The Hall of Presidents Reopening from Refurbishment & Joe Biden Figure Added

Now that Joe Biden is in the White House as the 46th President of the United States, Disney has now confirmed that The Hall of Presidents is reopening from refurbishment and a new Joe Biden Animatronic figure has been added to the attraction.

Many have been wondering for some time what Disney World would do with The Hall of Presidents now that Joe Biden is in office, and now we have the answer.

The Hall of Presidents closed, January 20, 2021, for a refurbishment in which the Joe Biden animatronic will be added. Disney has also announced that the attraction is reopening in August 2021, so we don’t have to wait much longer.

The last time a new audio-animatronic figure was added was in 2017 after Donald Trump was elected president. To install that figure The Hall of Presidents was closed for one year.

While Disney has started announcing more details, and we’ll explain what we know as well as previous rumors to the attraction.

In this post we will discuss:

• Joe Biden Getting an Audio-Animatronic Figure
• When Does the Hall of Presidents Usually Close to Add a New President?
• What will the New Show Look Like?
• Will The Muppets Take Over The Hall of Presidents?

Joe Biden Being Put Into The Hall of Presidents

Yes, Disney has now made it official that Joe Biden is getting an audio-animatronic figure once The Hall of Presidents reopens and we now have a sneak peek at what he looks like.

This was obvious to happen since every president in American history has had a figure created for The Hall of Presidents. In fact, since 1993, the attraction has closed down to install the newly elected president who has also had a speaking role in the show.

Logically, Joe Biden will also have a speaking role when the attraction opens up in August.

Are they completely re-working the show? Are they just adding a Joe Biden Figure? Will they get rid of the Donald Trump animatronic? These are all questions that people have been asking since the closure, and now we finally have some answers to them!

Disney Imagineers have made a pretty realistic replica of President Biden and from first glance the resemblance is much better than the Trump animatronic.

The Animatronic figure has also been paired with a delivery of the presidential oath of office recorded at the White House by President Biden himself just for the attraction.

It doesn’t stop there however. Many details were included to make it as much of a realistic representation of the President as possible including carefully tailored clothing, as well as the props next to him on the stage.

Look at the table to the right of the President and you’ll see “peach blossoms to represent his home state of Delaware and a pair of aviators as a nod to his proclivity for the sunglasses.”

We can’t wait to get into The Hall of Presidents to see the figure up close and in person!

What’s Happening to the Donald Trump Animatronic?

Naturally, with Joe Biden coming into The Hall of Presidents, many are wondering what’s going to happen to the Donald Trump animatronic figure?

Disney has confirmed that the Trump figure will join the rest of the past presidents on the stage and will still be a part of the show.

When Did The Hall of Presidents Close to Add a New President?

Unless you have been hiding away from society for a long time, you likely know that as of January 20, 2021, Joe Biden is now the new President of the United States.

Traditionally, whenever there is a new president in office, Disney adds a new audio-animatronic figure of them to The Hall of Presidents attraction at the Magic Kingdom. This happened in 2017 after Donald Trump was elected, and a highly controversial figure was built and later installed.

To make room for that move, The Hall of Presidents had a lengthy refurbishment. In total, it was an 11-month refurbishment and was closed from January 17, 2017, to December 18, 2017, when the new figure debuted.

Right now we are on the same timeline as the previous election. The Hall of Presidents is closed on Election Day and hasn’t opened since. This time however, Disney Imagineers took much less time to get the Biden animatronic ready and the attraction will be open once again in August.

That means the total closure time is only around 7 months instead of the 11 months last time.

What About The Muppets Coming to The Hall of Presidents?

Before the new Joe Biden Animatronic, a rumor was around for some months, and though it seemed crazy at first, it did have some legs to it. We will say that since the animatronic of Biden being added, we think that it is far less likely The Muppets will be put in the show, though it could happen in some future form of the attraction.

However, just so you understand the rumors and why people have been saying this, we wanted to include the reasons why The Muppets could be a potentially good fit for The Hall of Presidents.

Disney Wants More IP

It’s no secret that Disney has been slowly including more and more characters into the attractions in its parks. In fact, it’s almost impossible to get Disney to build a new ride these days without it being attached to on of the company’s numerous Intellectual Properties.

Just in the last few years, we’ve had both Toy Story Land and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge with attractions centered around those IPs, and last year a Mickey Mouse-themed attraction opened in Hollywood Studios.

Right now 3 more new rides including a TRON coaster at the Magic Kingdom, and a Guardians of the Galaxy-theme coaster and a Ratatouille ride in EPCOT.

Since Disney bought the rights to The Muppets back in 2004, they have struggled to find a way to fully take advantage of the franchise’s popularity.

Ironically, The Muppets have already been next door to The Hall of Presidents since 2016 when Disney opened up the show “The Muppets Present…Great Moments in American History.” The witty puppet show closed down in 2020, but it retold some of the most famous events in American history, in a way only The Muppets can.

Disney could easily move them next door into The Hall of Presidents and develop a similar show in a way that is funny and interesting to the audience. They have already proven more than capable as MuppetVision 3D at Hollywood Studios is still hilarious, even decades later.

It Might be the Right Time Politically

Let’s face it, America has been through a lot recently, and many people just need a break from traditional American politics. People come to Walt Disney World to get away from the many problems they leave back home in the real world, and they embrace escapism.

Ever since the Donald Trump audio-animatronic was installed in the attraction, Disney has had to add extra security to deal with rowdy guests trying to disturb the show, or worse, damage it. A new Joe Biden animatronic figure is likely to cause similar eruptions.

Now, with President Trump being impeached on January 13 for the second time in his tenure and the polarizing divide among Americans’ political preferences, it’s possible Disney wants to make a clean break from the current setup in The Hall of Presidents.

That’s why The Muppets make sense here. They still fit in the theming of Liberty Square and can still do a historical show about the United States, yet at the same time do it in a way that is not politically divisive and polarizing.

Stay tuned as we will be updating this story as soon as we hear some news. If The Hall of Presidents does close, we will update our Disney World Refurbishment Calendar to reflect the dates.

Also, don’t forget to sign up for our FREE Weekly E-Mail Newsletter. There we bring you the latest updates on The Hall of Presidents as well as vacation planning tips. You can sign up here: Join our E-Mail Newsletter!

Your Thoughts

I want to know what you think about the new Joe Biden Animatronic at The Hall of Presidents…

• Do you think it is a good recreation of President Biden?
• What ideas do you have for a new show?

Let us know in the comments section below!

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