Will Disney World still go ahead with installing Donald Trump into the Hall of Presidents?

They have to. The optics if they don't will be far worse. And they can get an independent contractor to work on the animatronic if the Imagineers won't. Don't they usually just recycle the same one anyway, building a simpler one to be the outgoing POTUS?

 

They could probably just close the attraction without too much fuss, if they were really worried about it...

That's probably the least of our concerns now anyway.

Just sayin...

 

Of course if the stock market does what they say it's fixing to do this morning, ain't nobody going to WDW anyway.

 

That's what I think will happen. Trump will go in. But then we'll start hearing about how this sort of attraction is no longer relevant to today's theme park guests expecting Disney branded experiences, not a history lesson.

 

Nah, if that's the plan, they won't spend the money. They'll just close it for refurbishment, and then reopen it 3 years later as "The Hall of the Fantastic Big Hero Guardian Spider Avengers" or something.

Which they were probably planning to do anyway.

 

Trump will be added. It won't be the end of the world, and the "protests" will be minimal, likely just people skipping the attraction entirely (as if they don't already). During W's later years there were occasional boos from the audience, but even at the height of his unpopularity it remained fairly civilized

If they're really concerned about reactions, they could easily revert to a non-speaking role for the sitting President; Clinton was the first one to speak, so it wouldn't be a huge break of tradition

Keep in mind that when MK opened, HOP was its headliner attraction. There was no Pirates, or Space, or Big Thunder, and it was one of the few all-new attractions created for the park. And just 9 months after the park (and HOP) opened, there was a little break in at the Watergate that made headlines. If the park was able to weather that storm in an era with far fewer attractions, I'm sure they'll be fine this time around

They build a new figure for each President, to match their height, build, etc. For the most part, they have pretty limited motion (head/face, maybe an arm and wrist) since they really don't do a lot in the show. I wouldn't be surprised if they salvage parts from the outgoing AA for the new one, since the non-speaking ones have very limited roles, but it's largely a new build

And all of Disney's AAs are created by Garner Holt, an independent contractor that took over Disney's manufacturing, maintenance, and spare parts about 8 years ago. As for Imagineers refusing to work on a project, that seems unlikely; if it's like any other company in the US, you can work on what you're assigned or you can find employment elsewhere. I've worked on all sorts of things that I'm less than thrilled about, but such is life. I'm sure they can find some people who are willing to work on it, even if they're unenthusiastic about it

Now the real question becomes whether the technology exists to make some tiny-but-lifelike hands. The stylized ones in it's a small world and Storybook Voyage look good, but they wouldn't fit the realistic design in HOP

 

Something just occurred to me ... What do you suppose the odds are that Hillary already recorded her lines?

 

There's certainly a chance. With Obama they recorded the lines between the election and inauguration, but that was also predicted to be a much closer election. Disney also runs the risk that the current President chooses not to lend their voice, leaving them to use an impersonator or make it a non-speaking role

I wonder how much planning work for the refurbishment has been done already. I heard that this was supposed to be a relatively minor revision (swapping Presidents out but keeping the show's structure the same), but that may need to be revised with Trump. I'm not sure the "presidents come from all sorts of backgrounds" storyline works for a rich Manhattanite, but I suppose they could play up the no political/military experience side

I also wonder if we'll get a new narrator. Morgan Freeman is the current host, but he also did campaign ads for Clinton so he may want to distance himself from the attraction. The narrator has changed along with the last 3 Presidents (when they each had a speaking part), but was the same for all Presidents prior to that

 

Please remember to keep the politics in the world events section.

 

Personally, I would like to see the show center around the accomplishments and challenges of the Presidential Office. Washington would talk about the challenges he faced during the Revolutionary war. Lincoln and his role in the Civil war. FDR during World War II. Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis., etc. There could be multiple sets brought up and down simulating what was going on in the Oval Office at times of crisis. There is no reason to have all the presidents there since a lot of them were pretty unremarkable.

 

Personally, I regard HoP (being, as it is, an elaboration on Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln) as being very much a "Disney branded experience." Ditto for Ellen, over in Epcot.

Conversely, I regard attractions derived from such Marvel franchises as "Guardians of the Galaxy" and so forth as the very antithesis of a "Disney branded experience." Ditto for anything that's simply a naked roller coaster (especially an off-the-shelf "Wild Mouse").

 

Good opportunity to replace the attraction. Or make major changes along the lines of freebie's suggestions. It's not a particularly compelling attraction.

 

True, dat.

 

Speak for yourself.

Not everybody shares your taste, any more than everybody shares mine.

Last month, while M:S and ExpE were among my must-do attractions, with FPs booked weeks in advance, I only did them once each, and while I would have liked to have done M:S a second time, I was a good deal less upset about not doing that a second time than I was about not getting to the Liberty Belle at all (yes, even though we have both the Twain and the Columbia back home), and about Dinosaur being down for maintenance, and about missing the MSEP by at least a week. Conversely, I did Ellen and GMR three times each, and did CoP and HoP twice each, and AA at least twice. And I did Bears, Indy, and Laugh Floor, once each.

I didn't do ToT at all, this trip. (I've done the East Coast and West Coast versions of it exactly once each). And when Dinosaur went down for maintenance, I was actually irritated at the fact that the powers that bee had replaced my FP with a TriceraTopSpin FP. As it turned out, I canceled that one, and never replaced it with anything, because seeing Flights of Wonder, and spending a bit more time at Conservation Station, were more to my taste than any of the available FP attractions in AK.

And when I rode the Peoplemover, I laughed out loud when a "Mr. Tom Morrow" was asked to contact a "Mr. Johnson." Because I fondly remember the Animatronic flight directors from Flight to the Moon and Mission to Mars.

While there were some things I missed about Maelstrom (I actually LIKED the movie at the end of the ride), and haven't seen Frozen, I did enjoy the new Frozen attraction. And as to Gran Fiesta Tour, I consider it to be a tremendous improvement upon "El Desperdicio del Tiempo."

And I did the BSM Tour for at least the fourth time, and the Steam Trains Tour for at least the third.

I don't expect anybody else's idea of "a particularly compelling attraction" to match mine; why should you expect anybody else's to match yours? The thing that sets Disney theme parks apart from most others is that they have attractions for all ages and nearly all tastes. Let us all endeavor to keep it that way.

 

I have seen suggestions that today's market activity is a result of "short covering." This is only Day 1 and not predictive. And we'll get to do this all again when everyone sees what Trump does and doesn't do during his first 100 days.

 

Well, no. But it's not exactly a popular attraction.

 

Millard Fillmore, James Buchanan and John Tyler are not on trial here!

 

Hall of Presidents: Under New Management