Disney has refuted stories describing tension at Disney
World over the installation of Donald Trump in the Hall of Presidents
attraction at the Magic Kingdom in Orlando, and the publication that
printed the stories has retracted them.
Vice Media's Motherboard reported that Disney would likely
revert to the pre-1993 version of the attraction, when only the Abraham Lincoln
and George Washington likenesses had spoken lines, as a way to avoid giving
lines to Trump.
In a Disney Parks Blog entry, editorial director Thomas
Smith wrote, "Despite some media reports to the contrary, President Trump
will have a speaking role in the Hall of Presidents, like every president since
1993."
Smith said Trump's recording session has been scheduled.
"We have been working closely with the current White
House -- just as we have with previous administrations," he wrote.
The Hall of Presidents is closed for refurbishment and is
due to reopen in late 2017. The attraction was last updated in 2009, when
Barack Obama's likeness was added.
Motherboard retracted two stories it published on the
subject, titled "Here's the Secret Backstage Trump Drama at Walt Disney
World's Hall of Presidents" and "Behind the Scenes of Disney's Donald
Trump 'Hall of Presidents.'" One was published in May and the other in
June.
Motherboard said it investigated the sourcing of the two
stories and discovered "several factual errors." The publication said
its source at Disney World who spoke about tension regarding the Trump
installation "did not have direct confirmation from anyone at Disney's
corporate level as originally reported."
Motherboard also said that Disney denied any tension at the
Hall of Presidents after its most recent story was published.