Biden’s inauguration shut down this Walt Disney World attraction - SF Gate

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When Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom opened for the day on Jan. 20, before Trump left office and Joe Biden took the oath as the 46th president of the United States, it opened without the Hall of Presidents, which closed indefinitely as of today.

Walt Disney World’s website says that the attraction is “closed for refurbishment.” A sign in front of the entrance reads, “The Hall of Presidents is currently being prepared to welcome our new president.”

As of today, the show that had been running in Hall of Presidents for the last four years is outdated. That show, which ended yesterday, featured Donald Trump in his featured role as acting president. While every president since Franklin D. Roosevelt has a speaking role in the show, the current president has the most prominent role — except for Abraham Lincoln, also featured at length, who was a personal favorite for the late Walt Disney.

During Trump’s administration, the Hall of Presidents had become increasingly contentious over the years. Left- and right-wing petitions on Change.org alternately called for Trump to be removed from the show, Trump’s speech to be re-recorded to include more positive language and for Trump’s animatronic to be removed so that a more flattering likeness could be added.

Tradition dictates that when a new president is elected, the Hall of Presidents closes to install a new animatronic. Bill Clinton was the first sitting president to record his own speech, followed by George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

Whether Disney will choose to continue the tradition in the same way, simply adding an animatronic of Joe Biden with a recording of his own voice, is anyone’s guess. The same is true of how long the closure will be. When Obama was elected, the show closed from from November 2008 to July 2009, and reopened with a totally revamped show. When Trump was elected, the show closed from January to December 2017. Many speculated that the delay came from Trump’s refusal to record a speech. That new show debuted with security guards and “decorative spikes” between the audience and the stage, perhaps to prevent people from getting too close.

The Hall of Presidents opened in 1971 as one of the original Walt Disney World attractions, and it has changed over the years. Clinton’s version of the show featured Maya Angelou as the narrator, Obama’s had Morgan Freeman, and Trump’s had Joy Vandervort-Cobb, an actor and professor of African American theatre and performance at College of Charleston.

But the attraction’s popularity waned with time. “It’s time for Disney to put this attraction out to pasture,” the Orlando Sun-Sentinel wrote in a Jan. 19, 2021, editorial. “... It is a window into how political tribalism has evolved over the past 50 years and now disrupts everyday life.”

The editors opine that the attraction is not only past its prime, but is also too contentious for a park that describes itself as “the most magical place on Earth.”

“The 2021 atmosphere is not what Walt Disney envisioned when he conjured up his empire’s first animatronic figure in 1964,” the editors wrote. They cited other problems with the attraction, such as including 12 men who were slave owners, and compared that to Disney’s intention to remove the problematic theming on Splash Mountain and replace it with the more inclusive "The Princess and the Frog."

“If you’re going to present U.S. history, you can’t skip the awkward spots,” they wrote, and suggested the show go altogether rather than rewrite any of that history.

Until last year, there was a Muppet preshow outside the Hall of Presidents called “Great Moments in History,” where the Muppets sang about “great moments in history (but just the American parts).” In that, Sam the Eagle poked his head out from behind the 1787 seal on the top of the building, Kermit the Frog played Thomas Jefferson, and Fozzie Bear played Benjamin Franklin.

Rumors have been swirling among Disney fan groups that the park might choose to integrate the Muppets into the show this year, which would likely reinvigorate interest in a show that has some of the lowest attendance numbers in the park. Its most popular feature for reviewers? Having great air conditioning and being a quiet place to nap.

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