What Will Disney World Sacrifice for Monsters, Inc. Land at Hollywood Studios?
After years of rumors, Monstropolis and the Monsters, Inc. Doors Coaster are finally coming to Walt Disney World. The big question now: what will this land and ride replace at Disney's Hollywood Studios? This post
After years of rumors, Monstropolis and the Monsters, Inc. Doors Coaster are finally coming to Walt Disney World. The big question now: what will this land and ride replace at Disney’s Hollywood Studios? This post discusses possibilities, reasons for and against them, and why here’s a lot of fear among fans about one of the most likely candidates.
During the Parks Panel at the 2024 D23 Expo, Walt Disney World announced that a brand-new land themed around Monsters, Inc. comes to life at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Picking up after the events of Pixar’s beloved film, humans have now been invited to visit the world of Monsters, Inc.
The monsters need laughter to power the city and keep it running smoothly, so you’ll be able to visit the Laugh Factory, hear the laughs and zoom through the building just like Sulley and Mike Wazowski, via a door. The Monsters, Inc. Doors Coaster will put you right in the middle of the monster action. Construction on the Monstropolis land project is slated to begin in 2025.
That’s everything Walt Disney World has officially announced about Monstropolis and the Monsters, Inc. Doors Coaster so far. What they have not revealed is where this new land and attraction will go. This has led to a lot of speculation and fear, especially after Disney revealed that the Cars area in Magic Kingdom will replace the Rivers of America, resulting in permanent closures of Tom Sawyer Island and the Liberty Square Riverboat.
This news let a lot of the air out of the tires, so to speak, from Walt Disney World’s otherwise blockbuster D23. There’s a sense of dread that the exact same thing is going to happen with Monstropolis at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. This is doubly true at DHS, as anything added almost necessarily has to replace something else.
Yes, we know–Walt Disney World has the blessing of size. Someone must’ve forgotten to tell the original planners of the Disney-MGM Studios, because this park faces unique challenges due to the surrounding roads. It is highly unlikely–if not impossible–that those are ever going to be re-routed. The expense and inconvenience makes that a non-starter.
Two other infrastructure issues exist that are much more surmountable. One is parking, both for guests and Cast Members on both surface lots and backstage structures. Another is offices for Walt Disney World leadership and other facilities. All of this could be relocated or addressed if Disney has the appetite to do so.
At some point, they’ll have to–Disney’s Hollywood Studios will need to consume backstage areas or parking spaces in order to grow from Walt Disney World’s smallest park (by far) to something capable of soaking up larger crowds. In the here and now with Monstropolis, that may not be necessary from the company’s perspective.
Against that backdrop, the new Monsters, Inc. Doors Coaster and Monstropolis mini-land will almost certainly need to replace an existing area of Disney’s Hollywood Studios, with a couple of candidates emerging as frontrunners. Further reinforcing this notion is that Disney released two pieces of concept art for Monstropolis, showing seemingly conflicting locations for the land.
Let’s start with Animation Courtyard, which is believed to be depicted in the above concept art. This has been one of the rumored landing locations for the Monsters, Inc. Doors Coaster since Toy Story Mania got a third track, taking that area off the table.
In case you’re unfamiliar with Animation Courtyard (because who even goes back there anymore?!), the Laugh Floor factory building would replace what’s currently Star Wars Launch Bay. The facades to the right in the art above would replace the Disney Junior Dance Party stuff, with the building itself likely to not be replaced since it connects to the Hollywood Brown Derby and houses Club 33 upstairs.
On the other side would be the Little Mermaid theater, but that’s gone–not just obscured by trees–in the concept art. Of course, artistic liberties are always taken with art, so it might still exist. There’s really no reason to raze the building only to replace it with…nothing.
The most compelling reason to replace Animation Courtyard is because it’s underutilized capacity.
You might’ve come to dread those words after seeing them so many times in the Rivers of America replacement post, but this time, they’re being used as a shield instead of a sword, so to speak. Animation Courtyard has serious dead mall vibes, and is the single saddest area in all of Walt Disney World. If you’ve ever wondered what the Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris was like before its overhaul, this is the answer.
Star Wars Launch Bay was never intended to be a permanent attraction, and the meet & greets in that building could easily be relocated to a multiverse-like “portal” in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, making them much more popular and breathing new life into that land. (Two birds with one stone.)
Nothing back there in Animation Courtyard is sacred.
The only thing of value back there is the upcoming Little Mermaid stage show, which is a light reimagining of the original. This alone is not dispositive of where Monstropolis will go. Disney Live Entertainment likely had no clue about Monstropolis when deciding to bring back the stage show. Its return wouldn’t preclude closure or relocation–especially if not much money is being invested in the theater itself.
With that said, I’d imagine Disney leadership will take into account the value of “The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure” as well as the dance party, and the degree of difficulty in relocating these experiences or the lost capacity.
Even though Animation Courtyard is unquestionably the best location for Monstropolis from a guest-facing perspective since it’s the worst area of Disney’s Hollywood Studios, it’s not the obvious candidate for a few reasons.
The first is that Animation Courtyard would require more construction. Star Wars Launch Bay would probably be demolished unless it could be repurposed, in whole or part, as the queue and pre-show. Think of this as similar to what happened with Universe of Energy being “converted” to Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind–the facade and shell were maintained but the building was basically gutted and blown out.
The bigger issue is what’s backstage–the former Animation building, along with leadership offices and parking. This may not seem like a big deal, and it shouldn’t be. But all it takes is a couple of executives with enough power who don’t want to relocate to tip the scales in a tenuous situation like this. (You might recall ‘rumors’ that the Main Street Theater in Magic Kingdom was killed because park leadership realized it meant losing their convenient parking spaces. That wasn’t what doomed the project, but it’s one of those notions that sort of ‘rings true’ and could contribute to derailing a project.)
The bottom line is that building Monstropolis and the Monsters, Inc. Doors Coaster in the Animation Courtyard is the more expensive option. Not just the construction itself, but also relocating the backstage facilities that would have to be replaced. With the company earmarking a lot of money for Walt Disney World over the next 5 years, they may want to opt for the cost-effective option.
With that said, all of those backstage buildings are goners at some point. Whether it’s for this project or the next one, they will not exist at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in the long term. It’s been my understanding for a while (since ~2018 or 2019) that the eventual goal is to eliminate dead ends and connect the two sides of the park.
To that same point, it’s also my understanding that another (larger) project is slated for Disney’s Hollywood Studios as part of the 10-year plan, and that’s better suited for Animation Courtyard. However, this was the case before the flurry of news announced at the 2024 D23 Expo. I’m now wondering whether anything else is in the cards for DHS in the decade to come. I truly do not know. But if it is the case that other DHS expansion plans have been nixed, Animation Courtyard is probably the better option–for guests and the company–even if it costs more.
The alternative, distinctly unpatriotic option for Monstropolis and the Monsters, Inc. Doors Coaster is Grand Avenue–also known as Muppet Courtyard. The above depicts Monsters taking over this area of the park, via circa 2020 concept art.
For those who aren’t familiar with this area, it was the recently-refreshed corner of the park that functions, basically, as a transition space leading into Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Were it to go here, the new Monsters land would replace everything in the Grand Avenue, including BaseLine Tap House, Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano, Studio 1 Shop, Days of Christmas, PizzeRizzo…and MuppetVision 3D.
In this scenario, it’s widely expected that Monstropolis would mostly take over the existing facilities. Meaning that the Muppet counter service restaurant would be rethemed into a Monsters, Inc. counter service restaurant, Mama Melrose’s would become Harryhausen’s, etc. There would be some demolition, but it wouldn’t be nearly as extreme.
That’s the obvious selling point for Grand Avenue and Muppet Courtyard becoming Monstropolis. It would be cheaper and more efficient, potentially with a faster turnaround time. If the goal is to have new attractions coming online every year, this proposal could likely be fast-tracked and be one of the earlier openings. Certainly before the Magic Kingdom expansion.
The downsides are also fairly obvious. Grand Avenue and Muppet Courtyard are already a fairly nice corner of the park thanks to the massive placemaking effort that took place in the lead-up to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. There’s no “need” to improve this, and even though it’s not the busiest part of the park, that would change if attendance increased at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
In fact, one of the motivations for Grand Avenue in the first place was to provide capacity and breathing room when it was anticipated that Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge would draw colossal crowds. That didn’t happen to the extent expected, but if DHS does get busier–and it will with a new Monsters land and other potential additions–it would be shortsighted to replace an area that already offers that.
As with the new Little Mermaid show, I do not view anything that has happened recently in Grand Avenue as outcome determinative. Not that new Coke stand that took like a year to build, not the new seats in MuppetVision, and not the overall area being refreshed. Most of this is a simple matter of one hand not knowing what the other was doing.
There are also a couple wildcards with this area. I’m personally not convinced the sightlines would allow for a roller coaster backing up to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Presumably, it’ll have a tall gravity building in addition to that massive CDA hangar facade. There also may not be enough space in Grand Avenue without extending into Cast Member parking–which would also mean interfering with a backstage roadway.
Obviously, the elephant in the room is MuppetVision 3D. It’s no secret that we’re huge fans of this attraction, and view it alongside Country Bear Jamboree as one of Walt Disney World’s candidates for UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It’s impossible for me to be unbiased when it comes to MuppetVision, but I personally believe that it still stands the test of time.
Trying to be more objective, MuppetVision 3D remains reasonably popular for what it is and serves as a nice reprieve from the long lines and chaos of Disney’s Hollywood Studios–a park that even now ‘collapses’ under the weight of heavy crowds. MuppetVision is one of the few attractions in Disney’s Hollywood Studios that has all-ages appeal, no height requirement, or a lengthy standby line.
Basically, MuppetVision threads the needle of filling enough seats most of the day while also being easily accessible. The argument could be made that it’s underutilized capacity, but not really by show standards. In an underutilized capacity comparison, Animation Courtyard is the easy choice for Monsters, Inc.
Then there’s the artistic significance of MuppetVision 3D. It owns a special place in both Walt Disney World history and American culture. It’s one of the last projects that Muppet creator Jim Henson was involved in prior to his passing. It is widely regarded as an exemplar of Muppet humor and storytelling; a true masterpiece and work of art.
Consider this excerpt from Jim Henson: The Biography: “Disney would be good for the Muppets as well. If there was any organization that knew how to preserve and promote iconic characters beyond the lifetimes of their respective creators, it was the Walt Disney Company. For Jim, finding such a suitable home for the Muppets was important…and if he couldn’t always tend to their well-being, he wanted to ensure they were with someone else who would. ‘Looking way back down the road to when I stop sitting in my rocking chair and working Kermit the Frog, I really like the idea of characters living on in the Disney parks,’ said Jim. ‘It’s a wonderful future for these characters. It’s as close to an eternal life as a little green frog can get.\’”
While there’s some truth to the superficial sentiment that “Disney is not a museum” that’s bandied about by fans and the company to justify otherwise poor decisions, there’s also truth to the notion that some attractions are untouchable. Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, and “it’s a small world” all would absolute fit this bill. Among a certain segment of fans, this also extends to MuppetVision 3D.
The company undoubtedly realizes this. Even if the Grand Avenue location is favored, more fan backlash after the Rivers of America replacement announcement may be too much for them to stomach. At some point, this breaks containment from the bubble of the fan community and starts generating negative headlines and badwill even among the general public.
I strongly suspect that’s what will happen if Walt Disney World announces Monsters replacing MuppetVision. You might view this as hyperbolic given the relatively niche audience of the Muppets. However, they are popular with the “right” people. Tastemakers, creatives, and celebrities are among the core demo of the Muppets, all of whom have disproportionate influence.
If this is announced, you can rest assured there will be headlines in major publications, every single pop culture website, and high-profile people will randomly post angry tweets. Regardless of how you personally feel about the Muppets (and I’m guessing a lot of you don’t care!), it will be a big deal in the wider culture that dwarfs the reaction to the Rivers of America news.
Oh, and here’s another wildcard. My list of the Top 10 Walt Disney World Rumors We’d Bet Against included the Monsters, Inc. Doors Coaster. That was obviously embarrassing for me, but the point is not to give you another chance to laugh at me.
Rather, that I received a tip that a Monstropolis miniland was back on the table and it’s part of what prompted that list in the first place. Obviously, I did not believe the tip given that I’ve been hearing this rumor for nearly two decades (!!!), but it was correct.
Also part of that was that the Monsters Inc. Doors Coaster would be replacing Sunset Showcase. I was additionally skeptical of this angle–why would Walt Disney World replace a relatively new attraction and the only meaningful Cars presence in the parks? Well, now there’s an answer to that thanks to the Magic Kingdom project. I still question whether there’s enough space back there, but just throwing out yet another possibility.
Finally, I’ll give you my theory on all of this: Walt Disney World doesn’t even know where Monstropolis is going.
This would explain so many of the conflicting reports that are starting to trickle out. That Disney itself released the two contradictory pieces of concept art because there are competing proposals for Monstropolis. That even though the roller coaster has been greenlit, they had yet to settle on which location to move forward with at the time of the D23 Expo.
This is my impression based on conversations with multiple people on Sunday at event and since. There were some who were very confident that Monstropolis was going to Animation Courtyard and others who had zero doubts that it’d replace MuppetVision. My conclusion from all of this is that there is no conclusion yet.
If you’re active in the Disney online community, you’ve probably seen a sliver of that this week. There are connected ex-Imagineers telling people to say their goodbyes to MuppetVision; meanwhile, credible sources are proclaiming with the utmost certainty that the concept has been moved to Animation Courtyard. There is no clear consensus, even among those who normally would be in the know.
There are any number of reasons why there might be competing concepts, most of which were identified above. Another is simply a temperature-taking exercise to gauge the reaction to Monsters replacing Muppets and seeing if, between this and Rivers of America, the backlash is worth the cost-savings.
If that’s the rationale, Disney could now know what it needs to know for a decision; an announcement could come very soon. (Speaking of no consensus, I’ve heard rumblings of an announcement as early as tomorrow or as late as sometime in 2025. Remember, work is to begin next year, but it could always start backstage–meaning they technically wouldn’t have to officially announce right away–or even close any guest facilities until 2026, in theory.)
Given that, we’d encourage you to contact Walt Disney World to respectfully express your opinion, if you have a strong one on this matter (and I assume you do if you’ve read this far) as soon as possible. The best way to do that is by emailing [email protected]. This is far superior to a petition or getting loud after the fact. Once an announcement is made, it’s too late for your voice to matter.
As should be obvious, I’m completely clueless as to what’ll happen. I’d normally never bet against Walt Disney World’s frugality and would say that makes Muppet Courtyard the obvious choice. However, I suspect there are real concerns about two announcements with major fan backlash and losing positive buzz from D23. I also think that Burbank has turned on the money spigot, so perhaps saving a bit of money on this is not a priority.
Then there’s the real wildcard, which is Walt Disney Imagineering. As you might recall, the Muppets are now under the purview of WDI. Even if that weren’t the case, Imagineers are exactly the kind of creative, niche audience that loves the Muppets. They don’t have final say over where this goes–they just pitch the options–but they will fight tooth and nail, and use up whatever internal political capital they have, to save MuppetVision. Again, that alone is not outcome-determinative, but I could see all of this tipping the scales in favor of Monstropolis going to Animation Courtyard. And who knows, maybe Disney could make another Muppets movie about saving a theater to help offset the added cost–except this time, it could be a documentary!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Where do you hope the Monsters, Inc. doors roller coaster inside a Monstropolis minland goes within Disney’s Hollywood Studios? Where do you think it actually will go? Is this addition still “worth it” to you if it replaces Grand Avenue and MuppetVision 3D? Will Josh D’Amaro and Bob Iger do the right thing, or make the distinctly unpatriotic decision? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
