thoughts on animation academy at DHS??

[prudence64]

It depends on your kids' personalities. My daughter was 8 and had trouble doing it, but she and I laughed our way through it and love talking about how funny our drawings came out. I could see her getting frustrated in a circumstance where she perceived herself as the only one who couldn't do it. Luckily, I was terrible at it and that made her feel ok about not succeeding.

 

[ariane37]

My family absolutely loves Animation Academy and we've done it as often as 8 times in a 10 day trip ! However I do agree it depends on the temperament of your kids. I don't think they're necessarily too young, I've seen young kids handle it fine. In my case, when we started doing it DS's were 6 and 9. DS9 (now 12) was always artistic so did well from day one and wasn't bothered by the pace/no erasers/minor imperfections of his drawings (as opposed to my MAJOR imperfections lol). DS6 (now 9) did get frustrated at that age, somewhat less at 7. The first couple times he huffed a bit and then just drew what he wanted; by 7 he huffed a bit and did his best but then would just refuse to hold his drawing up along with everyone else at the end when the Animator asked us to He still has some trouble but handles it much, much better, especially when I mess up .

Maybe think about how your kids may react to the no erasers and if they do make a mistake. It definitely is distracting when a child is screaming or crying in there...........if you decide to give it a try, I hope they enjoy it

 

[CalicoSky]

Sometimes the drawing feels rushed--perhaps due to complexity of character, instructor's teaching style/prowess, or both. First drawing I ever did was Eeyore and the animator was really relaxed and focused on explaining the steps of drawing him and how to make his eyes and mouth expressive.

Most recently, our class drew Anna (because my trip needed more Frozen in it ), and it was at a faster pace but with a lot of instructor banter with the people in the first row. It was difficult for even adults to keep up. My drawing ended up looking a bit like Anna's cousin as drawn by Picasso's cousin! But I can't draw worth beans in everyday life, so even that was better than I could have done on my own.

I do suggest preparing the kids in advance that mistakes are okay and that if they can't keep up with the instructor, just do the best they can and draw however (and whomever) they like.

 

[AliciaS]

Does anyone know if this is only done on weekdays? During normal work hours? We have DHS scheduled for partial days on a couple Sundays and later in the day on a Tuesday.

Thanks! My seven-year-old son LOVES to draw, so this could be great....or he could freak that he can't follow along....I can try to prepare him for it and tell him he can do whatever he wants if it goes sideways.

 

[CalicoSky]

Does anyone know if this is only done on weekdays? During normal work hours? We have DHS scheduled for partial days on a couple Sundays and later in the day on a Tuesday.

Thanks! My seven-year-old son LOVES to draw, so this could be great....or he could freak that he can't follow along....I can try to prepare him for it and tell him he can do whatever he wants if it goes sideways.

I know it's done on the weekends as well as weekdays--our DHS day my last trip (just before Thanksgiving) was on Sunday and we did the Academy then. Not sure how long into the evening they go, but someone else here may know. I always grab a Times Guide as I enter the park and confirm the hours of anything high-priority.

 

[caroluau]

thanks my kids will be 6 and 7, is that old enough??

As you can see from PPs, some are okay at these ages and some are not. Do you think your kids won't mind drawing for 20 minutes with no color, just a pencil, and no eraser?

My DH had always gone alone to this during previous trips but our last trip we decided to take our DD who just turned 7. She loves art and already sketches on her own so we thought she might like the class. We went the week of Christmas so wait times were long. We ended up the last to get into the time of class we wanted and were offered lap boards or we could wait until the next class for true individual desks. Surprisingly, DD was fine with the lap board and even that the majority wanted to draw Bolt over Vanellope (she has never seen the movie Bolt).

She kept up with the pace and was happy that the animator said there are no mistakes, just give Bolt more hair or so. When it came to showcasing our work, DD proudly offered up her sketch to show everyone and was beaming as the animator praised her long strokes, saying that she could tell my DD was already a skilled artist! Everyone clapped and I almost cried. Now we have a dated souvenir sketch of that wonderful memory!

Hopefully, if your kids do this, they will have great experiences as well.

 

[scrappymel]

We LOVE drawing at AA (we've done WDW and DCA), and our daughter (now 10) really enjoys it. On our last trip in October, she did become a little frustrated that hers wasn't perfect. When she was smaller, she just had fun. You can always tell the kiddos to just turn the paper over and doodle if they don't want to stick with it. Also, go in the room move all the way to the end of a row (on the opposite aisle), so you can just get up and go if it becomes too much for them. I hope they love it!!

 

[alisigns]

On our last trip, this was my pick at DHS. I know that some of the people in my group weren't excited because drawing isn't their thing, but that is where we get to have the discussion about deference and how everyone gets to chose something. My niece was sad that we ended up doing Tinkerbell instead of Anna, but it ended up being very fun and when we got to meet Tink later, I could get her to sign my drawing. I say go for it at least once, because you might awaken a hidden talent or an interest.

One thing you can do to prep is to go on YouTube and watch videos from Animation Academy and prep your kids on the pace and get them excited about doing it in person on actual Disney paper!

 

[KarmaCat]

We tried this for the first time on on our last trip to WDW, and now this is one of the things my kids are most looking forward to doing again! My daughter is already excitedly trying to guess which characters we will draw on our next trip!

They were 7 and 9 on our last trip, and they both did fine with the pace and complexity of the directions--but both of my kids draw A LOT and are already very artistic. I can see how some younger or less experienced kids may get overwhelmed or frustrated... I think the YouTube suggestion is a great one. Watch a session or two and you be the judge of whether or not your kids will do well with it.

One suggestion I read on these boards which I REALLY appreciated before our last trip was to go to the office store and buy a small mailing tube for your drawings. I just stuck the tube in my backpack on the day we went to DHS so that we could roll up our pictures and keep them safe while touring the rest of the day... and then I just stuck it in my luggage on the flight home. I got one that was 14" long, and it was plenty long enough to accommodate the drawings.

 

[ruthies12]

I plan on doing this with my 7 year old on our next trip and wanted to add a tip I had read on these forums awhile back to bring an empty paper towel roll to keep your pictures safe for travel. same as the mailing box the op talked about, just roll up your pictures and put them inside the cardboard.

 

[Fommt2]

I have never done it at WDW but I follow the animators on YouTube, so it may be worth sitting down with your kids before you go and see how they get on.
I am awful at drawing but have done Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald and they all came out so much better than I expected.

 

[Dis703]

If they like to draw, they'll enjoy it. There are no erasers on the pencil though keep that in mind.
When I did it last time, there was an upset child (pretty young maybe 5 or 6) because they couldn't erase a mistake in their drawing.
QUOTE]

Thanks for sharing about the no erasers. That would totally be my 6 year old crying because he couldn't fix a mistake.

 

[casperthegm]

It's lots of fun. We had been to all the parks a number of times over the years and wanted to make a point to do something different. So glad we did. We get caught up in all the rides and packing as much in as we can sometimes. It's nice to slow it down and try something new.