An opening day attraction, the original Hall of Presidents was based on Walt’s own concept, “One Nation Under God.” The show was approximately 23 minutes in length, and featured a widescreen film on the history of the United States of America, followed by an introduction of all its presidents in animatronic form. As an homage to Walt’s favorite president, in every show Abraham Lincoln would stand and give a speech nearly identical to that of Walt’s Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.
Outside of brief closures to add presidents, the attraction underwent refurbishment in 1993 when Bill Clinton was added. The script of the show was completely rewritten as well as Mr. Lincoln’s speech, a new score was introduced and Maya Angelou was added as the show’s narrator.
In 2001, the attraction again underwent refurbishment when George W. Bush was added. The show remained mostly the same however featured a new narrator. The animatronic used for Bill Clinton was recycled and became President Bush while Bush’s character was remade as a lesser animatronic as the rest of the presidents were (i.e. fewer movements, etc.).
While shutdown to add President Obama in 2008-2009, the attraction underwent a major refurbishment. In addition to changes to the film, script, and narration, major technological enhancements were made to the visual effects, theater audio and animatronic technologies. Also as part of this update, George Washington was relocated and given a speaking part, making him a 3rd speaking president in the attraction.
On December 18, 2017, after a lengthy closure that sparked debate on the attraction’s history and whether or not President Trump would be given a speaking part in the new show, The Hall of Presidents reopened with even more technological updates and show changes. This included the addition of a state of the art 45th President animatronic, who indeed was given a speaking part as each living president before him. Additionally, the story, script, and narration were updated and the theater received a major update to its sound, lighting and projection technologies. Also in this update, the Lincoln animatronic received a major upgrade, and his narration rerecorded with a new voice. New exhibits were added outside the theater, emphasizing Walt’s passion for the attraction, and offering a bit of insight into its history.
