This past August, Disney made plenty of waves at its bi-annual D23 Expo in Anaheim, California. The company announced a ton of plans to add new attractions and lands to the many theme-park resorts it oversees, especially the Disneyland and Walt Disney World resorts in the continental United States. Walt Disney, as some fans like to remind people, always said that Disneyland was not a museum, so change should not only be expected, but it should also be demanded to ensure the parks never remain stagnant. But some attractions seem like they are so immediately perfect, so instantly charming, and so beloved, that to touch them is to risk inflaming the negative passion of fans around the world.Â
And yet, one of the D23 announcements led to speculation and such passion. When Disney announced the ridiculously long-overdue prospect of a roller-coaster themed to the 2001 Pixar film “Monsters, Inc.” at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, it was met with positivity; that film’s wild climax in a veritable sea of bedroom-closet doors seemed tailor-made for an E-ticket-style attraction. Aside from being very late, the piece that some fans noted was that Disney never specified where this new ride was going to be placed, leading folks to wonder if it might mean the end of the Muppets Courtyard and thus the end of Muppet*Vision 3D, an all-ages attraction featuring Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, and the rest of the Muppets gang. Now, the speculation can end, and the news isn’t that good.
If anything, it’s just surprising that it took Disney three-plus months to confirm the speculation: the “Monsters, Inc.” coaster is indeed going to be replacing Muppets Courtyard and Muppet*Vision 3D is going away for good. If there is anything positive to be taken from this story — which feels like it was published on the Friday before a major holiday weekend for a reason — it’s a couple things. First, while the new roller-coaster ride is still coming, it’s not kicking Muppet*Vision 3D out immediately. If you’re planning a trip to Walt Disney World in the next few months, you can still enjoy Muppet*Vision 3D to your heart’s content. (And again, you should. It is perhaps the most underrated attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and a recent visit from this writer can confirm that its many effects still hold up and look as slick as they must have back in the early 1990s when the show premiered.) Second, in a genuinely surprising move, Disney used this news story to confirm that the Muppets aren’t going away as much as they’re moving over to Sunset Boulevard and taking over the current Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster featuring Aerosmith. (That, too, is still a couple years away from being a reality.)
But the most important and potentially telling aspect of the story for those of us who adore not only the Muppets but also Muppet*Vision 3D comes near the end: “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.” This could mean anything or it could mean nothing (especially since that direct quote doesn’t actually specify that “the film” means Muppet*Vision 3D). But the fact that Disney is even acknowledging that it may try to figure something out is a sign that they know enough people want the 1990 attraction to live on in some form.Â
And here’s the good news: there’s a very easy solution. If Disney CEO Bob Iger (who no doubt is reading this, as he does any article about theme-park ideas) wants to figure out how to preserve Muppet*Vision 3D, the answer is simple: bring it to Disney+.