Once upon a time, Disney celebrated its rich legacy of animation with a wonderful attraction at Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Studios (and before that, at Disney-MGM Studios). Excitingly, The Magic of Disney Animation will soon return to its former site just over a decade after it was seemingly closed for good.
The official Disney Parks Blog has announced Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Florida will welcome a re-imagined The Magic of Disney Animation experience in 2026.
The new immersive experience will be housed in the same building as its predecessor, which closed in 2015 to make way for Star Wars Launch Bay.
According to Disney, next year Star Wars Launch Bay will “transform into a place where kids and kids at heart can laugh, draw, dream, and explore animated new experiences.”
The House of Mouse says:
Inside, you will interact with and explore silly takes on the iconic Disney Animation headquarters, including the many different studio departments. Only this time, some of our favorite pals have taken over to create the fun adventures.
The playful and interactive moments will be around every corner. You’ll see portraits come to life before your eyes just like they did in ‘Once Upon A Studio;’ you’ll find inspiration with a short film (with a twist, of course); and you’ll even pencil in some time to learn how to draw your very own character sketch.
Other additions to the experience will include character greetings and a “Drawn to Wonderland” playground inspired by the art of Mary Blair, while the entire Animation Courtyard will be re-imagined to take visual inspiration from Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, Calif.
Animation Courtyard and Disney Jr. Play and Dance! will be closed beginning September 25, 2025 while the site undergoes renovation for the new experience. The newly opened The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure show, which has replaced the original Voyage of the Little Mermaid Show that closed in 2020, will remain open.
What Happened to Disney World’s Original Magic of Animation Attraction?
Opened alongside the Disney-MGM Studios theme park in 1989, the original Magic of Disney Animation at Animation Courtyard experience plunged guests into the exciting world of traditional (hand-drawn) animation.
The experience included a charming introductory live-action/animated hybrid short called “Back to Neverland,” which featured voice acting from the late Robin Williams as an energetic, animated Lost Boy years before he famously lent his voice to the Genie in Aladdin.
Guests were then taken on a tour of the Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida studio, which was housed in the same building, where they could get a firsthand look at the live process of traditional animation from behind glass and view animation artifacts such as real screen-used animation cels.
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Some of the film productions made at the Orlando studio included Lilo & Stitch, Brother Bear, and Mulan, as well as sequences for “Be Our Guest” (Beauty and the Beast) and “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” (The Lion King). The working studio at the park closed permanently in 2004.
Afterward, guests were treated to a short film as well as a finale montage of famous animated Disney moments called “Classic Disney.” In 1998, an expanded area of the attraction called Animation Academy opened. The experience allowed guests to draw their favorite Disney characters while guided by a Disney artist.
Sadly, the original Magic of Disney Animation closed for good in July 2015 to make way for Star Wars Launch Bay, three years after Disney acquired Lucasfilm.
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