While all eyes will be on Washington D.C. today, as Barack Obama takes the oath of office and thus becomes the 44th President of the United States … Down in Orlando, the Imagineers are eyeballing the calendar. After all, there’s less than six months now ’til the robotic version of our next Commander-in-Chief is supposed to be unveiled at the Hall of Presidents. And there’s still plenty of work that needs to be done before this Liberty Square attraction can re-open on July 4th.
Mind you, an awful lot of this work is being done out of the public eye. Take — for example — the asbestos abatement that’s taking place right now in the non-public areas of this Magic Kingdom theater. Backstage, the removal teams have stripped this structure down to the bare walls (As for the public parts of the Hall of Presidents … Not to worry. The theater itself as well as the pre-show rotunda area underwent this asbestos abatement procedure 8 years ago, just before the George W. Bush AA figure was added to this show).
Up in the projection booth, those old 70mm projectors have been hauled away to make way for a brand-new digital-video projection system. And just above the stage itself, the HOP’s old lighting rigs have been completely overhauled. So now each robotic Chief Executive will look a little brighter during the Hall of Presidents’ roll call sequence, thanks to all of the new LEDs that have been installed overhead.
As for the theater itself … For nearly 40 years now, if you had a member of your party who was seated in a wheelchair and/or riding on an electric cart, they’d be forced to enter the Hall of Presidents through the theater’s exit. The physical set-up of this building (i.e. the theater’s steep aisles) made experiencing this show extremely difficult for Disney World‘s differently-abled Guests.
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Well, that all changes come July. The Imagineers have worked overtime to make HOP much more ADA compliant. They’re ripped up rows at both the top & the bottom of the theater as well as creating lots of new level parking spots for wheelchairs & carts. The end result is a Hall of Presidents that will now allow differently-abled Guests to stay with their group as they enter this theater. More to the point, thanks to the HOP’s new physical set-up, these groups can now be seated together. And — due to the grading work that’s being done in the aisles in order to reduce steepness — those seated in wheelchairs and/or on electric carts will now be able to move about this theater with ease.
“Okay. Enough with the physical improvements to the theater,” you say. “What sort of show am I going to see here when the Hall of Presidents re-opens in July?,” you ask. Well, I’ll told that Valerie Edwards (i.e. WDI’s Director of Sculpture) has done a superb job with her Barack Obama bust. And if all goes according to plan, our next Commander-in-Chief will speak (as will the robotic versions of George Washington & Abraham Lincoln) in the brand-new version of HOP.
The only problem is … Barack hasn’t recorded his HOP speech yet. The way I hear it, the President-elect has had the script that the Imagineers crafted for him (which is made up of excerpts from various speeches that Obama has made over the past few years) for a week or more now. And he definitely seems interested in helping Disney out. But the guy’s in a serious time crunch right now.
So when might Barack actually get around to recording his dialogue? Back in 2001, George W. Bush was able to get his speech for the Hall of Presidents recorded within two weeks of taking office. But then again, Bush had a bit more free time back then than Obama does right now. I mean, the economy’s in the toilet. Hundreds of thousands of people are out of work. Plus there are two wars being fought overseas.
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With all that’s already on his plate, finding time to record dialogue for a theme park attraction — especially during his first few weeks in office — may be a bit tough for Barack. That said, given his daughters’ affection for the Jonas Brothers (as well as the fact that Michelle Obama served as the co-host of last night’s “Kids’ Inaugural: We Are the Future” on the Disney Channel), Mickey is hoping that Barack will cut the Mouse some slack. Record his bit for the Hall of Presidents as quickly as possible. So that Obama’s AA figure can then be ready for this Magic Kingdom’s previously-announced grand re-opening on July 4, 2009.
But until that recording session actually happens … There are some very nervous Imagineers back in Glendale. Who are — even as we speak — discussing all sorts of contingency plans should Barack really not be available to record his HOP speech anytime soon. These could include a replay of what happened back in July of 2001, when (because the George W. Bush AA figure just wasn’t ready for installation) an interim version of this Liberty Square attraction was opened for several weeks. Once the Imagineers finished programming the Audio Animatronic version of our 43rd president, the Hall of Presidents was then briefly closed in the late summer of that year. Dubya was quickly installed. And then in October of 2001, HOP finally officially opened to the public.
WDI really hopes that it doesn’t have to do something like that again. But until Obama actually records his speech for the Hall of Presidents, everything else related to this Magic Kingdom attraction is kind of on hold. I mean, without knowing what the precise timing of Barack’s speech is, it’s impossible to lock down HOP’s soundtrack, finalizing lighting cues, etc. You get the idea, right?
So here’s hoping — once he recovers from attending all 10 of those official inaugural balls — that Barack Obama finds some time to mike up for Mickey and then records his bit for the Hall of Presidents.
What’s that you say? You don’t like the idea that today’s JHM article ends on such an uncertain note? Well, here. In honor of today’s inauguration, let me offer up a bit of good news. Survey teams were spotted just last week inside of Soundstage One at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Which suggests that construction should begin shortly on that theme park’s new “Monsters, Inc.” -themed family coaster.
“And who’s the lucky sponsor of this soon-to-be-officially announced attraction?,” you ask. I’m working on it. And when I know, you’ll know.
Your thoughts?