Celebrating Presidents’ Day at the Hall of Presidents at Disney’s Magic Kingdom

Happy Presidents’ Day! To celebrate today, we thought it only natural to give a behind-the-scenes look at one of our original Magic Kingdom park attractions – The Hall of Presidents. If you’ve never been, it’s a multi-media presentation based on United States history. At the center of the story are the presidents, all of whom are showcased in the form of lifelike Audio-Animatronics figures.

Pulitzer-Prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin helped develop the show with Disney Imagineers and gives a look at what makes this attraction so inspirational.

Is this one of your favorite attractions? If so, here are a few fun facts:

• The animated Lincoln figure debuted at the 1964 New York World’s Fair.
• Every president – life-sized, three dimensional and fully animated – who has served the nation appears on stage in the form of an animated figure.
• The pre-show lobby features presidential portraits, display cases filled with personal artifacts of presidents including Gerald Ford, Franklin Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover and George Washington, and large display cases exhibiting dresses and personal objects worn by several first ladies, including Edith Roosevelt (Teddy’s wife), Elizabeth Monroe and Nancy Reagan.
• The Hall of Presidents building recalls the Federal-style civic buildings of Philadelphia.
• The theater seats 700 guests, with expanded seating areas for guests using wheelchairs.