ORLANDO, Fla. _ When Walt Disney World's Hall of Presidents reopens, the new animatronic figure of Donald Trump will have a speaking role, the company said on its official theme parks blog.
The attraction, which opened with Magic Kingdom theme park in 1971, has been closed for renovations and updates since January. Since then, there was speculation about whether the new version of the Hall of Presidents would include a Trump speech.
"We have been working closely with the current White House _ just as we have with previous administrations _ and the president's recording session has been scheduled," a Tuesday post on Disney Parks Blog reads.
The item also says the attraction, located in the Orlando theme park's Liberty Square area, will reopen in "late 2017."
In May, Disney CEO Bob Iger said in an interview with CNN that a Trump speech would be in the attraction.
"We're hopeful that by the first anniversary of his election, he'll be there with the 44 other presidents that preceded him," Iger told CNN.
On Wednesday, Motherboard, part of the Vice news website devoted to technology, removed two stories claiming discord behind the scenes of the Hall of Presidents. It cited "several factual errors." A new post said there would a review of how its source was vetted.
A Disney spokeswoman had said the Vice report on the attraction was inaccurate.
Disney's general pattern has been to close the attraction after a new president is elected. Every sitting president since Bill Clinton entered office has had a speaking part, Disney says. Previous to that, most speaking duties fell to animatronic Abraham Lincoln as other presidential animatronics stood by.
This year, the attraction's renovation includes a new sound system, lighting and high-definition projection system. A multi-screen film, shown before the traditional in-order-of-election presidential roll call will be included "with an even wider vantage point of our country's history," the new blog post says.
