Disney Shuts Down Brand-New Attraction After Only 9 Days

Well, that didn’t take long. On September 22, the animatronic Olaf running the show at Olaf Draws! inside Disney’s Hollywood Studios completely broke down, shutting the whole experience down. And it’s not the only thing acting up today either, The Magic of Disney Animation, the building housing the attraction, is also dealing with separate audio problems.

If you’ve got a Hollywood Studios trip coming up and this new area is on your list, here’s the full breakdown of what’s actually going on, plus why this space matters so much to the park in the first place.

Here’s Exactly What Happened

Olaf Draws! is one of the big new additions inside The Magic of Disney Animation, which opened at Hollywood Studios earlier this month. It follows a format Disney fans already know well, similar to past Animation Academy style experiences at Walt Disney World, where guests get walked through drawing a Disney character step by step.

The twist here is who’s actually running the show. Instead of a live artist, Olaf Draws! is hosted entirely by an animatronic version of the Frozen character. That decision got called out immediately when it was first announced, with fans pointing out the obvious problem. No live performer means no backup plan if the robot itself decides to stop working.

Guess what happened. As of 9:10 a.m. on September 22, Olaf Draws! wasn’t running because of issues with the animatronic. No word yet on when it’s coming back, and the whole building is dealing with audio issues on top of it.

Why Everyone’s Talking About This Building Anyway

Here’s why this actually matters beyond just one broken robot. The Magic of Disney Animation represents something bigger for Hollywood Studios. The park’s spent the last decade piling on big rides and major franchises, think Toy Story Land and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, drifting further away from the whole movie making vibe that used to define it.

This new space was built to bring that identity back. It’s sitting inside what used to be Animation Courtyard, now rebranded as part of the Walt Disney Studios Lot, and it leans hard into hand drawn artwork, classic Disney references, hands on drawing experiences, and character moments that feel way more natural than your typical scheduled meet and greet.

Instead of centering everything around one franchise, Disney packed the place with nods to its whole animation history. You’ll find pencil sketches from older films scattered throughout, including art tied to The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949) and The Fox and the Hound (1981). There’s also Drawn to Wonderland, a creative drawing space, and the Once Upon a Studio Theater, which celebrates Disney’s animation legacy broadly instead of just one story.

The Building Opened Early, and Now This

Here’s an interesting twist. The Magic of Disney Animation actually opened days before its planned September 14 debut, giving guests a head start on checking it out. That early opening felt like a genuine win at the time, especially since this area had been slowly coming together for a while.

Hours have shifted a bit since it opened too. It ran 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at first, briefly opened earlier at 8:30 a.m. on September 18 and 19, then went back to the standard 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. window through September 27. Starting September 28, things get a lot tighter, dropping to just 10 a.m. through 6 p.m.

Worth keeping in mind no matter what happens with today’s technical stuff, since that shortened window changes how much time you’ll actually get in there.

Should You Rearrange Your Plans Because of This

If Olaf Draws! was specifically on your must do list, build in some flexibility given what’s happening right now. There’s no confirmed timeline for a fix, and animatronic repairs can drag on longer than a simple audio glitch. Good news though, the building offers more than just this one thing, so Drawn to Wonderland and the Once Upon a Studio Theater are still worth checking out even if Olaf Draws! stays down.

Check My Disney Experience before you head over too, since ongoing audio issues throughout the building could mean more changes as the day goes on. This place just opened, so a few early hiccups aren’t shocking, but the whole animatronic only setup definitely invites more side eye than your average technical glitch would.

For a park that’s leaned hard into franchise rides for years, The Magic of Disney Animation offers something genuinely different, a real callback to the artistic roots that built Hollywood Studios in the first place. One rough morning with a broken robot doesn’t change that, but it does prove fans were onto something when they flagged this exact risk before the show even opened.

Tried Olaf Draws! or checked out The Magic of Disney Animation yet? Sound off in the comments, we want to know how this new spot has been treating guests.