybe couple of elections you hear that kind of thing,” said Preskitt, owner of the Mousesteps website.
There are hard feelings no matter who wins the presidential elections, she said.
“Every election is so divisive, that I personally think they should let former presidents talk — get the greatest hits of inspirational quotes from past presidents … and then just let the new president listen,” she said.
Experts expect Disney to remain tight-lipped on its Hall of Presidents plan.
“I think we’re just going to have to find out when we walk into the attraction,” Roseboom said.