A classic Disneyland attraction starring an audio-animatronic figure of President Abraham Lincoln will undergo an extensive refurbishment that will give the Great Emancipator a little TLC and improve the Main Street U.S.A. theater.
Disneyland filed building permits valued at $5 million with the city of Anaheim to replace show elements, lighting, audio and show systems on the Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln attraction in the Main Street Opera House, according to city records.
The city permit also indicates an existing platform will be replaced, a new turntable will be installed and mechanical, electrical and plumbing work will be performed on the attraction.
Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln closed April 16 for an extended refurbishment. A reopening date has not been set. The show will remain closed at least through June 19.
Disneyland is excited to be investing in Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln to keep the beloved experience looking great, according to Disneyland officials.
The Main Street Opera House theater is being improved and the President Lincoln audio-animatronic figure isn’t going anywhere, according to Disneyland officials.
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Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln was inspired by a pavilion exhibit at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair that displayed wax figures of all the U.S. presidents with recorded voice tracks explaining their roles in American history.
Walt Disney thought he could bring the presidents to life with Walt Disney Imagineering’s burgeoning audio-animatronic technology in the 1960s.
Disney signed an agreement to create a Lincoln animatronic as the centerpiece attraction in the Illinois state pavilion at the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair.
The Lincoln animatronic proved wildly popular among fairgoers. Audience members were convinced the blinking, breathing and even perspiring Lincoln animatronic was an actor rather than a robotic machine.
After the New York World’s Fair, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln was brought back to the Opera House at Disneyland.