Disney has revealed full details of what's inside The Magic of Disney Animation - the new collection of animation-inspired experiences opening at Disney's Hollywood Studios. The map below gives you the layout, and below is a breakdown of everything confirmed so far.
The attraction is housed in a building styled on the real Roy E. Disney Animation Building in Burbank, California - the actual headquarters of Walt Disney Animation Studios. It replaces the former Star Wars Launch Bay, which closed in September 2025 to make way for the transformation. The outdoor Walt Disney Studios courtyard area opened on 26th May 2026, with the full indoor experience following in late summer.
Worth adding: if you're planning a Walt Disney World trip around this, late summer 2026 is the target window. UK school summer holidays run through to early September, so the timing lines up reasonably well - though exact opening dates haven't been confirmed yet. Check availability and prices for Walt Disney World this summer here. There's also an offer for this summer too which you can check out here.
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Drawn to Wonderland - The Indoor Playground
Starting with the one aimed squarely at younger visitors - "Drawn to Wonderland" is an immersive indoor playground inspired by the original Alice in Wonderland concept art from Disney Legend Mary Blair. If you're not familiar with Blair's work, she was the artist behind the bold, flat colour style that defined the 1951 film - think vivid pinks, greens and geometric shapes rather than painterly realism.
The playground covers the Mad Tea Party, the Mad Hatter's house, the Queen of Hearts' rose garden and the Cheshire Cat's Tulgey Wood. Disney's framing of it is that it's "designed especially for little ones", which suggests it's pitched at the under-sevens crowd rather than older kids. For families with a mix of ages, it at least gives parents somewhere to sit while the little ones run themselves into the ground - which, honestly, is often what you need at hour six of a theme park day.
Off the Page! - Character Meets Across the Animation Process
"Off the Page!" is the character meet area, structured around the different departments of an animation studio. Each space highlights a stage of the animation process and pairs it with a character encounter.
Confirmed characters and their locations within the experience:
- Mulan - Story
- Rapunzel - Layout
- Chip 'n' Dale - Hand-Drawn Animation
- Donald and Daisy - Computer Animation
- Goofy - Lighting
- Stitch - Effects
Olaf Draws! - The Drawing Class Attraction
This is the headline experience of the lot. "Olaf Draws!" is a new attraction - Disney's calling it an Audio-Animatronics experience - where a physical Olaf figure hosts a drawing class led by real Disney animation artists via pre-recorded sessions.
Josh Gad has recorded original dialogue for the experience, so it's not recycled film audio. The classes cover a range of characters taught by the artists who actually worked on them:
- Mickey Mouse - Dan Abraham (director, Once Upon A Studio)
- Minnie Mouse - Hyun Min Lee (animator, Frozen 2)
- Donald Duck - Austin Traylor (animator, Moana 2)
- Genie - Eric Goldberg (animator, Aladdin)
- Moana - Samantha Vilfort (story artist, Encanto)
- Stitch - Fawn Veerasunthorn (director, Wish)
- Olaf - Trent Correy (director, Frozen 3)
- Ursula - Michael Woodside (animator, Big Hero 6)
- Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde - Byron Howard (director, Zootopia 2)
The drawing element is something Disney has offered in various forms over the years - the original Animation Academy ran at Hollywood Studios for years before closing in 2015. The difference here is the Audio-Animatronics Olaf hosting it, and the involvement of named artists rather than cast members working from a script.
Once Upon A Studio Theater
"Once Upon A Studio" is a 2023 short film that won the Emmy for Outstanding Short Form Animated Program - it brought together over 500 Disney characters to mark the studio's 100th anniversary, and it's genuinely one of the better things Disney has produced in recent years. The dedicated theater here plays the film with enhanced in-room effects, and apparently characters appear within the artwork on the theater walls as the film plays.
It's a short film - around eight minutes - so don't expect this to eat much of your day, but it's the kind of thing that lands differently on a big screen with effects than it does on Disney+.
The Enchanted Art Gallery
Rounding out the confirmed experiences is an art gallery displaying original Disney Animation artwork. Disney's description suggests it looks like a traditional gallery at first glance, with an added layer of animations that bring the artwork to life - so portraits moving, characters stepping out of frames, that kind of thing. Details are light on this one at present.
What UK Visitors Need to Know
The Magic of Disney Animation is included in standard Hollywood Studios admission - there's no separate ticket or Lightning Lane requirement confirmed at this stage, though that could change closer to opening. It's being positioned as a walk-through collection of experiences rather than a single ride, so queue dynamics will be different to a traditional attraction.
For anyone planning a trip specifically around this, late summer 2026 is the window to aim for. Flights from major UK airports to Orlando are available year-round, though prices typically rise during the school summer holidays. Search for flights to Orlando here.
Full Walt Disney World package pricing for UK guests - including flights, hotel and tickets - is available through Disney Holidays. Check prices and availability for your dates here. If you're after standalone park tickets, FloridaTix often offers competitive pricing on Walt Disney World tickets.
For the latest Walt Disney World deals available to UK guests, see our regularly updated offers guide here.
