Maybe they could go back to the pre-1993 show that does not include a speech from the current president.
It would get rid of the current political issue.
1 Like
I agree whole heartedly.
Again, I agree, with the caveat of there aren’t any political policy speeches in HoP. No RED or BLUE (or BLUE and RED to offended peoples), but there are American speeches meant to inspire and rally the nation as a whole against attacks foreign and domestic.
Every shift of Great Moments, I would stand in the back of the auditorium and watch this amazing feat of technology and I’d be inspired at what Walt built. Then I would listen to the actual speech and I would be amazed and proud at the man who gave that speech in such a dark and divisive time in our history.
HoP shouldn’t be, imo, a watered down, op-ed version of history glossing over the unpleasant parts. It’s a documentation of our actual American history. The good, bad, and ugly.
4 Likes
BTW…I love the Muppets!
And don’t get me started on those potstickers from Epcot…YUUUUM!
(This is my way of not pissing anyone off)
=)
Really? Our first WDW trip was 4 years ago and HoP was closed during our trip (first week in February) for refurb.
I assumed it normally went down between election and inauguration when they needed to put in a new president.
Fun fact.
I was a threat to National Security long before this crap a few weeks ago.
Fall, 1995, I was awarded an opportunity to go listen to the sitting president speak at a conference in DC. The OC Sherriff’s department flew a bunch of us from CA to DC where we attended the conference, visited the Capitol to speak with a local House representative and sightsee around town.
The conference was in one of the ballrooms at the JW Marriott. We heard him speak, and when the speech was done, he went around shaking hands. I was at the front of the pack, against the velvet rope separating him and the frenzy that was the crowd behind my group.
He shook hands with my chaperones. Next, my then editor. Then me. And without warning, the crowd behind me surged forward and I was forced into, then over the rope in front of me. Landing on the President of the United States. To be fair, he only stopped my fall. It was the very agile and surprisingly buff (the suits hide it well) Secret Service men who threw me back into the crowd and called me a threat to National Security.
I was later told they had to announce the threat to explain why they used force against me. It was embarrassing none the less.
This story was a lot funnier before the events earlier this month. Last year. 9/11. But it’s still mine to tell. Every time I see him in the HoP I smile to myself and my husband starts laughing uncontrollable.
26 Likes
Great story!
Thank you.
Nope. They have stated this is the reason.
1 Like
Awesome!
1 Like
I think this story should earn you “National Security Threat” after your name.
8 Likes
Only me. This stuff only happens to me 
2 Likes
You are spot on. This is a attraction shows ALL Presidents, whether “good” or “bad” or Democrat or Republican. It’s History - Not Political. I started taking my kids when they were young just like my parents took me.
3 Likes
And you are 100% correct!
1 Like
Len and Jim Hill mentioned that the majority of the show may remain unchanged with the main exception being a Biden oath and brief speech replacing Trump’s. The main reason is because Disney doesn’t have the number of Imagineers they used to due to cutbacks, so they don’t have the capacity to create an entirely new show. They also said that Disney actually outsourced the Trump AA figure to the same company that made the Jack Sparrow, thinking they would do as good of a job. That was clearly a miscalculation and so Disney will be creating the Biden AA this time.
As for the rumors that the Trump AA actually started out as a Hillary one, I’m not sure how true that is. I can say that it 100% looks like they took Hillary, gave her a Trump wig and fat suit, and reprogrammed her to move her mouth to a recorded speech by Trump. But that is JMHO. 
5 Likes
So the Standard Operating Procedure is for the current President to recite the Oath and then deliver a short speech?
Is that a speech written for the HOP or is it a repeat of an actual historic speech he gave on a previous occasion?
It’s a speech recorded just for this purpose. I recall seeing pictures of Obama recording his at the WH. The President’s team gets some input as to the script and doesn’t just read what Disney gives them.
1 Like
Personally - and as a Canadian I know I’m not the intended audience - I’d prefer to hear Kennedy AA recite “Ask not” or Bush Sr’s talk about “1,000 points of light” or similar than the current.
But that’s just me and maybe the point of having the current Pres talk is to make everyone feel like they’re part of a never ending great American story or something.
And of course, I don’t think Disney could make that switch from current to historical without an uproar.
Which is too bad… (images of Eisenhower dead pan reading the lyrics of IASW theme)
2 Likes