Say goodbye to Star Wars Launch Bay and Animation Courtyard. Disney World’s Hollywood Studios closure marks another big step in park changes.
It felt, for a moment, like we might finally be getting a breather in this season of change at Disney World. Major renovations, additions, and reimaginings are underway in Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Magic Kingdom.
A break has yet to come.
Now, with the closure just days away, Disney is moving forward with another major change at Hollywood Studios – one that has been widely well received.
Star Wars Launch Bay is closing and the Animation Courtyard is getting overhauled to debut a new experience in line with both the traditional theming of Hollywood Studios and a celebration of Disney Animation.
The Magic of Disney Animation will arrive in 2026, based on the Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, California, the experience will begin as the animators have stepped away from their easels and their animations will come to life.
Of all of the many changes Disney has announced over the last year or more, this one has been the most well received.
IN THIS ARTICLE
What is the Star Wars Launch Bay?
A relic from another time.
Back in the days before Galaxy’s Edge and Batuu, Star Wars existed in two places in the park.
The first was the Jedi Training Academy and the Star Tours ride on the west side of the park and the Launch Bay – which featured meet and greets and housed a collection of Lucasfilm memorabilia and merchandise on the other.
It also served as the home base, if you will, for the characters from the much missed (by me) Star Wars: A Galaxy Far, Far Away show. Each day characters from across Star Wars eras, including C3P0, Boba Fett, Darth Maul and more would appear on stage in front of the Chinese Theater as clips and music from the movie accompanied them.
Darth Maul showed off his dual lightsaber skills, Boba Fett fired one of his rockets. There would be a whole parade of First Order Stormtroopers led by Captain Phasma.
After the show, the characters would walk under the archway – which is going away – into the animation courtyard and then to backstage. It was a little cheesy but also very cool if you’re a Star Wars nerd.
But when Disney opened Galaxy’s Edge in 2019, having Star Wars in three separate locations in the park became a little confusing. Both the Jedi Training and the Far, Far Away show failed to return after COVID, and the Launch Bay was reduced to a character meet and greet location with a mini museum and gift shop.
Will ANYONE miss Launch Bay?
I will. I’m not going to start any sit-ins or anything, but I will. First, a couple of my favorite parks’ memories happened at the Launch Bay, and I’ve held out hope for the return of the Jedi Training and the Far, Far Away show.
When Ainsley was three, we went to the Launch Bay for meet and greets, and as we were exiting, they had a life-sized figure of Darth Vader. Ainsley saw him and immediately began to lose her mind, saying “Daaaarth Vadeeeer” over and over again in her deepest and most dramatic voice.
It was hilarious. Later that day as one of the performances of the Far, Far Away show was wrapping, a cast member sprinkled us with a little pixie dust. She picked Ainsley and John Paul – who hadn’t quite turned five – to “guard” the Launch Bay entrance, giving them lightsabers for the job.
As the character made the march back to the Launch Bay, the bad guys menacingly glared at our lightsaber wielding duo with Kylo Ren marching right up to them.
Then Rey and Chewbacca stopped to thank them for a job well done, with Rey kneeling down to Ainsley’s level for a private conversation. We then got passes to skip the line for meet and greets and went back for more character interactions.
I think Disney is absolutely moving in the right direction, but I will always have a warm place for the Launch Bay.
What does this mean for Star Wars in the park?
Not a lot. The Galaxy Far, Far Away will still have a massive presence in Hollywood Studios, and I’m hopeful that it means Disney is going to take a look at meet and greets and character interactions. Please forgive a bit of a nerdy rant here, but when Galaxy’s Edge launched, Disney adhered to an idea that Batuu exists in a specific time period in Star Wars Canon.
That means that while in Batuu, you would only see Disney characters from the most recent round of movies – Rey, Kylo Ren and multi-era characters like Chewbacca and R2-D2. You’ve also got the excellent Hondo Ohnaka animatronic on Smugglers Run, but the pirate seems to have survived from the Clone Wars through Rebels and into the modern era.
The upshot is that Disney would not allow characters from other eras into Galaxy’s Edge. You’d never see Padme Amidala or Jar Jar Binks in Batuu. Darth Maul, Darth Vader and Kylo Ren could never cross paths in Batuu, because it would break Star Wars canon.
It was a lot of this same thinking that led to the failed Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser hotel. Disney, in my opinion, misread the number of fans who wanted to be immersed so much that they cared about such things. There were no Star War fan riots when Captain Phasma and Darth Maul shared the stage before. But Galaxy’s Edge limited the number of characters who could be seen – at least in that part of the park.
Now, it is my hope that Disney uses the Star Tours queue – which is so much bigger than necessary at this point – and the former Jedi Training spot to create a place where a variety of characters can exist from across the Star Wars timeline.
They’ve already started loosening things up. The Mandalorian and Grogu – aka Baby Yoda – tour Galaxy’s Edge now in Orlando and they’ve experimented with a Return of the Jedi era Luke Skywalker character in California. Here’s to hoping we see a lot more Star Wars characters in Hollywood Studios soon.
What about this Magic of Disney Animation business?
It sounds like a homerun. It pays tribute to Disney’s long animation tradition; it breathes life back into the Animation Courtyard – which is helped by the show in the Little Mermaid Theater – and it brings a bit of Hollywood back into the park.
I know a lot of people are hesitant about some of the big moves that are already underway, but this one seems like it has nearly 100% approval. And it brings the Sorcerer’s Hat – albeit at a smaller scale – back into the park.
It will be silly and fun and interactive. Guests will see portraits spring to life and guests will have the opportunity to learn how to draw their own character.
There will be a playground for small guests themed to Alice in Wonderland. The courtyard itself will be home to lots of character meet and greets and be filled with large trees to provide some much-needed shade. They will also add an updated version of the Disney Jr. show.
The Animation Courtyard, Launch Bay, and Disney Junior Play and Dance’s final day of operation will be Sept. 24, and the new area will open sometime in 2026. The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure will remain open throughout the work.
