Every time a new President is elected, Walt Disney World goes through a tough decision regarding their “Hall of Presidents” attraction. This year, that process is made harder than ever due to the election of one Donald J. Trump, and, according to Motherboard, Disney is considering a complete overhaul to the attraction so that the Trump robot will not get to open its mouth.
The Hall of Presidents is about a twenty minute experience, where guests sit in a theater and are treated to a history of politics in the United States. At the end, the curtain opens and reveals extremely lifelike robotic doppelgangers of every President we have had. Starting with former President Bill Clinton, and continuing with George W. Bush and Barack Obama, the robot of the current President also gives a speech (which a Disney representative has flown to the White House to record) before the big finale. According to a source for Motherboard, Disney CEO Bob Iger has taken note of the many petitions asking to keep the Trump-bot silent.
Because of this, the engineers behind the attraction are considering taking the Hall of Presidents back to the way it was pre-Bill Clinton, with just George Washington and Abraham Lincoln addressing the audience. Motherboard‘s source adds:
“Given how polarizing the president is right now, Disney Parks & Resorts is currently trying to find [a solution] that approaches middle ground. They want to include our 45th commander-in-chief in this 45-year-old theme park attraction, while at the same time, not seem to endorse or support some of Trump’s more controversial policies.”
They could rationalize it by by claiming the decision was to reduce the runtime of the show, but a more obvious solution seems evident: Trump does not seem to want anything to do with recording a speech for the robot. Disney World claims to have contacted his team multiple times to try to set something up, but they have made little to no headway in that regard. Seems that Sean Spicer is not the only one in the Trump White House trying to avoid the spotlight.
There will be a Trump-bot at the Hall of Presidents, but hopefully he will keep his mouth shut. If not, maybe someone could program the robot to speak in Russian instead? You can watch the entire Hall of Presidents attraction below, with President Barack Obama speaking near the end:
Featured image via Flickr user Michael Gray / CC BY-SA 2.0.
