One of my favorite things to do in my free time is to draw. Drawing is so relaxing and calming. The Animation Experience in Disney’s Animal Kingdom is my new favorite place to be. The Animation Experience is located in the Conservation Station at Rafiki’s Planet Watch. In the Animation Experience Disney artists teach you how to draw Disney Characters.
To get to the Animation Experience, once you enter Animal Kingdom, head to Rafiki’s Planet Watch. It is located in Africa near Kilimanjaro Safari. You will need to take the train to get to Rafiki’s Planet Watch. Once there, head straight for the Conservation Station. When you get off the train, there are signs of Rafiki pointing. Follow Rafiki, he knows the way.
Once inside the Conservation Station you can wait on line for the Animation Experience. If you have a FastPass, you can wait on the FastPass line. You will get a piece of paper with the drawing guidelines on it and a pencil as you enter the classroom. There are clipboards on the chairs so you can draw on a hard surface. Once everyone is seated, the animator is introduced and he or she explains who you will be drawing. Next, you will see a short video to familiarize yourself with a live animal the character is based off of. For example, if you were drawing Scar, you will watch a video of a lion.
After the video, the drawing begins. The animator draws and there are screens for you to see the animator’s drawing. The animator will explain what he or she is drawing while he or she is drawing it, that way you can see and hear what is being drawn. Follow along carefully because there are no erasers on the back of the pencils.
Once you are finished drawing, you will leave the clipboard on the chair and hand in your pencils. The drawing is yours to keep. You now have a beautiful piece of artwork you can take home and display. It is a great free souvenir.
It is so much fun to draw along with the Disney Animators and learn a thing or two about the animals. The characters are on a rotation, so you never know who you will be drawing when you go. Next time I am at Disney, you can find me at the Animation Experience drawing the characters.