Looking for an awesome FREE experience and souvenir for your next Walt Disney World trip? Then you’ve got to check out The Animation Experience at Conservation Station inside Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
You’ll uncover the secret of how Disney animators bring your favorite characters to life - often using real life animals as inspiration! When I was there, we drew Pumba but the live animal on display as we entered was a chicken. Didn’t actually help me draw Pumba but being a former chicken-mom, I did enjoy seeing it! :)
Each 25-minute class will offer something different. The characters being drawn change periodically so you can do this every trip and add to your very own art collection each time!
FastPasses are available for this experience although if it’s not a busy day in the park, you won’t need it. There is a lot of seating for this experience. There are specific “show” times for this though, so make plans as to which one you’ll attend - check the daily times guide. Keep in mind that you’ll need to ride the Wildlife Express Train to Rafiki’s Planet Watch. The train ride itself is around 6 minutes one-way, but you may get there right as the train has departed. Disney suggests being at the train station 40 minutes prior to the experience start time. You can probably make it in less time if you’re lucky with the train. All in all, I would plan on the entire experience to take close to an hour and a half if you consider the ride there, the experience itself and the ride back.
I wanted to keep my drawing as a souvenir and knew that if I lugged it around in my backpack all day, it would get ruined. To avoid this, you can purchase a tube at the shop outside of the building and put your artwork in it. They will then send it to your resort if you are staying on site (as long as it’s not your check out day). Just be sure to pick it up from your resort’s gift shop before you leave! The tube was $5 at that time which I thought wasn’t too terrible for a cool souvenir. Good thing I did this as there were torrential downpours that evening and everything in my bag was soaked!
Take a look at the pics below and be amazed at my talent… (I actually have ZERO artistic talent which just proves how great the instructor was!)
And please contact me if you’re thinking of a Disney (or Universal!) trip! I don’t charge any fees when you book through me!!
