Excuse Me Mr. President

Hail to the Chief...we have chosen for the nation...ba da da da...da da da da da da dah...

After a nice long lengthy refurb, it appears the Hall of Preidents is now open for soft openings. There are quite a few new updates to this attraction and I thought we'd go through and talk about them as we get ready to unveil this attraction on an official basis.

First, they have changed the name, slightly. It will now be called The Hall of Presidents: A Celebration of Liberty's Leaders. This, I believe is a nice touch. They have also changed the emphasis a bit of this new version. It is less of an American History lesson and more focus is placed on the Presidents themselves and their achievements and of course, the history of the Presidency. Again, this should be a nice change to the show. It will hopefully distinguish itself as being unique from the American Adventure show at Epcot. And of course, as rumored, Morgan Freeman is now doing the voice over for the movie.

During the show, they seemed to have switched things up a bit more as well. They start with what they always have, talking about how our country was founded all the way up to the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln. The Abraham Lincoln AA will still talk, but it has now been moved up and will take place during the portion of the movie where he is talked about, not at the very end, like it had been. From what I can tell from reports, the center screen lifts and curtains wrap around Lincoln and he stands alone in the center of the stage giving his speech, as always.

From there, we go into learning about some of the Presidents after the Civil War up until the present point and some of the trials and tribulations that occurred under their terms, using both photos and film blended together to help further the story.

After that, the stage opens up and they do the roll call of all the past Presidents of the United States of America, just as they always have done. They have now been positioned so that there is much less ping ponging around, as the Presidents are more clustered together now. This, personally, I will enjoy a lot. It will make it a lot easier to actually see the President they are announcing.

From there, George Washington will get up and goes into his thoughts and then transitions to talking about the oath of the Oval Office, where then President Barrack Obama will then stand up, recite the oath and then go on with a speech that was written for him specifically for the show.

In all, it sounds like a really great update to a classic attraction and something I am very excited to see when I go back down in September. And of course, at this patriotic time in our country, with the Fourth of July around the corner, sometimes it's nice to be reminded as to just how great our country is, and I truly believe this new incarnation of the ride will accomplish that feat.