This summer will bring the reopening of a classic Animal Kingdom experience with an all-new offering! Rafiki’s Planet Watch — which includes Conservation Station, the Affection Section, and the Wildlife Express — will reopen on July 11, 2019.
Rafiki’s Planet Watch sign
And an all-new experience will make its debut as part of the park’s celebration of Disney’s “The Lion King!” The Animation Experience at Conservation Station will offer guests the chance to learn how live animals inspired some of the most iconic characters from the film. Additionally, guests will learn more about the park’s star residents — the animals! — AND “create a personalized piece of Disney art through an instructor-led animation class.” Possible characters guests may animate will include Simba, Zazu, Pumbaa, Timon and more.
Timon at Animal Kingdom
As with the Animation Academy which used to be presented in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, each class will be different, so returning guests will enjoy new experiences! Note that Disney FastPass+ will be offered, and interested guests may check their My Disney Experience account starting today for this new FastPass+ offering!
Take the Wildlife Express to Rafiki’s Planet Watch!
Disney shares: “For more than 60 years, animals have been a part of Disney storytelling, and these stories continue today alongside efforts to protect wildlife and habitats around the world, as well as provide immersive experiences that connect kids and families with the magic of nature. We look forward to offering guests this new way of connecting with the animals in our park in addition to the other unique opportunities that Rafiki’s Planet Watch offers. We are excited to welcome guests back to greet and hug the animals at Affection Section, catch a glimpse of medical procedures at our veterinary treatment window, learn how our animal care experts prepare meals for and care for the park’s animal residents and more.”
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This essentially sounds like they’re bringing back the Animation Academy from Hollywood Studios. Great news!
Except for the (still) misleading name, it will be great to have a character drawing class back in FL. Yes, I know people will be drawing characters that they know FROM animation. But people mistakenly use the word “animation” when they mean “illustration” so often that I wish Disney would call it Character Academy, or even Cartoon or Toon Academy (terms that can be used for both still and moving images). Calling it Animation Academy really got me excited when I was a young artsy kid, and I was kinda let down when I learned it was just a drawing class. At least back then the instructor talked about animating Brother Bear (in production at the time) so there was actually some animation info passed on, but I REALLY wanted to finally see a drawing of mine move. This new class seems to have even less of a connection to animation, but I am interested to know if they will use the opportunity that particular park offers to at least demonstrate how the animators would start their designs by drawing from life. Showing drawings the original animators made in Africa, and then the many iterations until landing on the final character designs, …and then bringing in an actual animal to observe as the animators did would be pretty cool before the drawing started.
Can’t wait for this to reopen. Our grandsons love this area of AK.
JP, that’s an interesting take! Thanks for sharing.