Disney World fans are a passionate bunch and that’s never put on display more than when huge changes are announced for the parks.
The latest update that has fans up in arms is Disney’s announcement that a new Monsters, Inc. land would be taking over the current Muppets Courtyard space in Hollywood Studios. Before the announcement, much speculation had stirred about where exactly the new land would go — and now that we know, fans are convinced Disney just blew a big opportunity.
It’s official — the new Monsters, Inc. land will be located on the south side of Grand Avenue at Disney’s Hollywood Studios — also known as Muppets Courtyard. And, with this major change, we’ll have to say goodbye to Muppet*Vision 3D, PizzeRizzo, Mama Melrose, and the bathrooms in this area.
But, fans seem to be convinced this was a big mistake — and we can see why. You see, back when Disney first announced this new land at the D23 Expo, they hadn’t yet shared just where this new land would go. Fans pretty quickly surmised that it had to be one of two options: Muppets Courtyard, where it is going, or Animation Courtyard, which is currently home to… not a whole lot.
Right now, Animation Courtyard is where you’ll find the Disney Junior — Live on Stage! show and the former home of the Voyage of the Little Mermaid show (which is currently being reworked and will reopen with a new name), along with Walt Disney Presents and Star Wars Launch Bay.
Ultimately, none of these attractions are particularly popular these days — and certainly not more popular than Muppet*Vision 3D, so why would Disney choose to retheme that area instead of Animation Courtyard?
Of course, Disney obviously has their reasons that we’re not privy to, but we can’t help but still feel like an overhaul of Animation Courtyard is well overdue.
Based on the concept art of the new Monsters, Inc. land, it’s clear that Disney plans to reuse and repurpose many of the buildings that are currently in Muppets Courtyard — albeit with a ton of work to retheme them. Still, it’s possible that this is what sealed the deal.
Monsters, Inc. land will be home to a new restaurant (which will likely go where Mama Melrose’s currently sits — or at least in that area), a new stage show (which looks like it will take over the Muppet*Vision theater), plus new shopping and more.
By taking over the current Muppets space, Disney just has to retheme buildings instead of erecting new ones altogether as they’d most likely have to over in Animation Courtyard. Either way — the next few years are sure to be interesting at Disney World!
We’ll be on the lookout for even more Muppet and Monsters, Inc. land news from Disney, so stay tuned. In the meantime, keep checking back here at DFB for the latest Disney World updates and more!
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What do you think of these new changes? Tell us in the comments.
Lois Pierce says
I said it before and I’ll say it again. Move the MuppetVision 3D show to the theater next to the Imagination Pavilion. It’s already set up for 3D and is being severely underutilized with the short film festival. Using that theater, most of the the animatronics and other show elements could be moved along with the film. And the Muppets certainly fit in with the Imagination theme. They could even refilm the ending when the hole is blown into the back of the building and have Figment and other characters peeking in the hole. Maybe it’d even inspire them to redo the Imagination Pavilion. Muppet Labs, anyone?
Todd says
Reusing buildings was likely a key factor, but the most significant driver was likely the size of the coaster building which the Animation Courtyard couldn’t accommodate.
DonnaTheDead says
It would be interesting if they could utilize the existing MuppetVision infrastructure by creating a Monsters Inc. 3-D movie/show. Instead of having the muppets looking for Bean, everyone could be looking for Boo. The 3-D projector is there, the animatronics are all there. All they’d need to do is create a Sulley suit (when Jack/Sweetums walks across the theater), and Boo, Mike W., etc. overlays for the animatronic figures. Seems the most cost effective way of going about it. Just a thought…
Denise F says
I agree with you 100%, Lois!