Even the most magical place on Earth isn't immune to President Donald Trump.
Those familiar with Walt Disney World in Florida know that the park is home to an attraction called the Hall of Presidents. Inside, there are animatronic (read: robot) versions of every single president of the United States, ever. The problem? Ever since the Clinton administration, the sitting president's robotic stand-in has had a speaking role. According to Vice's Motherboard, Disney's Imagineers don't know how they can incorporate President Trump into what's supposed to be a celebration of American values with his "hateful speech, misogyny, racism, and xenophobia."
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"Given how polarizing the president is right now, Disney Parks & Resorts is currently trying to find [a solution] that approaches middle ground," a source told Motherboard. "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. Walt Disney World might elect to push the attraction's opening date back to the fall and then make further tweaks to the show."
Back in November, Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed that President Trump would be included in the attraction, but he didn't mention whether or not Trump would join the likes of Barack Obama and George H.W. Bush and actually record a speech for the Hall of Presidents. The AV Club notes that Disney has contacted the White House regarding the inclusion of President Trump back in January, but it hasn't received an official response yet. In the past, Disney executives Pamela Fisher and Kathy Rogers flew to the White House to record each president's closing remarks — a process that takes about 20 minutes total.
Motherboard speculates that the ride will most likely revert to its pre-1993 format, where there isn't a closing speech delivered by the sitting president. That'll cut the show from its current 23-minute run-time to just 15. That gives visitors more time to check out other things, the Imagineers said.
Hall of Presidents at @WaltDisneyWorld closed as they add a mechanical President Trump pic.twitter.com/NAToFIh6Ko
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 27, 2017
To make matters worse, like many other people, the Imagineers in charge of the Hall of Presidents were already deep into the process of creating a Hillary Clinton robot back in November. "They were convinced that Hillary was going to win," the source continued. "They were having conversations in late October and early November on how to dress her. 'Should it be the pantsuit she wore at the [Democratic] National Convention? Or should it be a darker color?' They were thinking along those lines. No one was giving any serious thought to it being Trump."
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