The Magic of Disney Animation returns to Hollywood Studios on September 14
Disney Parks confirmed a September 14 opening for The Magic of Disney Animation, a reimagined experience at Disney's Hollywood Studios. The building brings back drawing classes with an Audio-Animatronics Olaf, an Alice in Wonderland playground, character meet and greets, and a theater screening the short film Once Upon a Studio.
Disney's Hollywood Studios is putting animation back at the center of the park. Disney Parks confirmed that The Magic of Disney Animation opens September 14, reviving an experience the park retired a decade ago and giving it a new home in the reimagined Animation Courtyard. The building folds drawing classes, an Alice in Wonderland playground, character meet and greets, and a theater built around the short film Once Upon a Studio into one stop.
Key Details
- Experience: The Magic of Disney Animation, a reimagined animation attraction
- Park: Disney's Hollywood Studios, Walt Disney World
- Opening date: September 14, 2026
- Location: A new building at the center of the reimagined Animation Courtyard, modeled on the Roy E. Disney Animation Building
- Inside: Drawn to Wonderland, Off the Page character meets, Olaf Draws drawing classes, the Once Upon a Studio theater, and an Enchanted Art Gallery
- Source: https://disneyparksblog.com/wdw/disney-animation-inspired-experience-coming-to-disneys-hollywood-studios/
An animation home returns to the park
The original Magic of Disney Animation closed at Disney's Hollywood Studios in 2015, and the courtyard that carried its name has been without an animation attraction ever since. The new version reoccupies that ground in a building modeled on the Roy E. Disney Animation Building at the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank. Disney Parks confirmed the September 14 opening date after teasing the project earlier in the year.
The concept takes its cue from Once Upon a Studio, the Emmy-winning short that gathered characters from a century of Walt Disney Animation Studios films into one group portrait. That premise, characters coming to life while the animators step away, runs through the whole experience.
Drawing classes with an Audio-Animatronics Olaf
The returning centerpiece is the drawing class. In a section called Olaf Draws, Disney Animation artists walk guests through sketching characters while an Audio-Animatronics Olaf figure joins the lesson. Disney says the classes cover characters including Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and Donald Duck, keeping the guided, hand-drawn instruction that made the original a repeat stop for families.
Drawn to Wonderland
A new indoor playground called Drawn to Wonderland takes its look from Mary Blair's original concept art for Alice in Wonderland. The layout runs guests past the Mad Tea Party, the Mad Hatter's house, the Queen of Hearts' rose garden, and Tulgey Wood, translating Blair's flat, color-blocked style into a space visitors can walk through.
Character meets and a look behind the drawings
Meet and greets return under the banner Off the Page, with characters stationed across different studio departments. Disney lists encounters with Mulan, Rapunzel, Chip and Dale, Donald and Daisy, Goofy, and Stitch. A separate Enchanted Art Gallery is built around surprise, with Disney saying a favorite character may spring to life there in new animation created specifically for the space.
The Once Upon a Studio theater
A dedicated theater screens the Once Upon a Studio short with added effects, and character artwork lines the walls. It ties the experience back to the film that inspired it and gives guests a sit-down beat between the interactive stops.
What this means for park visitors
The September 14 date gives Hollywood Studios a concrete fall addition and returns a hands-on animation experience the park has gone without for a decade. Families who once sketched Mickey in the old studio, and newer guests who know the courtyard only as a walkway, both get a reason to spend time there again. Any timed-entry details will post at DisneyWorld.com closer to opening.