Disney Tips Your Guide To A Great Disney Vacation
The characters that made the Walt Disney Studios lot worth walking through all summer have moved indoors.
That was always the plan, and it was always going to leave a gap. Since the courtyard opened in May, guests have encountered Rapunzel, Stitch, Chip ‘n’ Dale, and others roaming the area with no set locations, which is a genuinely different experience from a queue and a photographer. Roaming characters interact. They wander over. They surprise people.
Now those characters have designated spots inside The Magic of Disney Animation, which soft opened today at Disney’s Hollywood Studios ahead of its official September 14 debut.
So the question everyone had was what happens outside.
The answer arrived this morning, and it is more interesting than a straight replacement.
Who Is Roaming Now
Jiminy Cricket was out in the courtyard at 9:30 a.m. today.
He is not alone. The White Rabbit is alternating with Jiminy throughout the day, with each character roaming for roughly 30 minutes before switching.
That rotation is worth understanding if you are planning a visit. You are not choosing between them. Wait long enough in the right spot, and you will likely see both.
Both are also unusual choices in the best way. Jiminy Cricket and the White Rabbit are not characters guests encounter with any regularity at Walt Disney World, and that scarcity is exactly what makes a roaming appearance feel like a find rather than a stop on a checklist.
Alice Is Inside
One more character note from this morning.
Alice from Alice in Wonderland was inside at the Mary Blair-inspired Drawn to Wonderland playground, having a cup of tea with younger guests.
That placement is smart. Drawn to Wonderland is built on Mary Blair’s original concept art for Alice in Wonderland, so putting Alice herself in that space makes the whole thing cohere rather than feeling like a play area with a theme applied to it.
It also pairs neatly with the White Rabbit roaming outside, which suggests the character selection is more considered than it first appears.
Off the Page Character Locations
The roaming characters from summer now have permanent homes in the new meet-and-greet experience.
Off the Page organizes encounters around different stages of the animation process:
- Mulan in Story
- Rapunzel in Layout
- Chip ‘n’ Dale in Hand-Drawn Animation
- Donald and Daisy in CG Animation
- Goofy in Lighting
- Stitch in Effects
Those pairings are deliberate. Chip ‘n’ Dale in hand-drawn animation and Donald and Daisy in CG match the eras those characters came from, and Rapunzel in Layout sits in a space inspired by the multiplane camera.
What Else Is Inside
The soft opening gives guests access to the full attraction ahead of Monday.
Olaf Draws is an interactive drawing academy hosted by an advanced Audio-Animatronic Olaf, featuring recorded guidance from Disney artists who teach guests to draw iconic characters step by step. Disney has confirmed that this uses a Virtual Queue, and guests must sign up in person rather than through My Disney Experience.
Once Upon A Studio Theater screens the Emmy Award-winning short film, which brings more than 500 classic Disney characters together.
Drawn to Wonderland is the indoor play space for younger children, built on classic animation sketches and Alice’s world.
The Enchanted Art Gallery showcases artwork featuring Disney Animation characters. It appears to be a traditional gallery at first, then animated elements created for the experience bring the artwork to life.
Why the Soft Opening Matters for Your Plans
Soft openings are unannounced and can end without warning, so nothing about today guarantees access tomorrow.
But if you are at Hollywood Studios this weekend, it is worth walking over rather than assuming the attraction is still behind walls.
There is also a scheduling wrinkle worth knowing about well beyond opening weekend.
From September 14 through September 27, the attraction is scheduled to run hours matching the park. But beginning September 28, the currently posted schedule shows a shorter window of 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Hollywood Studios typically opens at 9:00 a.m., with Early Theme Park Entry at 8:30 a.m. for resort guests. That means the attraction would not be available during early entry or the first hour of regular operation, and would close roughly three hours before park closing on nights with a 9:00 p.m. schedule.
Disney can change posted hours, so that should be read as the current schedule rather than a permanent policy. But anyone planning a late-night Hollywood Studios visit after September 28 should build this into the day rather than saving it for the end.
The Name Is Back
Worth noting what today actually represents.
The original Magic of Disney Animation was an opening day attraction when the park launched as Disney-MGM Studios in May 1989. Guests watched actual Disney animators working on films, including The Lion King, Lilo and Stitch, and Mulan, through glass viewing windows, met characters, and took drawing classes.
That attraction closed permanently in July 2015. The space became Star Wars Launch Bay.
Eleven years later, the name is back in the same building, with a version built for a different generation.
What to Watch For
Character lineups during soft openings are not final, and the Jiminy Cricket and White Rabbit rotation could change before or after Monday.
That is part of the appeal. Roaming character selections tend to shift, and the courtyard has already demonstrated it will rotate through the Disney Animation catalog rather than settling on a fixed set.
For now, if you are heading to Hollywood Studios in the next few days, keep an eye on the courtyard. You may run into someone you have not seen in years.
Source: WDW News Today for the soft opening character observations.
