Disney Is Reopening the Building It Emptied Out

Walt Disney World is opening a new Disney Animation experience at Hollywood Studios on 14 September, anchoring a reimagined Animation Courtyard that has spent years as one of the quieter and less-visited corners of the park. The new Magic of Disney Animation takes its design cues from the Walt Disney Animation Studios lot in Burbank, California, and combines interactive spaces, character encounters and animation-themed exhibits in a single walkthrough area rather than a single ride, which puts it closer in spirit to what stood on the site before than to anything Disney has built there since.

Three named components make up the offer. Off the Page! lets visitors meet Disney characters in areas modelled on different stages of animation production, moving guests through the pipeline from sketch to finished film as a physical journey. Olaf Draws! is a drawing session in which visitors learn to render characters with guidance from Disney Animation artists, reviving a format that older Hollywood Studios visitors will remember fondly from the park’s original animation tour. Drawn to Wonderland provides an indoor space within the reimagined courtyard.

The opening lands alongside a broader spring 2027 push at the resort. Disney used the same announcement to reveal special offers for spring 2027 and to confirm the return of several seasonal events across the theme park, giving planners a reason to look at a season that is normally booked late. For visitors already holding tickets for the coming weeks, the more immediate news is simply that a new attraction opens within days rather than years, which is a rarity in theme park announcements.

Animation Courtyard has been an awkward space since the original Magic of Disney Animation attraction closed in 2015, leaving a section of the park defined mostly by character meet-and-greets and the Star Wars Launch Bay. Reinstating an animation-focused experience gives the area a coherent theme again and restores something Hollywood Studios lost when it pivoted toward franchise lands. Whether it draws crowds away from Galaxy’s Edge and Toy Story Land is a different question, but the courtyard finally has a reason for visitors to walk into it.

Sources: TravelPulse, Disney Parks Blog