The Magic of Disney Animation soft opened this morning at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Jiminy Cricket and the White Rabbit are roaming the courtyard.
Some context.
Look, the characters that made the Walt Disney Studios lot worth walking through all summer have officially moved indoors.
That was always the plan. It was also always going to leave a hole.
Since the courtyard opened back in May, guests have been bumping into Rapunzel, Stitch, Chip ‘n' Dale, and others roaming around with no set locations. Which is a completely different experience than standing in a queue waiting on a photographer. Roaming characters actually interact. They wander over. They catch you off guard.
Now those characters have assigned spots inside the attraction, which soft opened today ahead of the official September 14 debut.
So the obvious question was what happens outside. The answer showed up this morning.
Who Is Out There Right Now
Jiminy Cricket was in the courtyard at 9:30 a.m. today.
And he is not alone. The White Rabbit is alternating with him throughout the day, each one roaming roughly 30 minutes before they swap out.
Worth knowing if you are heading over. You are not picking one or the other. Park yourself in the right spot long enough, and you will very likely get both.
Both picks are also genuinely unusual, which is the best part. Neither Jiminy Cricket nor the White Rabbit turns up with any regularity at Walt Disney World. That scarcity is exactly what makes a roaming appearance feel like a discovery instead of a checklist item.
And Alice Is Inside
One more from this morning.
Alice from Alice in Wonderland was inside at the Mary Blair-inspired Drawn to Wonderland playground, having a cup of tea with younger guests.
Smart placement. Drawn to Wonderland is built directly on Mary Blair's original concept art for Alice in Wonderland, so dropping Alice into that space makes the whole thing click instead of reading like a play area with a theme slapped on.
It also lines up perfectly with the White Rabbit roaming outside. These picks are more coordinated than they look.
Where Everybody Else Went
The summer roaming crew now has permanent homes inside Off the Page, organized around the stages of animation:
- Mulan in Story
- Rapunzel in Layout
- Chip ‘n' Dale in Hand-Drawn Animation
- Donald and Daisy in CG Animation
- Goofy in Lighting
- Stitch in Effects
None of those are random. Chip ‘n' Dale in hand-drawn and Donald and Daisy in CG line up with the eras those characters came out of, and Rapunzel sits in a Layout space built around the multiplane camera.
What Else Is Open
The soft opening gives you access to the whole attraction three days early.
Olaf Draws, an interactive drawing academy hosted by an advanced Audio-Animatronic Olaf with recorded guidance from actual Disney artists. Runs on a Virtual Queue, and you have to sign up in person, not through My Disney Experience.
Once Upon A Studio Theater, screening the Emmy-winning short that pulls more than 500 classic Disney characters into one film.
Drawn to Wonderland, the indoor play space for little kids built on classic animation sketches and Alice's world.
The Enchanted Art Gallery, showcasing Disney Animation artwork that looks like a normal gallery until animated elements made for the experience bring it to life.
Before You Run Over There
Soft openings are unannounced and can shut down with zero warning. Nothing today guarantees anything tomorrow.
But if you are at Hollywood Studios this weekend, walk over instead of assuming it is still behind walls.
There is also a scheduling catch worth knowing well beyond opening weekend.
September 14 through 27, it is scheduled to match park hours. Starting September 28, the currently posted schedule drops to 10:00 a.m. through 6:00 p.m.
Hollywood Studios usually opens at 9:00 a.m., with Early Theme Park Entry at 8:30 a.m. for resort guests. So the attraction would miss early entry and the first hour entirely, then close about three hours before a 9:00 p.m. park close.
Disney can change posted hours, so treat that as current rather than locked. Just do not save this one for the end of the night after the 28th.
The Name Is Back Where It Started
Worth recognizing what today actually represents.
The original Magic of Disney Animation was an opening day attraction when the park launched as Disney-MGM Studios in May 1989. Guests watched real Disney animators working on The Lion King, Lilo and Stitch, and Mulan through glass windows, met characters, and took drawing classes.
It closed permanently in July 2015. The space turned into Star Wars Launch Bay.
Eleven years later the name is back in the exact same building.
What Happens Next
Soft opening character lineups are never final. The Jiminy and White Rabbit rotation could easily change before Monday, or right after it.
Which is the whole appeal. Roaming selections shift, and this courtyard has already proven it will rotate through the Disney Animation catalog instead of settling on a fixed roster.
Going in the next few days? Keep an eye on that courtyard. You might run into somebody you have not seen in years.
Source: WDW News Today for the soft opening character observations.
