Big changes are coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in Florida as a beloved decades-old attraction is closing, while another longtime fan favorite is getting a total makeover.
Muppet*Vision 3D, which opened in 1991, and the surrounding Muppets Courtyard will close to make way for a previously announced new land themed to the “Monsters, Inc.” franchise, the company said on Friday.
The new area will include a long-discussed coaster based on the door vault scene in the first film as well as dining and ― of course ― shopping
Disney shared concept art of the new area:
The Muppets themselves will remain in the park.
Disney said the characters will be “moving right along” to what is currently the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, a thrill ride that opened in 1999 and still routinely posts wait times of an hour or more.
Aerosmith will be evicted while the ride is re-themed to feature the Muppets along with “some of music’s biggest stars.”
Muppet*Vision 3D was one of Muppet creator Jim Henson’s final projects, as he died while it was being made. The film offers a mix of a 3-D film along with Muppets animatronics and a costumed Muppets character who runs into the theater at a key point.
“Innovation was always Jim Henson’s north star, and his trailblazing career led him to a unique challenge: a truly immersive Muppet experience where audiences are part of the happy chaos of the iconic Muppet Show,” the Jim Henson Company said in a statement responding to news of the closure. “The result was a one-of-a-kind Jim Henson experience, and an unforgettable capstone to Jim’s magnificent career.”
Henson voices Kermit the Frog, the Swedish Chef, and Waldorf of Statler and Waldorf ― the Muppets’ relentless hecklers ― in the attraction.
A clone of the show ran at Disney’s California Adventure theme park for more than a decade, closing in 2014.
Disney suggested that Muppet*Vision 3D might still survive, at last in some form.
“As we move forward with these changes, we are having creative conversations and exploring ways to preserve the film and other parts of the experience for fans to enjoy in the future,” the company said.
The Jim Henson Company also hinted at a future for the attraction, saying “we look forward to Muppet*Vision 3D’s next act.”
Disney didn’t say when Muppet*Vision 3D or Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster would close, or when the new attractions were expected to open, but has said previously that construction on the Monsters, Inc. area would begin next year.