The United States election season is in full swing and inevitably some of the candidates end up in or near theme parks, fairs or carnival as part of their campaign. These are excellent places to meet with potential voters and get a great photo op. This is especially important in the age of social media where video is consumed in viral bite-sized pieces. Sometimes the visit is just a meeting at a hotel on property, occasionally a speech with iconic visuals like Obama in front of the castle at the Magic Kingdom, but every once and a while the politician will take in a thrill ride like Tim Walz or Sir Ed Davey! The point of this article isn’t to take political sides, but merely to point out some examples (both domestic and international) of politicians at theme parks, carnivals and fairs.

Probably the most prominent politician theme park connection was Ronald Reagan and Disney. Mr. Reagan hosted a live TV special on ABC for the Opening Day of Disneyland on July 17, 1955.  Mr. Reagan was an actor at the time (prior to becoming a politician later in life), but he remained involved with the parks. He was even part of Disney’s 35th anniversary TV special in 1990 after his presidency. Reagan also visited Disney World while being President, giving a speech at EPCOT in 1983. In a crazy quirk Reagan’s second inauguration celebration was actually held in EPCOT in May of 1985! The January 1985 inauguration in DC was marred by cold 7 degree weather, cancelling the outdoor parade that’s typically part of the event and resulting in the EPCOT makeup with the 50 bands originally invited to DC.

Other Presidents have visited Disney before, during or after their presidency including JFK, Nixon, Carter, Obama and others. Nixon was one of the biggest fans of the parks, attending the opening of the Disneyland monorail as Vice President and making several visits to the parks during his presidency. In an infamous moment, it was during an event at the Contemporary Resort at Walt Disney World that Nixon uttered his famous, “I’m not a crook” line! Here’s the video Nixon saying the line, but you’d never guess it was in a ballroom at the Contemporary. President Obama provided perhaps the most iconic image of a President at Disney, giving a speech about tourism in front of Cinderella’s Castle in 2012.

Touring plans.com has a great summary of Presidential visits to Disney, a pretty complete digest of visits before, during and after their presidency to the parks or just a hotel. One of my favorites was former President Jimmy Carter being able to take a jog in Disneyland one morning prior to the park opening. Maybe this was the beginning of the runDisney events? Disney is also famous for its “Hall of Presidents” attraction, so there are indeed many connections between politicians and the Disney parks.

Current politicians have also been involved with theme parks, fairs and carnivals. It seems nearly every politician takes advantage of State Fairs in order to meet and greet potential voters. They may indulge in some strange food or give a speech, but occasionally one will get on a ride. This includes current Minnesota Governor and Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz. Mr. Walz’s daughter Hope talked the Governor onto the slingshot ride at the Minnesota State Fair and the video is great!

The potential king of politicians on rides is Sir Ed Davey of the United Kingdom who was recently running for Prime Minister. Sir Davey is a member of the Liberal Democrats, a small centrist minority party that was considered highly unlikely to win. However, he is known for doing some extreme things to try to break through and gain attention. One of these things included a visit to England’s famous Thorpe Park where he partook in many of the rides. He even attempted to give a policy interview while riding the teacups attraction that you can see here. Sir Ed Davey is also a fun follow on X.com, he sincerely seems to love this stuff. John Oliver of HBO’s Last Week tonight even highlighted Sir Davey’s antics on a recent episode about UK politics and you can see his portion of the story around the 5:20 mark. Below is video where Sir Davey is riding an S&S Screamin’ Swing and a roller coaster!

The election in the USA is fast approaching. Although I doubt we’ll see Kamala Harris or Donald Trump getting on any rides in the next couple of months, perhaps we may yet see some politicians from lower level races gracing a park or fair. Be sure to register to vote and let us know if you see any politicians at your local parks!