Following last week’s surprise announcement, Walt Disney World has filed the first construction permits for the overhaul of Animation Courtyard. This shares full details, plus our commentary about the loss of this iconic archway that is one of the last remnants of the original Disney-MGM Studios.
In case you missed it, Walt Disney World made an out-of-the-blue announcement that Animation Courtyard is being reimagined into the Walt Disney Studios Lot at Hollywood Studios. The biggest change is that the Roy E. Disney Animation Building is replacing Star Wars Launch Bay at Hollywood Studios, and will house an all-new family experience, “The Magic of Disney Animation.”
The reimagined “The Magic of Disney Animation” is inspired by the fan-favorite short, “Once Upon a Studio.” It begins as the animators have temporarily stepped away, but the characters have come to life and they’re ready to play. Guests will interact with and explore silly takes on the iconic Disney Animation headquarters, including the many different studio departments. You’ll see portraits come to life before your eyes, find inspiration with a short film, and can even pencil in some time to learn how to draw your very own character sketch.
The new-look land will draw inspiration from several buildings found on the Disney campuses in Burbank, California. This will include the Studio Theater and other buildings, which will get new looks, plus a fresh Disney Jr. show at the soundstage. There’s also going to be the “Drawn to Wonderland” indoor playground.
The new-look Walt Disney Studios Lot is also reimagining the common areas of Animation Courtyard. It’ll have grassy grounds and a courtyard area where families can take a break to play, relax, or snack on tasty treats under lush trees. Disney has also implied that spontaneous character appearances will occur under these trees.
The Walt Disney Studios Lot and “The Magic of Disney Animation” will open in 2026. As Walt Disney World prepares for this transformation, Animation Courtyard, including Star Wars Launch Bay and Disney Jr. Play and Dance! will close beginning September 25, 2025.
During this time, guests will still be able to go under the sea with Ariel in “The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure” and enjoy the exhibits and film presentation at Walt Disney Presents.
This brings us to the new construction permits that have been filed. The first permit is for 561 Stage Lane, the location of the iconic Disney’s Hollywood Studios archway, which will be demolished as part of the Animation Courtyard reimagining. This lists the scope of the work as “provide labor, material and/or electrical for construction” and is assigned to Buena Vista Construction Company.
The second permit is for nearby 551 Stage Lane. This is the address of the popcorn cart directly outside Animation Courtyard. This is a cool cart and has been there for years–I have photos of it dating back a while–but I doubt anyone is going to shed tears over it. And in any case, the popcorn cart is probably just being temporarily relocated during demolition and construction.
One thing to note here is that Buena Vista Construction Company usually handles smaller-scale projects; they’re Walt Disney World’s in-house contractor that handles basic maintenance and work. We haven’t really seen their scope expand to encompass full-scale demolition, so this is likely laying the groundwork for that. It’s not the actual demolition of the gateway entrance to Animation Courtyard.
BVCC handles simpler things like relocating that popcorn cart and dealing with the underlying electrical; perhaps something similar with the archway. We’re hoping that the gorgeous bas-relief panels on the archway are preserved and relocated–hopefully, the first permit relates to that. We don’t expect this archway to go behind construction walls until late September; it’ll probably be demolished as quickly as possible once it does.
In isolation, these permits aren’t all that significant. We certainly will not be doing a separate post on every single inconsequential construction permit filed for the Animation Courtyard, as there will be many. However, we wanted an ‘excuse’ to revisit this reimagining and replacement project, and these permits offered that.
First, these permits should explain the backdrop of the announcement in the first place. We’ve heard from more than a few fans who are confused and/or excited about why the Walt Disney Studios Lot would be announced a month before Destination D23. After all, this news feels tailor-made for an event like that.
It’s a singles and doubles style win that replaces one of the worst areas in all of Walt Disney World, and does so by bringing back an extinct attraction, weaving in nods to the company’s history, and includes placemaking upgrades. That’s catnip for diehard Walt Disney World fans!
Those in the “excited” camp have assumed that the Animation Courtyard news getting preempted from Destination D23 means that there’s a jam-packed slate of news. That this is basically being bumped for time. It’s our understanding that this is not accurate, and we’d strongly suggest adjusting your expectations.
In all likelihood, this Animation Courtyard announcement came out of left field on a random morning because Walt Disney World needed to get out ahead of construction permits. If they didn’t make an announcement, permits over the last couple of weeks would lead to rampant speculation.
That speculation might lead to disappointment, as there have been rumors about longer-term plans that are ambitious. Instead of being excited about a small near-term victory, there’s a version of this announcement that involves disappointment because it fell short of whatever we built up in our heads over the next month.
Another thing we want to discuss is the loss of the iconic archway, which has been around since the Disney-MGM Studios days. Since I’ve been a fan, this gateway has gone through many different color and logo changes, but it’s nevertheless managed to stick around even as so much of the park has gone extinct.
We’ve lost the Earful Tower and everything else on the backlot. Grauman’s Chinese Theater survived the replacement of Great Movie Ride, thankfully. That or Tower of Terror are probably the park’s visual ‘icon’ now, but this archway was a close second for many fans. I have countless family photos from over the years with this serving as the backdrop.
Losing the archway does feel like the end of an era, and I’ll be somewhat sad to see it go. Emphasis on somewhat. While I have my nostalgia for the arch–as do many other longtime fans–I also think a strong case can be made for ditching this. It’s an entranceway to a “land” that exists off the main hub of the park, and feels like it’s almost gating-off what should be a more open and inviting space.
It’s difficult to shake the glasses of nostalgia, but I feel like if the park were built today from the ground up, fans would view this archway as awkwardly-placed. Even if not, there’s something to be said for replacing this with the actual studio lot entrance signage, and letting the Sorcerer Mickey Hat be the “wienie” deeper inside the Walt Disney Studio Lot that beckons guests into the area.
Clearing that sightline to make this area more inviting is a smart move, and a potentially beneficial one. It’s surprising just how dead Animation Courtyard has felt over the years despite being right there in the dead-center of the park.
Although the removal of the archway does feel symbolically-significant for the demise of the Disney-MGM Studios, the substance is what matters more. “The Magic of Disney Animation” strikes me as a return-to-form and the first “studios park” change at DHS in a long time.
Above all else, it’s heartening to see construction permits filed so fast, and that the reason this announcement came before Destination D23 was because Walt Disney World wants to start moving on the project before then. Projects announced last year are starting to gain momentum, and there’s a lot to look forward to in 2026 and beyond.
For Animation Courtyard to close in late September and be reimagined in the span of roughly a year is a really fast turnaround time. Just look at how long World Celebration in EPCOT took! Granted, that was “more ambitious” (air quotes) and delayed, but this won’t be as straightforward as it might seem. The reimagining appears to involve a lot of placemaking, with facade work and upgraded common areas. That’s on top of whatever changes are made to convert Star Wars Launch Bay back into the Magic of Disney Animation.
Animation Courtyard is currently a sea of concrete that isn’t exactly an inviting place. I spent some time in the land on the day this announcement was made, and the area was actually the busiest I had seen it in a while thanks to Cool Kid Summer. Despite it being a ‘heat advisory’ day, there were a lot of families and kids playing with characters, plus perpetually long lines for the Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure.
I’m excited for a placemaking project with a faster turnaround time than World Celebration in EPCOT. I’m also fairly confident from the concept art and the general goals of the project that the end result here will be an actual improvement. If anything, my hope is that Imagineering is given enough time and money to do this right. I’d rather have this open in Spring 2027 if that’s what it takes, especially if this area will be around for a decade or longer.
This might be a stopgap, singles and doubles-style project–but it has the potential to be a massive improvement over Animation Courtyard, and a true asset to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Losing the archway is bittersweet, but losing the dead mall area is a huge win. Gaining an outdoor space that’s actually a pleasant, shaded place to spend time would be a massive win. The Walt Disney Studios Lot has the potential to be a triple. Maybe even an inside-the-park home run.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think about Animation Courtyard being reimagined into the Walt Disney Studios Lot? Do you view the demolition of the Disney-MGM Studios archway as a big loss, or a net positive for opening up the area and having the overhauled space be more on-theme to Burbank? Looking forward to an all-new ‘The Magic of Disney Animation’ coming to Walt Disney World? Excited for this reimagined land? Or would you prefer a blockbuster new land that connects Toy Story Land to Sunset Boulevard? Any other thoughts or commentary to add? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
