The Animation Experience at Conservation Station

Rafiki’s Planet Watch at Disney’s Animal Kingdom has reopened and there is a new addition! The Animation Experience at Conservation Station is where you can learn how to illustrate your own Disney character from a Disney animator. In celebration of the live-action The Lion King, guests will get to learn how to draw Simba, Zazu, Timon, Pumbaa as well as other animal friends from Disney movies.

Where is the Animation Experience located?

Rafiki’s Planet Watch is found in Africa and you have to board the Wildlife Express Train to get there. You can find the train station next to the in-between the train station and the Kilimanjaro Safari. Stroller parking is available prior to boarding the train and the ride takes about 7 minutes. Once you get to the conservation station, there is about another 5-10 minute walk to reach the main building. So be sure to give yourself extra time to get to the Animation Experience. The Disney World website recommends boarding the train 40 minutes prior to the start time.

Wildlife Express Train

The boys enjoyed the ride!

Once you get to the main building there are signs indicating where to go for both the Animation Experience and the restrooms. Go left towards the Affection Section (animal petting) area to find a side entrance to enter for the experience.

The Experience!

There are Fast Passes available for the experience as well as a standby line. I was lucky enough to snag Fast Passes the morning of! However, if you look at the pictures below, there is plenty of seating room available so you will still get to participate even without a FP+.

There are many new experiences and offerings for the celebration of The Lion King at Disney’s Animal Kingdom right now. 

 

There are 4 big screen monitors so everyone can see

The lines opened for us to enter around 12:05 pm for the 12:15 pm showtime. On the way in, you will grab a pencil (with no eraser) and a sheet of paper before finding a seat with a clipboard. Our animator inform us that we were lucky we had pencils because Walt Disney had his animators draw in pen!

We brought snacks for the kids

The paper has guidelines already

We had no idea which character we were going to draw until cast member Dan walked out with a Hornbill letting us know that it was Zazu! He had the Hornbill fly around so we can observe their movements, just like the animators do when creating their animal animations.

The class lasted around 25 minutes and it was very easy to follow along with the animator’s steps. He even taught us how to shade in areas to create different light, colors, and textures to our artwork.

Fun for all ages!

The animator’s final product!

And here’s mine!

Final thoughts

• Jeff and I use to frequently go to the Animation Academy at Hollywood Studios before it closed down and we are so happy that Disney has brought this experience back!
• The class length was 25 minutes which we felt was perfect and plenty of time for us to finish our artwork.
• If you have little ones that may not want to participate, there are plenty of exhibits inside and outside the building you can take them to while the rest of the party is drawing.
• We highly recommend the Animation Experience at Conservation Station! It’s a fun creative activity for all ages to do during your day at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

There are many new experiences and offerings for the celebration of The Lion King at Disney’s Animal Kingdom right now.