Credit: Theme Park Tourist, FlickrDisney fans have an unusual attachment to opening day attractions. There is a thought that those attractions have a stronger connection to Walt Disney, even though at Disney World, Walt had passed before the park opened in 1971.
Disney caught hell earlier this year when it closed Rivers of America, one of Magic Kingdom’s opening-day attractions, leaving only a few remaining attractions in 1971. Among those are the Haunted Mansion, it’s a small world, Country Bear Jamboree (even though it’s undergone its own renovations), Dumbo the Flying Elephant, and The Jungle Cruise.
At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the pickings of opening day attractions are even slimmer: there are none. Gone are the Great Movie Ride, Backlot Tour, and the Earffel Tower. However, there was one remaining piece of Disney-MGM Studios lore that remained until this day, but that too is now gone.
The archway that marked the entrance to Animation Courtyard, once marked the entrance to the park’s animation studio and featured bas-reliefs of animators, has now been completely demolished. The archway was one of the last remaining holdovers from opening day at Disney-MGM Studios.
A few months ago, Disney announced that Animation Courtyard and Star Wars Launch Bay would be disappearing, and the early renditions removed the original archways from the park. The new area will be turned into the “Magic of Disney Animation. ” This will include drawing classes, new character meet-and-greet areas, and potentially the return of Mickey’s Sorcerer’s Hat to Hollywood Studios.
The area closed for construction at the end of September, and Disney announced the Art of Disney Animation will reopen sometime in 2026. This area will join the Muppet takeover of the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster opening in 2026.
Hollywood Studios, like Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, will undergo massive changes in the coming years, with the new Monstropolis replacing Muppet’s Courtyard and these two new projects coming soon. Unfortunately, to create these changes, Disney has to let go of one of the last remaining icons of Disney’s Hollywood Studios’ past.
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