Disney Tips Your Guide To A Great Disney Vacation
Disney’s Hollywood Studios just welcomed one of its most significant new experiences in years.
The Magic of Disney Animation officially opened on September 14, replacing the long-closed Animation Courtyard with a multi-part experience built around drawing, character encounters, and Disney’s animated legacy. During its opening stretch, the building will operate on a generous schedule. That’s about to change, and guests planning a visit later this month should take note before they build their touring plan around it.
Disney Cuts Four Hours From the Daily Schedule
Opened on September 14, The Magic of Disney Animation has run from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., giving guests a full 12 hours to experience everything inside. Starting September 28, that schedule shrinks considerably. The building will instead operate from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., an eight-hour window that represents a 33% reduction in daily availability.
The change affects guests in two directions at once. Early risers who show up at Hollywood Studios’ opening will no longer be able to walk straight into the building, since it won’t open until an hour after most guests are already inside the park. On the other end, anyone hoping to swing by in the evening, after dinner reservations or nighttime entertainment, will find the doors already closed.
Disney has not given a public reason for the reduction. It’s worth noting that the current 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. hours were tied to the attraction’s preview and opening period, and reduced hours following an initial run are not unusual for new Disney experiences. Still, a 33% cut this soon after debut is a notable one for guests who built plans around the longer schedule.
Olaf Draws Reportedly Struggles to Find an Audience, Loses Its Virtual Queue
The hours aren’t the only sign that Disney may be recalibrating expectations for the new space. According to a post on X (formerly Twitter) from user @Mattlegostar2, Olaf Draws — the drawing experience built around an Audio-Animatronics Olaf — did not draw the crowds Disney was reportedly expecting, and the attraction’s virtual queue option was dropped on opening day itself.
Olaf Draws is NOT using Virtual Queue on opening day (10 minute wait) despite being advertised it would use one.
You are free to walk up and join the line!
In Olaf Draws, guests are guided in drawing their own Disney animated characters by an Audio-Animatronics version of Olaf from the Frozen franchise. Lessons are structured around techniques from actual Disney Animation artists, giving the experience an instructional bent alongside the character interaction.
Alongside Olaf Draws, guests can also experience a number of other attractions, including Drawn to Wonderland, the Disney Once Upon a Studio Theater, and Off the Page!
The 6 p.m. Closing Could Change Guests’ Hollywood Studios Plans
Hollywood Studios already asks a lot of its guests in terms of time management, between headline attractions, live shows, dining reservations, character experiences, and nighttime entertainment. Fitting a new multi-part experience into that mix was already going to take some planning.
The new hours make planning more restrictive. A 10 a.m. opening means guests can’t head straight to the building first thing in the morning, and a 6 p.m. closing takes it off the table as a late-day or evening option entirely. For guests who want to experience more than one component inside — say, both Olaf Draws and the Once Upon a Studio Theater — the effective window to do so gets considerably tighter.
The shorter hours are notable partly because of how long guests waited for this corner of the park to reopen at all. Disney announced its plans for the redeveloped Walt Disney Studios Lot back in July 2025. The former Animation Courtyard permanently closed that September to make way for construction.
The redesigned courtyard reopened in May 2026, but The Magic of Disney Animation remained unavailable, leaving one of the area’s headline draws still under wraps. Disney later confirmed the September 14 opening date, following a run of cast member previews in early September.
What This Means for You
If a visit to The Magic of Disney Animation is on your Hollywood Studios itinerary for late September or beyond, don’t save it for the evening. Once the new hours take effect on September 28, the experience will only be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. — four fewer hours than during its opening weeks.
Guests hoping to fit in Olaf Draws, Off the Page, Drawn to Wonderland, and the Once Upon a Studio Theater in one visit should plan to arrive earlier in the day rather than treating it as a nighttime stop. And with the reports about Olaf Draws’ virtual queue, that experience in particular may be worth checking on before you arrive, since guest access to it appears to be evolving rapidly even now.
How do you feel about this new space at Disney’s Hollywood Studios? Let us know in the comments down below!
