Theme Park Scope

It looks like the animators have left the building, and Disney characters are wasting absolutely no time taking over.

We’re getting closer to the opening of The Magic of Disney Animation at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and another important finishing touch has officially arrived outside the attraction.

Walt Disney Imagineering has installed a new “Open House” banner at the entrance to the experience, which officially opens to guests on September 14, 2026. While it may look like another piece of colorful Disney signage at first glance, this one actually helps establish the storyline behind the entire attraction.

The banner hangs beneath the Walt Disney Animation Studios-inspired entrance lettering and is surrounded by a lineup of familiar Disney characters, including Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, the Mad Hatter, Flounder, Tinker Bell, Moana, and the Lost Boy portrayed by Robin Williams in Back to Neverland.

Several characters are holding paintbrushes and painting supplies, making it look as though they’ve been responsible for creating and hanging the banner themselves.

And that’s not just a cute photo opportunity. It’s part of the story.

The premise of The Magic of Disney Animation is that the building normally serves as a bustling animation studio inspired by the real Walt Disney Animation Studios campus in Burbank, California. But the animators have temporarily stepped away.

Their characters, meanwhile, have come to life. And apparently they’ve decided to hold an open house. The new banner essentially serves as the characters’ invitation for guests to come inside and explore the studio while the humans aren’t around.

It also connects directly to the inspiration behind the entire project: Disney Animation’s Emmy Award-winning short Once Upon a Studio, which imagines Disney characters coming to life inside the animation building once the employees have left for the day. Disney says its Animation artists and Walt Disney Imagineers have worked together to bring that same blend of nostalgia, creativity, and character interaction into the new Hollywood Studios experience.

There’s even a particularly deep-cut piece of Disney-MGM Studios history hiding among the characters.

The Lost Boy included in the entrance display is based on Robin Williams’ character from Back to Neverland. That animated/live-action short was part of the original animation tour at Disney-MGM Studios beginning in 1989 and featured Williams being transformed into an animated Lost Boy as Walter Cronkite explained the animation process. The attraction remained part of the park’s animation experience until 2003.

Bringing that character back to the very place where Disney is once again putting animation at the center of this corner of Hollywood Studios is a pretty wonderful nod for longtime park fans.

And the banner isn’t the only sign that Disney is getting close to opening day.

The plaza surrounding the entrance is increasingly looking finished. A curved green planter wall now borders the reddish-tan paved courtyard, while young trees have been installed around the space. “Wet Paint” signs were still visible along portions of the planter when the new banner was photographed, showing that Imagineering is continuing to put the final touches on the area.

There has also been a physical change to the courtyard itself. The former space included a sunken area in front of the semicircular planter, while the reworked plaza is now level.

All of this is part of a much larger transformation that has been unfolding at Disney’s Hollywood Studios for more than a year.

Disney first announced in July 2025 that the former Animation Courtyard would be transformed into an area inspired by the Walt Disney Studios Lot. Animation Courtyard permanently closed on September 25, 2025, allowing construction to begin.

The exterior transformation became much more noticeable earlier this year when the Sorcerer Mickey hat was installed above the attraction entrance in April. The surrounding Walt Disney Studios Lot courtyard then opened to guests on May 20, 2026, while the main Magic of Disney Animation experience remained behind construction walls.

Now we’re approaching the final (and biggest) piece of that transformation.

What You’ll Find Inside The Magic of Disney Animation

When the doors officially open September 14, this won’t be a single traditional attraction. Disney describes The Magic of Disney Animation as a collection of interconnected animation-inspired experiences spread throughout the building.

One of those is Drawn to Wonderland, an interactive play experience inspired by Mary Blair’s original concept artwork for Alice in Wonderland.

There’s also Off the Page!, where guests can meet Disney Animation characters, and Olaf Draws!, an experience centered around everyone’s favorite snowman attempting to put his own artistic talents to work.

The Once Upon a Studio Theater will bring the short film that inspired the project directly into the attraction, while an adjoining enchanted art gallery will feature Disney Animation artwork…with some pieces occasionally springing to life through animations created specifically for the space.

Disney has also teased additional interactive moments throughout the building, including portraits that come to life as guests explore the different “departments” of the animation studio. That makes the newly installed Open House banner a pretty fitting final piece of the exterior.

Rather than simply slapping an attraction name above the doorway, Imagineering is using the entrance to start telling the story before guests even walk inside. The characters aren’t just decorating the courtyard — they’re supposedly the ones who invited us in.

And after years of this corner of Hollywood Studios moving further away from its animation roots, there’s something particularly fitting about seeing Mickey, Minnie, and dozens of Disney Animation characters preparing to welcome guests back into an animation-focused experience.

The Magic of Disney Animation officially opens September 14, 2026, at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Keep checking back with Theme Park Scope as we follow the final preparations ahead of opening day and everything else changing around Disney’s Hollywood Studios.