We were at MK when President Obama was visiting. We were staying at the Contemporary and had a PPO reservation at Crystal Palace and spent the entire day at MK afterward.
My biggest suggestions for everyone visiting that day, and the day before, would be to watch for communication from your resorts about park hours/events changes and try to be patient.
As a previous poster mentioned, when President Obama visited, they added tons of extra park hours to the other parks and added special entertainment and fireworks to try to draw people away from MK.
Also, don’t expect to get much of any info until the night before/morning of. They seemed to slow roll the info release, partially because the Presidential itinerary changes often, and keeping it secure until absolutely necessary helps with overall safety.
President Obama’s visit, and the resulting changes in security, access, and activities, did present some issues for our family’s plans. I will say that all of the cast members who were there were doing all they could to help make the best of things. They weren’t having a great day either. If everyone can be patient, and allow for extra time, you’re more likely to have a better experience.
The points below are specific to President Obama’s visit. Since the event President Trump is attending is at the GF, the may not be many changes in the parks. That said, if any of the first family is joining him, that might impact things.
We didn’t notice any transportation changes from the Contemporary to MK we took the monorail that morning to get to the MK for our ppo breakfast.
There was increased screening to get into the park...but back then there wasn’t as much security at the main gates.
We had more steps than was usual at the time, to get verified on the ppo reservation list to get into the park early, but it wasn’t a big hassle.
Because President Obama was making a speech from Main Street, they had done a heavy security sweep the night before on Main Street and that morning there was no traffic allowed to go down Main Street. The square was accessible as was city hall and the stroller rental location. They had massive walls up to divert traffic over to the side passage that they often use for party nights. Unlike party nights where they dump you out by Tomorrowland Terrace, they had an even more back path lined out that I think was actually a parking lot. They lined it with parade items to make a route, and it came out by the exit to Buzz.
That diversion was problem one for us... our kids were tiny and we didn’t have a stroller. It was fine on a normal park day (and we’re rope drop to fireworks people). But to start the day having the kids walk all the way around, through tomorrow land, through Fantasy land, past the HM and then down behind the castle, across the bridge, along the outer ring to get to the CP for breakfast was a trek. We stopped at city hall and shared our concern, and they gave us a voucher for a stroller.
So we get the stroller, do the trek, and get there..to find there is a huge line. Mrs. Obama and the girls were having breakfast at CP,and they weren’t done yet. Disney hadn’t canceled our ADR, or the ADRs of the other ppo breakfast guests, but they couldn’t let us inside until it was clear (I suspect that President Obama was their for breakfast too, but no one would confirm). So all these families,many with little kids are standing outside, and it’s January and freezing! We’re from Indiana, we’re used to cold, but it was unusually cold that morning. They had set up warm coffee, maybe even hot chocolate outside for us. Cast members were walking the line, checking on guests, and for those who were too cold, they actually walked over to nearby merch carts and pulled tags off blankets and other cold weather gear and gave them to guests. Yes we were freezing, and it totally was not how we wanted the day to start, but they were trying.
One other tip..if they do go to a park, and they drastically changed the traffic flow...guests will be more confused about where they’re going. Also areas of the park not built for the flow of entry traffic will be very congested.
Biggest scare of our day...our youngest DD was 3 that visit. We had ridden Buzz and the kids were looking around at the exit store. DD was right there with us, and she has never been a wanderer. The entrance traffic for all of MK had been diverted to that point, so the Buzz exit store was the first place after walking in from the makeshift path through the parking lot.
DH was talking to our older DD and DS was showing me something. DD3 was right next to me, and in a blink she was gone. Couldn’t have been more than 10 seconds since I had my eyes on her, but she was gone, and looking out the door, it was wall to wall people, moving at a constant flow.
Best we can figure, she followed some other mommy’s legs out the door...but the traffic was so heavy, in the 2 minutes she was gone, she’d traveled with the crowd almost to the bridge to Tomorrowland. It’s no one’s fault, and thankfully she was safe and found quickly...but totally the longest 2 minutes of my life.
Keep an extra eye on your group, and hold hands of younger kiddos, even for the kiddos you don’t normally need to.
Good luck to everyone visiting that week!
