diff --git a/packages/animations/browser/src/private_export.ts b/packages/animations/browser/src/private_export.ts
index 8ec3f97de9..ff9e74e968 100644
--- a/packages/animations/browser/src/private_export.ts
+++ b/packages/animations/browser/src/private_export.ts
@@ -13,3 +13,4 @@ export {NoopAnimationDriver as ɵNoopAnimationDriver} from './render/animation_d
 export {DomAnimationEngine as ɵDomAnimationEngine} from './render/dom_animation_engine';
 export {NoopAnimationEngine as ɵNoopAnimationEngine} from './render/noop_animation_engine';
 export {WebAnimationsDriver as ɵWebAnimationsDriver, supportsWebAnimations as ɵsupportsWebAnimations} from './render/web_animations/web_animations_driver';
+export {WebAnimationsPlayer as ɵWebAnimationsPlayer} from './render/web_animations/web_animations_player';
diff --git a/packages/animations/browser/src/render/dom_animation_engine.ts b/packages/animations/browser/src/render/dom_animation_engine.ts
index 870a60855f..53186d8a2b 100644
--- a/packages/animations/browser/src/render/dom_animation_engine.ts
+++ b/packages/animations/browser/src/render/dom_animation_engine.ts
@@ -259,8 +259,6 @@ export class DomAnimationEngine {
       const player = this._buildPlayer(element, instruction, previousPlayers, i);
       player.onDestroy(
           () => { deleteFromArrayMap(this._activeElementAnimations, element, player); });
-      player.init();
-
       this._markPlayerAsActive(element, player);
       return player;
     });
@@ -354,6 +352,7 @@ export class DomAnimationEngine {
       // in the event that an animation throws an error then we do
       // not want to re-run animations on any previous animations
       // if they have already been kicked off beforehand
+      player.init();
       if (!player.hasStarted()) {
         player.play();
       }
diff --git a/packages/animations/browser/test/engine/dom_animation_engine_spec.ts b/packages/animations/browser/test/engine/dom_animation_engine_spec.ts
index 3d1b749a54..83317985d4 100644
--- a/packages/animations/browser/test/engine/dom_animation_engine_spec.ts
+++ b/packages/animations/browser/test/engine/dom_animation_engine_spec.ts
@@ -87,6 +87,22 @@ export function main() {
         expect(engine.queuedPlayers.pop() instanceof NoopAnimationPlayer).toBe(true);
       });
 
+      it('should not initialize the animation until the engine has been flushed', () => {
+        const engine = makeEngine();
+        engine.registerTrigger(trigger(
+            'trig', [transition('* => something', [animate(1000, style({color: 'gold'}))])]));
+
+        engine.setProperty(element, 'trig', 'something');
+        const player = engine.queuedPlayers.pop() as MockAnimationPlayer;
+
+        let initialized = false;
+        player.onInit(() => initialized = true);
+
+        expect(initialized).toBe(false);
+        engine.flush();
+        expect(initialized).toBe(true);
+      });
+
       it('should not queue an animation if the property value has not changed at all', () => {
         const engine = makeEngine();
 
diff --git a/packages/animations/browser/testing/src/mock_animation_driver.ts b/packages/animations/browser/testing/src/mock_animation_driver.ts
index b349ef45b9..943cc749a7 100644
--- a/packages/animations/browser/testing/src/mock_animation_driver.ts
+++ b/packages/animations/browser/testing/src/mock_animation_driver.ts
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ export class MockAnimationDriver implements AnimationDriver {
 export class MockAnimationPlayer extends NoopAnimationPlayer {
   private __finished = false;
   public previousStyles: {[key: string]: string | number} = {};
+  private _onInitFns: (() => any)[] = [];
 
   constructor(
       public element: any, public keyframes: {[key: string]: string | number}[],
@@ -45,6 +46,16 @@ export class MockAnimationPlayer extends NoopAnimationPlayer {
     });
   }
 
+  /* @internal */
+  onInit(fn: () => any) { this._onInitFns.push(fn); }
+
+  /* @internal */
+  init() {
+    super.init();
+    this._onInitFns.forEach(fn => fn());
+    this._onInitFns = [];
+  }
+
   finish(): void {
     super.finish();
     this.__finished = true;
diff --git a/packages/core/test/animation/animations_with_web_animations_integration_spec.ts b/packages/core/test/animation/animations_with_web_animations_integration_spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4b7fe3261a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/core/test/animation/animations_with_web_animations_integration_spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+/**
+ * @license
+ * Copyright Google Inc. All Rights Reserved.
+ *
+ * Use of this source code is governed by an MIT-style license that can be
+ * found in the LICENSE file at https://angular.io/license
+ */
+import {animate, style, transition, trigger} from '@angular/animations';
+import {AnimationDriver, ɵAnimationEngine} from '@angular/animations/browser';
+import {ɵDomAnimationEngine, ɵWebAnimationsDriver, ɵWebAnimationsPlayer, ɵsupportsWebAnimations} from '@angular/animations/browser'
+import {Component, ViewChild} from '@angular/core';
+import {BrowserAnimationsModule} from '@angular/platform-browser/animations';
+
+import {TestBed} from '../../testing';
+
+export function main() {
+  // these tests are only mean't to be run within the DOM (for now)
+  if (typeof Element == 'undefined' || !ɵsupportsWebAnimations()) return;
+
+  describe('animation integration tests using web animations', function() {
+
+    beforeEach(() => {
+      TestBed.configureTestingModule({
+        providers: [{provide: AnimationDriver, useClass: ɵWebAnimationsDriver}],
+        imports: [BrowserAnimationsModule]
+      });
+    });
+
+    it('should animate a component that captures height during an animation', () => {
+      @Component({
+        selector: 'if-cmp',
+        template: `
+          <div *ngIf="exp" #element [@myAnimation]="exp">
+            hello {{ text }} 
+          </div>
+        `,
+        animations: [trigger(
+            'myAnimation',
+            [
+              transition('* => *', [style({height: '0px'}), animate(1000, style({height: '*'}))]),
+            ])]
+      })
+      class Cmp {
+        exp: any = false;
+        text: string;
+
+        @ViewChild('element') public element: any;
+      }
+
+      TestBed.configureTestingModule({declarations: [Cmp]});
+
+      const engine = TestBed.get(ɵAnimationEngine);
+      const fixture = TestBed.createComponent(Cmp);
+      const cmp = fixture.componentInstance;
+      cmp.exp = 1;
+      cmp.text = '';
+      fixture.detectChanges();
+      engine.flush();
+
+      const element = cmp.element.nativeElement;
+      element.style.lineHeight = '20px';
+      element.style.width = '50px';
+
+      cmp.exp = 2;
+      cmp.text = '12345';
+      fixture.detectChanges();
+      engine.flush();
+
+      let player = engine.activePlayers.pop() as ɵWebAnimationsPlayer;
+      player.setPosition(1);
+
+      assertStyleBetween(element, 'height', 15, 25);
+
+      cmp.exp = 3;
+      cmp.text = '12345-12345-12345-12345';
+      fixture.detectChanges();
+      engine.flush();
+
+      player = engine.activePlayers.pop() as ɵWebAnimationsPlayer;
+      player.setPosition(1);
+      assertStyleBetween(element, 'height', 35, 45);
+    });
+  });
+}
+
+function assertStyleBetween(
+    element: any, prop: string, start: string | number, end: string | number) {
+  const style = (window.getComputedStyle(element) as any)[prop] as string;
+  if (typeof start == 'number' && typeof end == 'number') {
+    const value = parseFloat(style);
+    expect(value).toBeGreaterThan(start);
+    expect(value).toBeLessThan(end);
+  }
+}