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The Magic of Disney Animation Soft Opened Three Days Early, and Disney's Own Website Still Says It Opens September 14
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The Magic of Disney Animation Soft Opened Three Days Early, and Disney's Own Website Still Says It Opens September 14

Michael Travels
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Disney's Hollywood Studios opened the doors of The Magic of Disney Animation on Friday morning, three days before the date Disney had been advertising since July.

WDWMagic reported it at 9:52am Eastern on September 11: "The Magic of Disney Animation has soft opened today at Disney's Hollywood Studios, three days ahead of its official September 14 opening date." WDW News Today, whose reporters were in line at 8:55am, put it the same way: "Officially set to open on September 14, The Magic of Disney Animation has actually soft opened today, September 11."

It was not a partial preview. By WDWMagic's account, guests "are able to walk in and experience all of the new experiences inside the building," a list that runs "Olaf Draws!, Off the Page! character meets, the Once Upon A Studio Theater, Drawn to Wonderland, and the enchanted art gallery."

The Olaf Draws! queue area inside The Magic of Disney Animation with about twenty guests standing in a chain stanchion switchback queue beneath a hanging carved wooden Olaf Draws! sign, framed character sketches on deep blue walls, and a lit digital display at right reading Olaf Draws! NEXT CLASS 5 MINUTES above a pencil sketch of Mickey's head labelled MICKEY MOUSE

The Olaf Draws! queue on soft opening day. The digital board at right counts down to the next class and names the character being taught, Mickey Mouse, and a hand lettered placard pinned to the hanging sign reads FREE CLASSES DAILY! Image: WDWMagic.

The waitlist we told you about was not switched on

We reported earlier this week that Olaf Draws! would use a virtual queue you cannot join from the My Disney Experience app, and that guests would have to walk up and put their names down in person. Blog Mickey describes the same system: Disney "has confirmed the experience will use an in-person virtual waitlist as needed to manage crowds during busy periods," with guests checking in at the attraction and receiving a "return time by text message" so they can leave and come back.

On Friday the waitlist was not in use. WDW News Today reported that "a virtual queue is not in use during our visit today" and that "Cast Members are letting guests physically join the queue and wait," which is what the photograph above shows: a conventional switchback, full of people.

WDW News Today notes the waitlist may sit unused when the standby line is manageable, and that the reason it exists at all is the size of the theater: "a virtual queue process may be needed for Olaf Draws due to the size of the theater." Each session runs about 10 minutes, per Blog Mickey.

The Olaf Draws! stage seen from the audience, with a deep blue curtain backdrop, an Olaf figure seen from behind seated in a teal rolling office chair at a wooden desk crowded with pencil cups, books, a desk fan and small character maquettes, and a large framed screen at right displaying the hand lettered Olaf DRAWS! logo above a credenza lined with grey maquettes

The Olaf Draws! stage. Olaf sits with his back to the audience at the animator's desk, with the lesson screen framed separately to one side. Image: WDW News Today.

Disney's own website has not caught up

Checked on Saturday afternoon, the official attraction page at Walt Disney World still presents the complex as unopened. The heading carries the line "Opening September 14!" and the times module reads "No times available." Disney does have a separate page for Olaf Draws! Animation Class, and it tells the same story: its heading carries "Opening September 14" and its times module also reads "No times available." Both pages are stale, not just the one.

Disney has not advertised the early opening on its own site, so the gap is not a surprise. It does mean a guest planning Saturday or Sunday from the website alone would not learn from those pages that the building is open, and there is no guarantee it stays open: WDWMagic notes that "soft openings are not guaranteed and can end at any time."

The courtyard characters moved indoors

The opening also rearranged the character lineup that has been working the Walt Disney Studios courtyard all summer. Those roaming meets have moved inside to the dedicated Off the Page! spaces. The courtyard itself, which Disney still lists as Animation Courtyard, did not empty out: WDWMagic reports that "Pluto, Jiminy Cricket and the White Rabbit are now appearing intermittently in the outdoor space."

WDW News Today found Alice meeting guests inside Drawn to Wonderland, the playground space. She is not one of the six Off the Page! meets Disney named in its July announcement, though Disney hedged there, listing "Some of the characters guests may meet." WDW News Today reports that Disney "has shared that guest feedback regarding roaming characters over the summer has been very positive," and reads the morning's extra faces as a direct response to it.

Alice in her blue dress and white pinafore leaning over an oversized tea party table set with pastel cups, saucers, sugar cubes and a large blue and white teapot, reaching toward a small girl in a pink romper and a black mouse ear headband, the scene lit in pink and green show lighting, with a THIS WAY arrow sign at upper left, flat colour Wonderland flora painted on the walls, guests seated on a bench at left and a woman filming at right

Alice at the tea table inside Drawn to Wonderland, the playground space. She is not one of the six characters Disney named for Off the Page! Image: WDW News Today.

What to watch

The official opening is still Monday, September 14. From September 28 the complex settles at 10am to 6pm. Before that it runs 9am to 9pm, apart from 8:30am openings on September 18 and 19. That is a four hour cut, and we covered it when the hours first posted. The thing worth watching between now and then is simple: whether the in person waitlist ever actually gets used, and if so, how early in the day it fills.

Sources

Image credits: Queue photograph by WDWMagic. Olaf Draws! stage and Drawn to Wonderland photographs by WDW News Today.

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