Walt Disney World announced it will host “Portraits of Courage: A Commander’s Tribute to America’s Warriors,” a special exhibit from the George W. Bush Institute, for a 12-month gallery inside The American Adventure pavilion. This post shares details and dates of the installation, plus our commentary about this addition to EPCOT.
Growing out of President George W. Bush’s personal commitment and the ongoing work of the Bush Institute’s Veterans and Military Families program, the exhibit at EPCOT brings together more than 60 full-color portraits painted by President Bush of service members and veterans who have served the nation with honor since 9/11. President George W. Bush has come to know these veterans personally since leaving office.
“Celebrating those who give so much to our country has been part of the fabric of The Walt Disney Company throughout our 100-year history,” said Josh D’Amaro, Chairman, Disney Experiences. “We’re grateful to the Bush Institute for allowing us to feature this special collection and share it with our guests.”
Each painting is accompanied by the inspiring story of the veteran depicted and Walt Disney World guests visiting the exhibit will learn more about these military heroes’ journey. These include tales of valiant service on the battlefield, resilience in recovering from injury to the continued leadership and contributions they make in their post-military careers. Even better is that each story was personally written by President Bush himself.
“We are thrilled Portraits of Courage will be on display for EPCOT visitors to experience this year,” said Ken Hersh, President and CEO of the George W. Bush Presidential Center. “My hope is that those who have the opportunity to see this special exhibit will also remember the leadership, service, and sacrifice behind each of the heroes painted and the unique challenges our servicemembers and their families face when transitioning out of the military.”
“Portraits of Courage: A Commander’s Tribute to America’s Warriors” by President Bush will open in the American Adventure on June 9, 2024 and will run for approximately 12 months. This exhibit starts the day before CommuniCore Hall opens, and the new Encanto sing-along debuts at EPCOT.
The exhibit at EPCOT will also include information and resources created to support post 9/11 veterans and their families. One of those resources, called Check-In, is a tool for veterans and their families to easily connect to no cost, high-quality, mental and brain health care. To learn more about Check-In, visit Veterancheckin.org.
Walt Disney World indicates it has much more in store over the coming weeks as the company recognizes National Military Appreciation Month. This includes Disney Consumer Products hosting a series of Disney VoluntEARS events alongside the Disney SALUTE veteran employee resource group in both Glendale, CA and Orlando, FL to assemble 4,000 USO care packages for deployed military service members. The USO Care Package Program is designed to provide service members with a connection to home while they are serving overseas in challenging conditions.
The Walt Disney Company has worked with the USO since 2003 on various initiatives such as care packages, family room renovations, USO/character tours and movie screenings. By the end of the month, the Disney VoluntEARS will have had the honor of assembling an astonishing 16,000 care packages this year so far for deployed military service members.
We look forward to celebrating National Military Appreciation Month with additional events leading up to us welcoming back the Department of Defense Warrior Games to Walt Disney World from June 21 to 30, 2024.
Turning to commentary, I love this. That would be equally true if former Presidents Carter or Clinton had painted these portraits–or if “Portraits of Courage: A Commander’s Tribute to America’s Warriors” were by no president at all. From my perspective, this has absolutely nothing to do with politics. It’s about Disney honoring veterans with a portrait gallery of service members.
Admittedly, I do think it’s particularly cool that these are by a president; there’s a certain cachet that comes with a former president having painted these portraits that wouldn’t be the case if it were the same art by someone else. These being by President Bush will attract more attention than if this gallery were by an unknown artist, which is a good thing–the more eyeballs, the better.
Exhibits like this–and really, the American Adventure as a whole–are exactly what the United States needs more of in these unnecessarily charged and polarized times. Exercises in patriotism instead of politics that remind us of our shared history and how, even today, we’re more alike than we are different. It seems like everywhere you look, there’s an inclination to foment rage–so this is thoughtful counterprogramming to that.
I’m also really pleased to see Walt Disney World doing this, especially at a time when the company has become more of a frequent fixture of culture wars and, as a result, erroneously accused of being unpatriotic (and more) in some circles. To anyone who actually visits Walt Disney World or Disneyland, that’s obviously nonsense.
Few Americans ever were more patriotic than Walt Disney. He was so distinctly patriotic that he even attempted to join the Army in 1918 but was rejected for being too young. Walt Disney went on to serve his country in many ways, and that legacy is still carried on at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland to this day.
Entire lands like Main Street USA or Liberty Square are, in my view, patriotic. Then there are the more overt attractions, like Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, The American Adventure, and Hall of Presidents. I would also argue that Carousel of Progress, Electrical Water Pageant, and more are patriotic. There are a variety of little ways that Disney celebrates America that go unnoticed by most guests.
We make a point of spending every Fourth of July in the parks, in large part because I can think few places more patriotic than Disney. (Okay okay, and the fireworks.) Last year was our first time doing Disneyland in a while, and I was a bit taken aback by just how many military bands were performing in both parks (Anaheim is fairly close to San Diego, so it makes sense). There were also tons of photo ops celebrating America and flag retreat was particularly poignant that day.
The bottom line is that if there are more patriotic theme parks than Disney, I haven’t visited them. And what separates Walt Disney World and Disneyland from other ostensibly patriotic parks is that it’s substantive and not superficial window dressing. Disney showcases what it really means to be patriotic in sincere and thoughtful ways.
The last few years have been fraught with controversy and political standoffs between Disney and both California and Florida, leading some to question the company’s values. But the reality is that Disney has always been patriotic, and patriotism is not the same as politics. Sometimes it’s good to have a reminder of that distinction.
Before wrapping this up, we’ll put a plug in to check out the 2024 U.S. Military Salute Ticket & Resort Discounts at Walt Disney World. If you’re active or retired US military personnel, you are eligible for some of the very best discounts. Don’t even bother with the general public special offers, as the military ones are always superior savings.
Even with those excellent resort room rates, you might instead check out our review of the excellent Shades of Green Resort. My dad is retired military, and we typically stayed at Shades of Green (once it existed) when I was growing up. We’ve stayed there again in the last several years, and it was looking great thanks to its last overhaul.
My parents have stayed at Shades of Green even more recently, and my dad still loves it. He prefers to stay there for the camaraderie and since (how to put this delicately…) children tend to be more disciplined there, and he has some strong opinions on that. He doesn’t really do rides anymore, so I’m pretty positive he wouldn’t want to visit Walt Disney World if it weren’t for the hotel!
Shades of Green is located in the Magic Kingdom area, but sadly is no longer walkable from Disney’s Polynesian Resort. Since Shades of Green used to be a Disney-owned Deluxe Resort, its rooms are significantly larger than Value or Moderate Resorts. Additionally, the food is much more reasonably priced. Prices at Shades of Green are based upon military-ranking.
Ultimately, it’s good to see Walt Disney World once again honor veterans and shine a light on the stories of service members featured in President Bush’s portraits. Too often, the military is viewed as an abstraction and people aren’t aware of the sacrifices these individuals and their families have made for our country.
This exhibit should help humanize them, and is absolutely in the spirit of EPCOT Center’s mission of edutainment. And personally, I think it’s just really cool to have a former president’s artwork on display at Walt Disney World. I’m honestly more excited to see this than all of the other stuff opening at EPCOT on the next day.
My personal excitement aside, I’m glad Disney is doing this. It should be a needed win that’ll be well-received by wide swaths of the general public, and comes at a time when Disney has had plenty of PR own-goals. This exhibit should prove powerful and will help generate goodwill among not just members of the military–but also those in the general public who appreciate the fact that the Walt Disney Company continues to live up to its historic legacy of honoring service.
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Your Thoughts
Do you have any thoughts on “Portraits of Courage: A Commander’s Tribute to America’s Warriors” by President George W. Bush? Looking forward to seeing the former president’s gallery of portraits, or are you distinctly unpatriotic? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
