Monsters Inc. Land News Update: Construction, Permits, and Rumors for Hollywood Studios

Demolition is movin’ right along at the former Muppets Courtyard in Hollywood Studios to make way for an all-new Monsters Inc. themed land. This new Monstropolis area will feature a new show and a large indoor suspended roller coaster. Plus, The Muppets will find a new home at the other end of the park as they take over Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.

Let’s check in on construction for the new land, as well as official details, and more in today’s Hollywood Studios update. See the video version of this story below for additional visuals.

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Work is happening now to build a Monsters Inc. Land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World. This new land will feature the first suspended coaster in any Disney park.

Muppet*Vision 3D, as well as the rest of the Muppets Courtyard area, officially closed back in June of this year, and Disney has wasted no time starting work on the new land.

Monsters Inc. Land Construction

In just the three months since the area closed, the Stage One soundstage in the center of the courtyard has been completely demolished. This was the former land’s main retail space.

All of the ground within the courtyard has been torn up and removed, but the city facades have remained. They will be reimagined as Monstropolis city facades.

While the Miss Piggy fountain in front of the Muppet*Vision theater has been completely removed, water connections appear to have been retained. This is likely to support a new fountain for the upcoming area, which appears in concept art for the exact same spot, (as seen in art above).

Currently, Muppets signage around the area is still in place, but the Muppet*Vision sign has been covered.

The small Gonzo that was hanging from the clock face was recently removed.

The Muppet*Vision theater is expected to become a new Monsters Inc. show.

The current version of the concept art, which can be found on the construction walls facing guest areas, seems to call the show “Meet Monstropolis.” The show is rumored to be in a variety late night style talk show format, featuring interviews with various residents of the Monster-inhabited city.

Concept art shows the former PizzeRizzo structure intact, but no official details have been released about whether it will remain a restaurant or not.

Looking at concept art, we expect the former Mama Melrose Italian restaurant to be transformed into Harryhausen’s, a fancy Japanese-style restaurant seen in the original Monsters Inc film and Monsters at Work streaming series.

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Monsters Inc. Door Coaster

The main attraction for the new Monsters Inc. land will be a large indoor roller coaster, themed after the door vault from the first film.

This attraction will expand the theme park’s footprint, as it is being built in a former section of the Cast Member parking lot behind the area.

The footprint for this large structure can be seen in aerial photographs by Bioreconstruct on social media.

With the shape of the structure cut out of the parking lot, utility and drainage work appears to be happening in these images, with trenches cut into the ground for laying pipes.

In recent days, large equipment has appeared on site which could be used for drilling or pile driving.

Site plans, which were posted along with permits uncovered by BlogMickey.com, show how the outline for this future roller coaster building is about as large as the land itself, and is set fairly far back away from the main streets of the land.

Official concept art for this new ride shows the facade for the attraction as the large Monsters Incorporated factory building.

While the large factory building is visible in the middle, it’s likely that the roller coaster’s gravity building will actually continue to the left and right of what is visible.

To help disguise the large structure, forced perspective smokestacks and towers will be set in the foreground, as seen in the alternate concept art below.

A similar forced perspective effect is employed for the facade of the Ratatouille ride in EPCOT, with flat chimneys used to extend the skyline and help disguise the top of the ride building.

An official model for the Monsters Inc. door coaster shows the ride with see-through walls. This can help give us a sense of scale for the actual ride building compared to what is visible in the concept art.

Some smokestacks can be seen at the front of the model, visible in the next photo by DisneyFoodBlog.com, set in front of the large see-through building behind.

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Door Coaster Ride System

Official artwork for the ride’s interior seems to show it as a Vekoma Suspended Family Coaster. This is evident by the seating design, restraints, and overall train structure.

Official renderings for the load station, which is set within the Monsters Incorporated laugh floor, shows how trains will be lifted into place before entering the door storage warehouse.

The coaster’s station has 4 load areas, with two sets of vertical lifts. This way one side of each lift can be rising while its other side is coming back down. And there is always a train ready to start the ride between the two halves of the station.

@disneyparks POV: You’re a Monsters, Inc. door on the first-ever vertical lift coaster coming to Monstropolis at Disney’s Hollywood Studios! #DisneyWorld #MonstersInc #DisneyParks #SXSW #Pixar ♬ original sound – Disney Parks

There is no launch or lift hill for the attraction, just these vertical lifts, so once the trains are released here, they start their way on the ride, utilizing gravity from this point on.

The graphic above by Tommy Hawkins show a rough idea of how the load station will join the main track for the coaster, as well as the ride’s possible track layout within the structure.

The layout is based on the scale model, which gives us an idea of just how intertwined the track will be within the door vault setting of the ride.

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Monsters Inc. Land Story Details

Despite the land officially being set after the events of the first film, where it is laughter they’re after, Boo is pictured within one of the first pieces of official concept art that was released. This character went back home at the end of that original film though, so it’s unclear if we’re seeing her again, or if this art is outdated, since it appears to depict the climax of the original film.

There is speculation that existing assets could be reused for this ride—like static and animated figures or even set elements—that would be retained from Mike and Sully to the Rescue, which is closing early next year at Disney California Adventure to help make way for a new Avatar ride.

This wouldn’t be the first time these figures have been reused, as many were repurposed from the short-lived opening day attraction, Superstar Limo.

ICON Creative Studio will be providing animation services for the new land, according to the company’s official website. They are the animation studio behind the ‘Monsters at Work’ television series on Disney+.

It is worth noting that the official ICON Studio website refers to this project as “Monsters, Inc. Land.” Disney has not yet confirmed a name for the land, but that wording would match the “Toy Story Land” name across the park.

An opening date, or even a rough timeline, has not yet been announced for the Monstropolis area or the Monsters Inc. door coaster, but many expect it to open in 2028. Tropical Americas is already set to open in 2027 at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, so it is assumed this area will open after that.

While we still have a few years until the Monsters Inc. area is ready, there are several new offerings coming to Hollywood Studios next year in 2026. Most notably among them, is a new home for The Muppets.

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Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets

Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets is currently set to open in 2026, despite the current version of the ride remaining open for the rest of 2025.

The ride will be re-themed to The Muppets with the big guitar out front being repainted, and one of the keyboard keys turning gold as a tribute to Dr. Teeth of Electric Mayhem.

The concept of the ride being set within G-Force Records is remaining, but now in the story of the attraction, Scooter’s uncle has purchased the studio and has put The Muppets in charge.

Just like the previous version of the attraction, we will ride in a stretch limo as Electric Mayhem across town to the concert.

The preshow is being reimagined, with a new reversed set-up, putting us in the engineering booth and having the band visible through the window (screen). A new animatronic Scooter will host the preshow, while animatronic penguins man the mixing board.

While concept art for the load station have not yet been released, official details have Muppet Labs ‘suping up the limos to make them very fast.

Not many details have been revealed for changes to the ride itself, but many of the flats on the ride are expected to remain, but be updated. Disney says “The iconic scenery and landmarks of Tinseltown will feature a Muppet twist.”

As for the music, Electric Mayhem will be playing “iconic rock hits” on the ride, with Disney saying an official set list to be revealed soon.

Many fans are wondering if the theater next door to Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster could someday host a version of Muppet*Vision 3D, or even a new Muppet show, but Disney has never hinted at such a prospect.

The Sunset Showcase theater is currently showing a brand new Villains show. Fans wonder if this new show will only be temporary for a few years, and could be replaced with something else when the full Villains Land opens at Magic Kingdom by the end of the decade.

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The Magic of Disney Animation

Also opening in 2026, a new reimagining of the former Animation Courtyard is transforming Star Wars: Launch Bay into The Magic of Disney Animation.

Star Wars: Launch Bay is closing permanently this month to make way for this new space, inspired by the “Once Upon a Studio” short film, where 100 years of Disney Animation characters coexist within the same space.

According to official concept art, it appears that the arch may be removed as part of this renovation. Formerly the separator between the theme park areas and production side of the original Disney-MGM Studios, the arch has not served an actual function in quite some time now. In its place, artwork shows an entry sign added, which is modeled after the real one for The Walt Disney Studios in California.

The facade for the entry into the new attraction is inspired by the real animation studios in Burbank as well. This includes the Sorcerer Mickey hat atop the entrance.

Inside, The Magic of Disney Animation will offer various character meet and greets, drawing classes, art exhibits, an indoor playground inspired by Mary Blair’s art for Alice in Wonderland, and a new short film, similar in style as the original Robin Williams short which showed here back when this building housed the Animation Tour decades ago.

The current version of The Little Mermaid show, which is located to the left of this area, will remain open during the changes, but a new Disney Jr. Show will debut on the other side of the courtyard in 2026. Fans believe the new show could be an east coast version of the new Mickey Mouse Clubhouse LIVE at Disney California Adventure.

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Smugglers Run New Missions with Mando & Grogu

One final new offering for 2026 is a highly anticipated update for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run. This update will add new missions to the attraction, which will be focused around The Mandalorian and Grogu.

In addition to a new mission, for the first time riders will be able to select the destination we travel to within the mission. We could possibly visit the cloud city of Bespin, the wreckage of the second Death Star around Endor, or the city-planet, Coruscant.

Our new mission will also take us to Tatooine, where Hondo Ohnaka has gotten wind of a deal going down between ex-Imperial officers and a band of pirates.

As part of this update, the engineer position will be given new responsibilities, including selecting the mission’s final location and communicating with Grogu.

The updated version of the ride will debut on May 22, 2026, which is the same day as The Mandalorian & Grogu film’s theatrical release.

We will be following construction of the Monsters Inc. land, as well as these other projects for Hollywood Studios, so stay tuned for updates. Be sure to see the video version of this story for additional visuals.

Subscribe to the news feed or enter your email address below to never miss an update. Original Photos: Alicia Stella | Aerial Photos: Bioreconstruct | Official Art: Disney | Other Images as Captioned