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President Bush and Family at WDW!
- Thread starter DisneySoccerFan
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Legacy
Well-Known Member
Bush doesn't do "surprise" visits. Wherever he is going knows he is going there. Bush (or any President) wouldn't just "show up" at WDW or any other tourist destination without informing them he was coming. He doesn't travel without press or the Secret Service, who would have been swarming the place. Security would have been extra tight, regardless of if the trip was announced or not. Trust me, the man travels surrounded. If you don't see at least six guys in sunglasses talking into their wrist within ten feet of him, that ain't the President.
artvandelay
Well-Known Member
Legacy said:
In this day and age, I don't think the President would be able to go to WDW w/o the parks shutting down for him and having the Secret Service removing every garbage can in his path (a tough thing to do at WDW), welding every manhole, and removing mail boxes. This is common practice for when the president is making an appearance somewhere. I've seen blocks of cars towed away in NYC because they were on the presidential route from the airport.
AEfx
Well-Known Member
artvandelay said:
I have to concur.
He totally disrupts everywhere he goes - his family owns a home in my town and the local airport gets a call a couple of days before saying, "You are shut down for the weekend" with no notice and no compensation. They won't even let people fly in and out of this location while he's in the state - and these are just local planes owned by local people, no international, etc. The airport just looses all revenue for the weekend (and the locals loose usage of their privately owned planes).
That man doesn't go anywhere without pomp and circumstance - while for the sake of the OP I hope it was true (since for whatever reason he seems very excited about it) they don't even let his supporters into rallys for him without a background check - the chances of him randomly being somewhere and anyone being allowed to come within earshot of him, let alone the story posted above, are very, very slim.
Although I've never met him (and have no desire to...) I have met the elder Bushes and his daughters at different events/occasions, and even when Senior was in the White House there was nothing for security like there is now - as the president himself said in an interview on Larry King around the release of a certain theatrical film, he doesn't get to randomly meet a lot of "regular people" - those he does come into contact with are screened eight-ways to Sunday beforehand. I'll give you an example - the elder Bush liked to golf at a course down the road, and the rule (even when he was in office) was that you could only be two holes in front or two holes behind him. When Junior comes up, he has the whole place closed (again, to the financial detrement of the owners).
If this did happen at WDW (and it wasn't a look-alike; there are a lot out there who are very convincing), the OP and his family were privy to a very rare experience.
AEfx
wannab@dis
Well-Known Member
AEfx said:
Hmm... not so sure about this... I've been in an airport when he flew in and I've been in a plane when he was on the ground. In both instances, the planes were not allowed to take off or land while Air Force One was open and being loaded, taxi and takeoff/land. For the landing, all flights were held until they landed and the President reached his limo. In each case, it was about 30 minutes.
Now, I do remember Clinton shutting down LAX while he got his hair cut...
Cool picture, not sure if it's the real guy, but it would still be a moment to remember.
I agree that due to circumstances beyond his control, NO US president now, or in the foreseeable future, will have the freedom to make any moves without the "pomp and circumstance" involved in his/her (maybe soon) protection from terrorists and assassins.
I suppose we could keep him, and all future presidents, locked up in the White House 24/7 so that no one else will be inconvienced by any attempts to live a somewhat normal life while trying to preserve said life. How dare our president have any fun!
I'm always amazed that ANYONE would want the job; I've lived through enough administrations to know that NO ONE has ever been good enough to make everyone happy, and the "winner" is always hated by the "loser's" supporters. Even our "great" presidents got hate mail. :animwink:
I suppose we could keep him, and all future presidents, locked up in the White House 24/7 so that no one else will be inconvienced by any attempts to live a somewhat normal life while trying to preserve said life. How dare our president have any fun!
I'm always amazed that ANYONE would want the job; I've lived through enough administrations to know that NO ONE has ever been good enough to make everyone happy, and the "winner" is always hated by the "loser's" supporters. Even our "great" presidents got hate mail. :animwink:
AEfx
Well-Known Member
wannab@dis said:
I'm not talking about major airports. I'm talking about the small local places he lands. Not getting more specific than that - LOL, talking about presidential security on the Internet isn't smart.
My best friends family owns a plane that resides in one of the places he lands, and we had to drive to another airport an hour away to pick up her Dad the last time the president was in town because he wasn't able to store/land his plane for the weekend because it had shutdown to house the presidential air craft.
AEfx
AEfx
Well-Known Member
The Mom said:I suppose we could keep him, and all future presidents, locked up in the White House 24/7 so that no one else will be inconvienced by any attempts to live a somewhat normal life while trying to preserve said life. How dare our president have any fun!
Not going to start an argument with someone I like so much, Mom, but until you've walked in someone else's shoes...as the saying goes.
When he comes to a small community with single-lane roads, shuts down the few connecting roads between local towns, and generally makes even going to the grocery store or post office for local residents when he's in town difficult - well, it doesn't make you want him to come as often as he does. I'm not commenting on his need for vacation, but the choice in venues - bringing several small towns to a standstill just so he can come here for two days and costing the local economy extra money in police (which they do not get paid for - that's a matter of town record) and lost business every time he goes out - just seems kind of inconsiderate.
However, I did not bring this up to be political, but because I have lived in a community with the Bush family my entire life, and can tell you chances are, because of my prior experience when he travels here, that he wasn't wandering around outside Pleasure Island. Even now, just his mother out shopping makes more commotion than that (though she tries not to - my grandmother used to tell stories of her sneaking away from her SS guards by going out the back door of one shop and slipping into another to avoid the fuss).
And that's all I have to say.
AEfx
OliveMcFly
Well-Known Member
So was it him or not? I'm not really sure what to think.
The Magic Is What Matters
Well, I'm going to continue to believe in the magic of Disney! All the arguments of the impersonator make some sense to me. But . . . there was a contingent of about 6 earpiece wearing, talking to their collar, Secret Service Agents . . . there was a small (10-15) group of professional looking photographers tagging along . . . and Bush daughter look-a-likes too? If this truely was an impersonator they certainly went "the whole nine yards".
Just becasue it seemed to be a "surprise" visit, doesn't mean Disney didn't know ahead of time. It just could have been publicly unannounced. They could have "welded the manholes, etc." the previous night. They could have had plain clothes security sweep the area just prior to and also surrounding the event. I may never be able to be sure.
What I am sure of is that we were sitting by the fountain outside the AMC waiting for our seating time, we walked over to the entrance of Planet Hollywood at about 8:05, and this experience all occurred at 8:08 (by the time stamp on the camera file). By 8:10 it was over and there was really no trace in the immediate area that it even happened. Call me delusional, call me in denial, but I am going to continue to believe that this was a very real and very rare encounter until it can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt otherwise.
Yep, I'm going with the spirit of the trip . . . Wishes . . . Believe . . . Magical Encounters . . . those are the foundations of what the Disney experience is about, and what this experience was like for my family.
Well, I'm going to continue to believe in the magic of Disney! All the arguments of the impersonator make some sense to me. But . . . there was a contingent of about 6 earpiece wearing, talking to their collar, Secret Service Agents . . . there was a small (10-15) group of professional looking photographers tagging along . . . and Bush daughter look-a-likes too? If this truely was an impersonator they certainly went "the whole nine yards".
Just becasue it seemed to be a "surprise" visit, doesn't mean Disney didn't know ahead of time. It just could have been publicly unannounced. They could have "welded the manholes, etc." the previous night. They could have had plain clothes security sweep the area just prior to and also surrounding the event. I may never be able to be sure.
What I am sure of is that we were sitting by the fountain outside the AMC waiting for our seating time, we walked over to the entrance of Planet Hollywood at about 8:05, and this experience all occurred at 8:08 (by the time stamp on the camera file). By 8:10 it was over and there was really no trace in the immediate area that it even happened. Call me delusional, call me in denial, but I am going to continue to believe that this was a very real and very rare encounter until it can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt otherwise.
Yep, I'm going with the spirit of the trip . . . Wishes . . . Believe . . . Magical Encounters . . . those are the foundations of what the Disney experience is about, and what this experience was like for my family.
AliciaLuvzDizne
Well-Known Member
DisneySoccerFan said:
me too! :wave: :sohappy:
i have no idea if he was real or not but who cares!! it STILL is a truely exciting encounter and im glad you shared it with us
Legacy
Well-Known Member
I'm not saying it was impossible, I'm just a skeptic. My work right by the MRI building at Walter Reed and the last time he came for one I had to go through a checkpoint during work. They shut down the second floor of the hospital and people couldn't come on or off post. After experiencing that (twice, no less), I just have a hard time believing that President Bush would just walk through Downtown Disney among the throngs.
I think it's quite apparent it was an imposter. The picture doesn't really look like them, he was in Crawford, Texas at the time, and I don't think the President just wanders around Disney getting his picture taken. The security implications are incredible. The poster said himself there was a slew of photographers. So where are the press photos? That website made it quite clear.
Still, it's a fun story. I wonder if they have a Michael Eisner look-a-like we could hire to announce a whole bunch of new attractions. Then Disney might be forced to build them once it got into the press!
Still, it's a fun story. I wonder if they have a Michael Eisner look-a-like we could hire to announce a whole bunch of new attractions. Then Disney might be forced to build them once it got into the press!
My real grip on the reality of this still resides on the fact that the Bush twins might have wanted to be at/were invited to the opening of Club Paris that night. It seems like just the type of thing that would draw their attention, and something the White House might want to keep under wraps.
On "vacation" in Texas . . . gather up the security contingent . . . have staff notify Disney the President is coming and needs dinner arrangements . . . gas up AF1 . . . some of the press pool gets word and tags along . . . poof they're there, trying to be as "under the radar" as possible. It's plausable that COULD happen over the course of one afternoon/evening, right? Of course . . . it is also entirely plausible the the Bush Family impersonators were attending the Club Paris event!
(Again, I'm looking at this as a "trial" - it's true to me unless proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Wishes! Magic!! Believe!!! )
On "vacation" in Texas . . . gather up the security contingent . . . have staff notify Disney the President is coming and needs dinner arrangements . . . gas up AF1 . . . some of the press pool gets word and tags along . . . poof they're there, trying to be as "under the radar" as possible. It's plausable that COULD happen over the course of one afternoon/evening, right? Of course . . . it is also entirely plausible the the Bush Family impersonators were attending the Club Paris event!
(Again, I'm looking at this as a "trial" - it's true to me unless proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Wishes! Magic!! Believe!!!
)I'm normally a lurker, but I had to reply to this one - I was at the courtyard to Planet Hollywood at 8:00 PM on the 30th waiting for some people. I never saw anything out of the ordinary - just a LOT of people! No President, no limo, no secret service. Sorry to be a party pooper.
cbspace said:
Stupid #$!*&@ video camera sitting at the hotel
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