New Disney World animation space gets an opening date
Walt Disney World's next new attraction now has its opening date.
Disney today announced that The Magic of Disney Animation will open September 14 to guests at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Located in the reimagined Walt Disney Studios land, TMDA takes over what most recently had been the Star Wars Launch Bay and long before that was the animation studios at the then-Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park.
I previewed the space for you last spring, if you want all the details: Step inside the Magic of Disney Animation.
Magic of Disney Animation building at Walt Disney World. Map courtesy Disney
Guests will find several new experiences inside the space, including the Olaf Draws! step-drawing class that's hosted by an animatronic Olaf with a Disney animator on screen providing instruction. There also will be character meets and a screening room for the Disney Company's 100th anniversary "Once Upon a Studio" short film. But the highlight for many families will be the small indoor playground and indoor, air-conditioned places to sit, which is in too-short supply at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
I expect The Magic of Disney Animation to become a fine little addition to the park, once the mob of annual passholders and Disney social media creators move on from it after the first couple of weeks.
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Replies (6)
Yeah, do we really need more space for meet'n'greets? I've been going to Disney regularly since I moved to Florida and have never once waited to meet a character. I cannot believe there is such a demand for it.
Russell: "1. As Robert notes, air conditioned space, particularly play/rest space for families with younger children, is desperately needed in this park."
Me: If you wanted to be accurate you would have written "is desperately needed in ALL parks".
V-Coaster: "Yeah, do we really need more space for meet'n'greets? I've been going to Disney regularly since I moved to Florida and have never once waited to meet a character. I cannot believe there is such a demand for it".
Me: Yeah, because you're the demographic Disney was targeting.
V-Coaster: "Yeah, do we really need more space for meet'n'greets? I've been going to Disney regularly since I moved to Florida and have never once waited to meet a character. I cannot believe there is such a demand for it".
Me: Yeah, because you're the demographic Disney was targeting.
TH - I would say that EPCOT has a decent amount of AC space, and the significant amount of vegetation at DAK reduces the need for indoor space, though that park could probably still use a few more indoor spaces with AC on really hot/humid days. The loss of RoA at MK creates a major need for AC space in that park, but DHS was the park most in need of cooled areas because the complete lack of trees and general use indoor public spaces.
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I foresee 2 issues with this addition.
1. As Robert notes, air conditioned space, particularly play/rest space for families with younger children, is desperately needed in this park. However, is there enough open square footage here to support that need? So much of this addition is rigid/active space, but will the play area be big enough and have enough space for parents to sit and relax while observing their little ones. This concept is very similar to Animation Academy at DCA, and when we were there a few weeks ago, there simply was not enough space in the lobby area for people who just wanted some AC or even sufficient space for the number of people queuing up for the drawing class. I'm pretty sure this is just repurposing of existing space from Launch Bay, One Man's Dream, and the old Animation Academy Theater, so there's not a ton of space to work with here.
2. The opening of this space will likely end the random roaming characters currently appearing in the outdoor courtyard. What makes Disneyland so much better than WDW is that character meets are so much more organic, and what Disney had brought to this courtyard space brought those lees rigid meet and greet experiences to guests. However, with designated, staged indoor meet and greet space, Disney may not feel the need to maintain the more organic meets currently occurring outside. If the character appearances in the courtyard continue after this opens, there's no problem, but I think Disney will cease the courtyard appearances the day the indoor spaces open.
I'm also a bit concerned that the drawing experience being led by a animatronic and pre-recorded animator will be cute initially but will suck the soul and uniqueness out of what DCA's Animation Academy (and the old drawing experience here) provides. Learning to draw a character (that's sometimes a mystery before you go in) from a live person feels far more authentic than a pre-programmed spiel, even if it's an impressive animatronic. It will be interesting to see how many different characters are offered here at first, because when we were in California, there were over 2 dozen different characters offered over our 2 days in the park.