Well won't THIS be a downer for your Disney World vacation...

[kay1864]

I was surprised (not to mention nauseated) to learn that the Chimperor actually SPEAKS in the Hall of Presidents exhibit. In years past I remember only Abe Lincoln speaking, after all the Presidents were introduced.

Turns out that in 1993, Disney changed the exhibit to have the current President speak in addition to Lincoln. So they recorded Bill Clinton, and his AudioAnimatronic figure spoke, until July 2001, when they added Chimpy.

So I expected that by July 2009, we'd hear the dulcet tones of President Barack Obama speak, and Chimpy will be relegated to the back row.

Well, it looks like that ain't gonna happen :(

The Imagineers are already looking ahead. Nine months ahead, to be exact. To that period immediately after the U.S. has selected its next Commander-in-Chief. Which means that it will then be time for WDI to once again revisit "The Hall of Presidents."

And this time around, Walt Disney Imagineering is determined not to repeat the mistakes of the past. In particular that whole let's-get-the-new-president-to-record-a-speech-that-we-can-then-insert-into-this-show idea.

On paper, this seemed to be a terrific promotional gimmick for that 36-year-old attraction. Throw a banner over the entrance to "The Hall of Presidents" that then invites WDW visitors to come see a robotic version of our newest Chief Executive speak.

(insert irony here)

But what the Imagineers hadn't counted on was the Monica Lewinsky scandal and/or that George W. Bush would wind up with the lowest presidential approval rating in history. And given that it really takes away from the dignity of the "Hall of Presidents" presentation when audience members boo the AA version of the President whenever he begins to speak ... Well, that's why WDI is now looking to return things to the way they used to be at this Liberty Square attraction.

Which means that an Audio Animatronic version of our next president will be added to this attraction sometime in 2009. More importantly, that this new Commander-in-Chief will be mentioned as part of that show's roll call sequence. But beyond that ... Given how poorly those speaking versions of the Bill Clinton & George Bush AA figures have been received ... The next president's appearance in this Magic Kingdom show? Well, it's strictly going to be a non-speaking role.

Mind you, one of the other reasons that the Imagineers are now planning on cutting this speech is that they're looking to shave a few minutes off of "The Hall of President" 's running time. Cutting "THOP" back from its current 22 1/2 minutes to something much closer to 15 minutes. So that Disney World could then (in theory, anyway) go from running two shows an hour through this 700-seat theater to running three shows an hour. Thereby significantly increasing the hourly capacity of this Liberty Square attraction.

Now before all of you "Hall of Presidents" fans (all three of you) get irate ... Let me stress that this isn't just a case of take away. The way I hear it, the Imagineers are actually planning on adding something new to this Magic Kingdom classic. To be specific, creating a moment in this show where that AA version of Abraham Lincoln would then stand up and recite the Gettysburg Address.

Okay. To be fair, this new Gettysburg Address sequence that WDI is now considering adding to "The Hall of Presidents" ? It isn't exactly new. This scene was actually created for that revised version of "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" which opened at Disneyland back in July of 2001. So what we're really talking about here is an artful bit of recycling on Imagineering's part. Freshening up this tired old WDW show by sending a relatively new chunk of an Anaheim-based attraction back east.

That said ... Walt Disney World has set aside a fairly large amount of money for this upcoming redo of "The Hall of President." Though -- to be truthful -- a lot of this dough will be dedicated toward making this 36-year-old show building that much more wheelchair & electric convenience vehicle - friendly.

http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/archive/2008/03/04/does-wdi-plan-on-gagging-our-next-commander-in-chief-as-part-of-the-2009-redo-of-wdw-s-hall-of-presidents.aspx

Well, crap.

[NV Whino]

1. This one had me laughing

"And given that it really takes away from the dignity of the "Hall of Presidents" presentation when audience members boo the AA version of the President whenever he begins to speak ... "

[OmahaBlueDog]

2. You may recall that Disney wanted to build an "American Heritage" themepark

Part of the reasoning is that they want to unload the Hall of Presidents and some other Americanna attractions to make way for more tourist-friendly fare.

[kay1864]

3. You sure about that?

I can find no reference to that on the net. Are you thinking about "The American Adventure" pavilion at EPCOT? (that was built in 1982 between Italy and Japan. And AFAIK none of it was "unloaded" from elsewhere)

[OmahaBlueDog]

4. Yes, I'm sure

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3190/is_n40_v28/ai_15817781
http://chotank.com/disneyrom.html

[kay1864]

5. Wow, hadn't heard of that plan before.

Kinda goofy (snort). Thanks!

[LibertyLover]

6. It was supposed to be located in northern Virginia about an hour's

drive from the Washington Beltway. Disney proposed it about 15 years ago and the folks in northern VA turned it down overwhelmingly. I live in Annapolis, MD and thought it would be really cool, but people in the area it was to be located complained that traffic would be awful and would scare the horses. Now with the housing downturn they probably wish they had gone with the Disney park.