Last month, it was revealed (and made quite a big splash when it was) that the Beast’s Library in the Disney Animation attraction at Disney California Adventure would be closing. As promised, that day has arrived, and it is clear that this portion of the experience is no longer available to guests.
Guests enter the Disney Animation building in Hollywoodland and can enter the Sorcerer’s Workshop – which upon opening in 2001, was a three-in-one experience. In the Sorcerer’s Workshop, guests can make traditional animation on the earliest tools of the craft, like zoetropes.
From there, guests would then proceed into the Beast’s Library, where they would sit a desk occupied by a magic book that through a series of questions hosted by Lumiere and Cogsworth from the iconic 1991 animated film, Beauty & The Beast, would determine which Disney character they are most like.
As of December 11th, and very much evident today, the Beast’s Library (and Ursula’s Grotto beyond it – more on that in a moment) are no longer available to guests. Last month, it was revealed that this area would be closed and transformed into an experience for those participating in Disney Imagination Campus.Formerly Disney Youth Programs, Disney Imagination Campus features a curriculum that shows students, teachers, and parents how something they call Imagination Powered Learning can make a lasting impact on how students feel about learning, and about their own potential.
The Beast’s Library, though considered by some a “hidden gem” today, was one of the highlights of the original park when it opened back in February of 2001. The experience took place in a highly themed room that some would consider the predecessor for later attractions like the Enchanted Tales with Belle at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. The whole thing was even given a healthy amount of time in the park’s opening special on ABC, where Spin City star Barry Bostwick discovered he was most like Gaston from Beauty and the Beast.
When Frozen took the world by storm in 2013, it was shortly after when Ursula’s Grotto (where guests can have their voice “stolen” and inserted into classic moments from Disney films) was closed so the Character Close-Up exhibit could be expanded into a meet and greet with Anna and Elsa from the hit film. From there, The Beast’s Library experience abruptly ended with a wall, with guests being rerouted up and back out through the Sorcerer’s Workshop.
The same is true today, with the closure of Beast’s Library, now guests (for the moment) find a rope and a Cast Member turning guests around and sending them up the same way they descended into the Workshop. You can see the whole of this experience now in the replay of our livestream from earlier below.
no obligation quote from MouseFanTravel.com