Disney’s Hollywood Studios has been the busiest park at Walt Disney World this year. Not done yet.
Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster came back with the Muppets. The Mandalorian and Grogu joined Smugglers Run. Monstropolis picked up a 2027 timeline at D23.
Now, the last big opening of 2026.
On September 14, The Magic of Disney Animation debuts at Hollywood Studios, replacing Star Wars Launch Bay. Which itself replaced the original Magic of Disney Animation more than a decade ago. Full circle, and longtime fans will enjoy that.
It is four experiences, not one. Something for every age, but this is going to land hardest with young kids. That matters in a park built mostly around thrill rides.
An animation class taught by Olaf.
Guests learn to draw Disney characters in a space inspired by Olaf’s moment in Once Upon A Studio, sitting at an animator’s desk, discovering drawing for the first time.
Olaf is a brand-new Audio-Animatronic. Josh Gad recorded original dialogue for it.
“I’m so thrilled that a whole new generation of kids can dream of becoming animators one day and can actually begin their journey right there on the studio lot,” Gad said.
Each class features a different character, so there is reason to come back. Everyone pairs with a real Disney Animation artist:
Mickey Mouse, Dan Abraham, director (Once Upon A Studio, Baymax!)
Minnie Mouse, Hyun Min Lee, animator (Frozen 2, The Princess and the Frog)
Donald Duck, Austin Traylor, animator (Once Upon A Studio, Moana 2)
Genie, Eric Goldberg, animator (Aladdin, Hercules)
Moana, Samantha Vilfort, story artist (Encanto, Zootopia 2)
Stitch, Fawn Veerasunthorn, director and head of story (Wish, Raya and the Last Dragon)
Olaf, Trent Correy, director (Once Upon A Studio, Frozen 3)
Ursula, Michael Woodside, animator (Big Hero 6, Encanto)
Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde, Byron Howard, director (Zootopia, Zootopia 2)
Real artists with real credits are what separates this from a generic drawing class. Eric Goldberg on Genie is not trivia. He is the person who made the character move.
Credit: Disney
Off the Page
Character meets are organized by how animation actually works.
Six departments from the animation studio: Story, Layout, Hand-Drawn Animation, Computer Animation, Lighting, and Effects.
Characters may vary, but examples include:
Mulan in Story, in front of an oversized storyboard panel
Rapunzel in Layout, in a setting inspired by the multiplane camera
The pairings are deliberate. Chip n’ Dale, in hand-drawn, and Donald and Daisy, in CG, match the eras those characters came from. Stitch in Effects is a joke that works if you know him.
Rapunzel in a multiplane camera setting is the best of the bunch. That camera is genuine Disney animation history, and this teaches it without a lecture.
Credit: Disney
Drawn to Wonderland
Parents, this is your section.
An indoor play area for the youngest guests, with an oversized flower garden full of musical instruments, a Mad Tea Party play set, and a Tugley Wood exploration area. All inspired by Mary Blair’s original concept art for Alice in Wonderland.
Two things.
It is indoor. Hollywood Studios has almost no indoor play space, and September in Central Florida is brutal. Air conditioning plus somewhere for kids to burn energy is a real win.
And Mary Blair’s art is stunning, so parents get something worth looking at while the kids run.
Once Upon A Studio Theater
The theater shows the Emmy-winning short Once Upon A Studio, which the whole attraction is built on.
Enhanced effects come with it. Characters may appear within the artwork on the theater walls, putting you inside the story instead of just watching.
If you have not seen the short, it brings generations of Disney characters together in one space and plays beautifully with a crowd.
Why It Matters Here
Hollywood Studios is a thrill park.
Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. Tower of Terror. Slinky Dog Dash. Rise of the Resistance. Smugglers Run. Strong lineup, and most of it comes with height requirements.
Families with small kids have had fewer options here than at Magic Kingdom or Animal Kingdom.
Credit: Erica Lauren, Disney Fanatic
This fixes that. Four experiences, no height requirements mentioned, indoor air conditioning, character meets, a play area, a theater, and a drawing kids take home.
It also completes the Walt Disney Studios Lot, which replaced the old Animation Courtyard and opened a couple of months back. The Roy E. Disney Animation Building is the missing piece, and September 14 fills it.
