Disney’s Riviera Resort is packed with classic Disney art, and now guests have the chance to create their own works of art with the Paint Your Own Animation Cel activity! The Eventi Room, which is open from 10:00 am-10:00 pm daily, and this activity is available any time during their operating hours. It’s located on the first floor of the Riviera Resort, right down the hall from Primo Piatto. The Eventi Room isn’t technically a Community Hall, but operates very similarly, with several different crafts, activities, evening bedtime stories, and scavenger hunts available.

When you come in, you’ll find several examples of completed animation cels displayed around the room. This activity costs only $5.00, so you’ll pay first and then you can choose a seat at any table. A Cast Member will bring you a binder full of characters to choose from, and they’ll give you plenty of time to flip through the binder and look at all your choices. There are so many great characters that it’s hard to pick just one! Each character is printed on a transparent plastic sheet. They have all the classic and most popular characters, plus some more complicated cels with detailed backgrounds. There are even some holiday-themed cels available.

Once you choose your favorite character, the Cast Member will set up the transparent sheet with your character’s outline on a plastic tray, with a sheet of white paper underneath. They’ll also bring you paint brushes, a cup of water to rinse your brushes, and some paper towels. Then you can look over the chart showing all the available paint colors and tell the Cast Member which colors you’d like to begin with - you can choose up to six starting colors. They’ll fill a paint palette with your preferred colors, and then they’ll walk you through the painting process.

Painting an animation cel is very interesting, but also challenging, and it takes some planning and concentration to do it correctly. The Cast Member will explain that animation cels are actually painted backward, so you can add depth and dimension to your painting. So, you’ll paint the backside of the transparent sheet, starting with the first layer of colors you want to be seen when you flip it over and continuing to add layer after layer until the whole character is complete.

It can be pretty tricky to make sure you paint your colors in the right order, so this is a project best for older kids (or younger kids that have a great eye for detail and a parent to help). Since you’re always painting on the backside of the page, it can look kind of odd during the painting process until you flip it over and see it from the front. And because you’re painting on plastic, your brush strokes really show through and give it an authentic, hand-painted look. The Cast Members are happy to give you refills of paint or additional paint colors if needed.

When you’re finished painting, the Cast Members are happy to hold onto it for you in the Eventi Room while it dries. You can stop by and pick it up the following day, or if you’re staying at the Riviera, you can carefully take it up to your hotel room while it’s still wet and let it dry overnight in your room. When you’re ready to take your animation cel home, they’ll slide a really nice sheet of white cardstock embossed with the Riviera Resort logo underneath your animation cel. It’s a beautiful finishing touch and the perfect way to display your art when you get home!

This activity is such a cool way to experience the skill that goes into making Disney’s animated films first-hand and really helps you to appreciate all the time and effort that so many artists put into making every film. And at that $5.00 price point, Paint Your Own Animation Cel is a very affordable souvenir that is the perfect memento of your time at Disney’s Riviera Resort.

Paint Your Own Animation Cel | Daily from 10:00 AM-10:00 PM | Riviera Resort | Eventi Room

*Activity dates and times listed here were accurate at the time this review was published. Resort activities and activity schedules may change month-to-month, so be sure to check the current Riviera Recreation Calendar for updated times/dates when making plans to participate.