Disney Animatronics Bring Olaf To Life With AI And He Can Take Off His Nose

Disney Imagineers have taken a leaf out of Elsa’s book and brought Olaf to life! A walking, talking, giggling animatronic is set to be let loose in Arendelle for guests to meet. Disney revealed the brand-new, free-roaming robotic Olaf that will be joining the World of Frozen lands at Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland from early 2026 across social platforms this evening.

Here’s everything we know about the new Olaf animatronic.

Meet Olaf!

But first, here’s the video Disney Parks shared of Olaf with the Imagineers. We just love it and can’t wait to meet him in person! The fact that he says: “Hands down this is the best day of my life.” in the opening scene just about sums up the excitement Disney fans feel tonight as Disney begin to drop teasers for the World of Frozen opening date, expected to be announced at 7pm UK time.

While you’re watching, keep an eye out for him taking off his nose!

For UK Frozen fans planning 2026 trips, this could be one of the most magical roaming meet-and-greets Disney has ever created.

What's Happening

In the latest episode of Disney's We Call It Imagineering YouTube series, Imagineers pulled back the curtain on a next-generation Olaf robot designed to move completely on his own. You can watch the episode below:

Here are the key details about Olaf so far:

• Olaf is fully self-walking, there is no cast member or friend helping him come to life.

• He can talk with guests, look around, blink, and react to what's happening around him.

• His "snow" has a shimmery, iridescent finish so he looks fluffy and frosty rather than hard with a plastic shell. It makes him appear much more friendly and helps him give off that ‘warm hugs’ vibe.

• He’ll make his debut in both Hong Kong Disneyland and Disneyland Paris in early 2026, so it’s not to wait until we meet him.

Imagineering leaders describe Olaf as one of their most ambitious character projects yet, combining cutting-edge robotics, AI and classic Disney storytelling.

Why Olaf Is An Animatronic To Get Excited About

Olaf represents a brand-new class of "living" Disney characters. Built on droid tech: the team borrowed ideas from the free-roaming BDX droids in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, then pushed the tech even further to handle Olaf's bouncy, and almost impossible cartoon movements. He really is a feet of engineering, but what else would you expect from Disney?

Olaf is powered by AI. The engineers used reinforcement learning, a type of artificial intelligence, to teach Olaf to walk and move more naturally. AI provided the capability for this to happen at speed as it is something that would have taken far longer to programme by hand.

A very impressive animatronic, Olaf can fully articulate his eyes and mouth, remove and re-attach his carrot nose and even shift his outer "snow" layer in a way that looks soft and organic.

In short, he's designed to feel far closer to the film version of Olaf than a traditional static animatronic or person in a costume ever could.

It looks like Disney Animatronics have taken a leap forward again. Olaf’s plush shares similarities with that of Officer Clawhauser in Disney Animal Kingdom’s newly opened attraction Better: Zoogether. This could mean that our favourite animated animals could become free roaming character’s like Olaf in the future if this animatronic does well in the parks. Imagine seeing Chispi the capybara in Encanto free roaming in Tropical Americas in Animal Kingdom or Dante the dog from Coco roaming in Disney California Adventure when the new coco ride opens. It could be the start of an exciting future for character encounters across Disney resorts worldwide.

What UK Travellers Should Know

If you're in the UK and already dreaming about a Frozen-themed break to Disneyland Paris next year, seeing Olaf is definitely going to need to fit into your plans. However, Disney is only saying "early 2026" for now. There's no specific start date yet, but there might be in a few hours so don't get booking purely for Olaf just yet.

Olaf is set to be found only in Frozen themed areas. At Disneyland Paris, Olaf will appear in the new World of Frozen area at the reimagined Disney Adventure World. At Hong Kong Disneyland, he'll make limited-time appearances in the already-open World of Frozen land.

As he is going to be a roaming character, there is not a guaranteed queue. This usually means no formal queue or timeslot making it more likely that seeing him will be a surprise encounter in the land. So, be prepared to spend some time exploring if you're keen to spot him.

Magic in a Minute

A next-generation, self-walking Olaf is stepping into World of Frozen at Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland from early 2026. For UK visitors, that means your next hop over to Paris could include a meet-and-greet with the most lifelike Olaf Disney has ever created. He walks, talks, and even pops off his carrot nose!