An animatronic version of Donald Trump has made its debut in the Hall of Presidents at Walt Disney World in Florida this week. The attraction first opened in 1971 and has been very popular since then. It has been closed recently for refurbishment for over a year while the new robot was installed.
The exhibition sees Trump being introduced to the public by George Washington. The robot will give a speech to visitors about what it means to Trump to be an American. It will also repeat his oath of office. The speech for the robot was recorded by Trump himself and this is a tradition that has been carried on by all sitting presidents since the 1990s. The show lasts for 25 minutes and features some of America’s best-loved presidents such as Washington and Abraham Lincoln.
Some media outlets initially reported that the Trump robot would not give this speech due to the fact that he is very unpopular with many Americans. However, this was strongly denied by Disney who said that the intention was always there for him to give a speech just like all the other presidents that are featured in the exhibition. A petition was established on Change.org that asked Disney not to include Donald Trump in the attraction because the people who signed it believed that his campaign was run on the basis of hate and fear, something which has no place in the Magic Kingdom.
The public reaction to the newest addition to the attraction has been mixed. There have been people who have taken to social media to ridicule the way that the robotic president looks. There have been several comparisons to the actor Jon Voight and there are definite similarities there. Some others have also suggested that the robot was originally designed to be Hillary Clinton and that some hasty changes had to be made after the shock outcome of the presidential race. The team behind designing and engineering the robot have yet to make any public comment about the reaction to their work.
However, there are other aspects of the robot that make it instantly recognizable as Donald Trump and it can’t be denied that the animatronic team has done a good job. His most distinctive feature is arguably his hair and regardless of the features of his face, as soon as you look at the robot you know who it is. Other features that have become associated with Trump are also included such as the suit jacket that is always unbuttoned and the tie that hangs that little bit lower than you would expect it to
Whatever people think about Donald Trump, the Hall of Presidents is one of the most popular attractions at Disney World and this popularity does not show any sign of slowing down. Love him or hate him, it can’t be denied that Donald Trump gets people talking and the visitors to Disney are still flocking to the Halls of Presidents in the same way that they have always done.
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