Here's the entire text from the Sentinel article.
Had a mini-sneak-peek at the revamped Hall of Presidents this afternoon at Magic Kingdom. Showing us around -- but not the whole presentation -- was Eric Jacobson, senior vice president at Walt Disney Imagineering. Here are some tidbits he shared about HoP, which is set to reopen officially on July 4:
+ The front room/pre-show has been reorganized a bit. Some of the presidential portraits have been replaced, and the imagery has quotations beneath them. A new display area features dresses from three first ladies: Elizabeth Monroe, Edith Roosevelt (Mrs. Teddy) and Nancy Reagan. (The silk dresses of Monroe and Roosevelt are reproductions).
+ Reagan sent a selection. "Mrs. Reagan actually -- at the Reagan Library -- picked out six dresses for us to rotate through the collection," Jacobson says. "She picked them out herself." Her outfit will change every six months, but she'll start off in a black-sequined number. The gown area is flexible. "Maybe some day we'll have one of Michelle Obama's outfits in here," Jacobson says.
+ New wording has been placed on an interior wall. It now reads "Welcome to the Hall of Presidents, a Celebration of Liberty's Leaders." Outside, the building gets its first marquee (still covered, as seen in photo above. Photo by Joe Burbank, shot Tuesday.) (Previously, there was merely a sign in the planter.)
+ The film, now narrated by Morgan Freeman, is a bit trimmer, and the Animatronic section expanded. "That's what they [park guests] come to see," Jacobson says.
+ The emphasis of the attraction is more about the history of the presidency and the presidents as people. Before, it was more of a history lesson, and this change will help distinguish the Hall from the American Adventure presentation at Epcot.
+ The film still will end with the Space Shuttle as the curtain rises to reveal the presidents.
+ Barack Obama stands to Abraham Lincoln's right. Lincoln sits front-and-center still. Obama wears a dark blue suit and burgandy tie.
+ Obama recorded the oath of office and a speech prepared by Disney (with minor changes) in the Map Room of the White House.
+ The Obama model is the next level of Animatronic, Jacobson says. "He has more facial expression than we've ever done before. He's our most advanced figure we've done, but he's not a completely new generation with everything starting over," he says. "The challenge is that everyone see him every day on television. Everyone's an expert on Obama."
+ George Washington stands and speaks for the first time in the Hall of Presidents. He is voiced by David Morse, who portrayed Washington in the HBO series John Adams. His lines are an actual quote from Washington, on how he felt as he was sworn in.
+ The roll call is at a more leisurely pace than the previous version. And some of the men have been repositioned to lessen the "ping-pong effect" of the roll call. All have been reprogrammed, but you won't necessarily notice, because of the changes in the scene and the new pacing.
+ Alas, no photos allowed yet. Disney is not ready for Obama's closeup yet. "We're sort of in dress rehearsals right now," Jacobson says. "We haven't had any audiences other than ourselves."
Blow me down, WDI!:sohappy:
