Credit: gardener41, FlickrFor years, Disney’s Hollywood Studios has carried a reputation it never quite asked for: the half-day park. Guests love Galaxy’s Edge, Toy Story Land, and the thrills of Sunset Boulevard, but there has always been a lingering sense that the park is a collection of incredible lands searching for a complete identity. Ever since the Sorcerer’s Hat came down and the old Animation Courtyard began its slow transformation, Disney fans have been waiting for the day that the park’s identity finally comes alive again. That wait now has an end date.
Disney just announced when the new Walt Disney Studios section of the park will officially come to life, and it is the kind of news that changes Hollywood Studios for good. The Magic of Disney Animation, the centerpiece of the reimagined Animation Courtyard, now known as Walt Disney Studios, opens on September 14. This area invites kids to come play, puts beloved characters within arm’s reach, and teaches guests of all ages to draw like real animators. The park still has a ways to go before it feels truly complete, but this is a massive step in the right direction.
The Walt Disney Studios Lot Comes to Florida
The reimagined Animation Courtyard draws its inspiration from the Emmy Award-winning short film Once Upon A Studio, which imagined Disney Animation characters leaping off the screen and into the real Walt Disney Animation Studios lot in Burbank. The new courtyard recreates that campus atmosphere with details pulled straight from California, including Pluto’s Corner, all wrapped in a relaxed park-like setting built for families.
The area is already partially open. The Studio Theater continues to host The Little Mermaid: A Musical Adventure, and a neighboring soundstage now features Disney Jr. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live!, an interactive show where guests help Mickey and Minnie track down Goofy, Daisy, and Pluto for a Clubhouse celebration. Character surprises are hidden throughout the courtyard’s trees and lawns, so it pays to look closely.
What Opens September 14 Inside The Magic of Disney Animation
The headline act sits in the center of it all: a building inspired by the Roy E. Disney Animation Building in Burbank, complete with Mickey’s iconic Sorcerer Hat perched on top, just like the real one. Inside, The Magic of Disney Animation packs several experiences into one animation-obsessed destination.
Drawn to Wonderland is an immersive indoor playground inspired by Disney Legend Mary Blair’s original Alice in Wonderland concept art. Young guests can climb and explore through the Mad Tea Party, the Mad Hatter’s house, the Queen of Hearts’ rose garden, and the Cheshire Cat’s Tulgey Wood, all rendered in Blair’s bold colors and whimsical shapes. It gives little ones a place to burn off energy while parents stay fully engaged in the storytelling.
Off the Page! transforms character meet and greets into a tour of the animation process itself. Guests might find Mulan in the Story department posing before an oversized storyboard, Rapunzel in Layout surrounded by a multiplane camera setting, Chip ‘n’ Dale in Hand-Drawn Animation, Donald and Daisy in Computer Animation, Goofy in Lighting, and Stitch in Effects. Each encounter doubles as a photo opportunity and a lesson in how films get made.
Olaf Draws! might be the sleeper hit. A brand-new Audio-Animatronics Olaf hosts drawing classes from an animator’s desk, recreating his memorable moment from Once Upon A Studio. Guests sketch step by step with recorded guidance from real Disney Animation artists, with a rotating roster that includes Mickey Mouse, taught by director Dan Abraham; Genie, with legendary animator Eric Goldberg; Moana, with story artist Samantha Vilfort; and Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde, with Zootopia director Byron Howard. Josh Gad recorded original Olaf dialogue for the experience, saying he hopes a new generation of kids can begin their animator dreams right on the studio lot.
The Once Upon A Studio Theater rounds out the lineup, screening the short that inspired everything with enhanced in-theater effects, while an enchanted art gallery nearby brings classic character artwork to life with exclusive new animations.
A Step Toward a Complete Hollywood Studios
September 14 will not finish the job on its own. Hollywood Studios still has gaps to fill before it sheds the half-day label entirely, and every fan is watching for the same next domino: news on the rumored Monsters Inc. land. Nothing on that front has been announced, but a fully realized Animation Courtyard makes the park’s future feel closer than it has in years.
For now, the countdown is on. Come September, kids will be climbing through Wonderland, families will be drawing alongside Olaf, and the heart of Hollywood Studios will beat again under a Sorcerer Hat. The park is not complete yet, but for the first time in a long time, it is heading somewhere whole.
