Four new things open at Disney's Hollywood Studios on September 14. One of them is an animation class taught by a snowman.
Some context.
Look, Hollywood Studios has been the busiest park at Walt Disney World all year, and it is still not finished. Rock ‘n' Roller Coaster came back as a Muppets ride. The Mandalorian and Grogu turned up on Smugglers Run. Monstropolis got handed a 2027 opening timeline at D23.
Now, the last big drop of 2026.
The Magic of Disney Animation debuts September 14, taking over Star Wars Launch Bay. Which, in a genuinely funny twist, is the same space that replaced the original Magic of Disney Animation over a decade ago. Everything comes back around eventually.
And this is not one attraction. It is four, under one roof. Great for everybody, but make no mistake, little kids are the target here. Which matters in a park built almost entirely around thrill rides.
Olaf Draws
An animation class. Olaf is teaching it.
Guests learn to draw Disney characters in a room inspired by Olaf's scene in Once Upon A Studio, sitting at an animator's desk and figuring out how to draw for the first time.
He is a brand-new Audio-Animatronic, and Josh Gad came back to record original dialogue.
“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.
Here is the smart part. Every class features a different character, so there is an actual reason to do it more than once. And each one is paired 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 attached. That is what makes this different from every other draw-a-character session. Eric Goldberg teaching Genie is not a fun fact. That is the man who made the character move.
Off the Page
Character meets, except built around how animation actually gets made.
Six departments from the studio: Story, Layout, Hand-Drawn Animation, Computer Animation, Lighting, and Effects.
Characters can vary. Examples:
- Mulan in Story, posed in front of an oversized storyboard panel
- Rapunzel in Layout, in a setting inspired by the multiplane camera
- Chip n' Dale in Hand-Drawn Animation
- Donald and Daisy in CG Animation
- Goofy in Lighting
- Stitch in Effects
None of those pairings are random. Chip n' Dale in hand-drawn and Donald and Daisy in CG line up with the eras those characters came out of. Stitch in Effects is a bit that only works if you know him.
Rapunzel in a multiplane camera setup is the standout. That camera is real Disney animation history, and this teaches it without anybody standing there lecturing you.
Drawn to Wonderland
Parents, here is your part.
Indoor play area for the smallest guests. Oversized flower garden loaded with musical instruments, a Mad Tea Party play set, and a Tugley Wood exploration area, all pulled from Mary Blair's original concept art for Alice in Wonderland.
Two things about this.
It is indoors. Hollywood Studios has essentially no indoor play space, and September in Central Florida is punishing. Air conditioning plus somewhere for kids to run is a legitimate win for an afternoon.
Also, Mary Blair's artwork is gorgeous. So the adults get something worth looking at while the kids lose their minds.
Once Upon A Studio Theater
The theater screens the Emmy-winning short Once Upon A Studio, around which the entire attraction is built.
There are enhanced effects, too. Characters may appear inside the artwork along the theater walls, so you are in the story rather than watching it from a seat.
Never seen the short? It brings generations of Disney characters together in one space, and it absolutely works with a crowd in the room.
Why This Actually Matters
Hollywood Studios is a more thrilling park, and everybody knows it.
Rock ‘n' Roller Coaster. Tower of Terror. Slinky Dog Dash. Rise of the Resistance. Smugglers Run. Fantastic lineup. Most of it comes with a height requirement.
Families with small kids have always had fewer options here than at Magic Kingdom or Animal Kingdom.
This fixes it. Four experiences, no height requirements mentioned, indoor air conditioning, character meets, a play area, a theater, and a drawing the kid takes home in their hand.
It also finishes off the Walt Disney Studios Lot, which took over the old Animation Courtyard and opened a couple months ago. The Roy E. Disney Animation Building was the missing piece. September 14 is when it stops being missing.
