It saddens me to even be writing this article, but I have to. Today, on January 24th, 2025, Disney officially announced when our final day is to experience Grand Avenue at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
Here's the official statement from Disney:
"To make way for the monsters, the Grand Avenue area will begin a phased closing in May, with the last day to dine at Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano on May 10. Following that, Muppet*Vision 3D and PizzeRizzo will close, with the last day to experience both locations on June 7."
Similarly to Dinoland U.S.A at Disney's Animal Kingdom, Grand Avenue will close in phases (although in much shorter, quicker phases). Phase 1 begins on May 11th when Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano closes for good, with its last day of operation taking place on May 10th.
According to official concept art, it looks like Mama Melrose's will become Harryhausen's from Monsters Inc. Instead of serving up Italian cuisine, the restaurant will boast to be a highly themed sushi/hibachi style Asian eatery, a change I am eagerly anticipating.
It's also safe to assume that construction on the Door Factory suspended rollercoaster will also begin around this time given its location all the way in the back of the land.
But the news doesn't stop there. Fast-forward almost one month later, and the rest of the land will close. The last day to experience both Muppet Vision 3D and PizzeRizzo will be on June 7th, 2025, with both permanently closing on June 8th. As far as what the future holds for Muppet Vision, see Disney's statement below:
"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."
Muppet Vision is slated to become a brand new theater show, and PizzeRizzo is expected to stay as a quick service restaurant. As for what kinds of food we can expect from a new Monsters Inc. themed quick service place, we don't know just yet.
But let's not forget about Rock 'n' Rollercoaster Starring Aerosmith. Even though the Muppets are getting booted out of Grand Avenue, they will eventually be relocating to Sunset Boulevard. The rethemed coaster will star Doctor Teeth and his band, Electric Mayhem, along with Kermit and Ms. Piggy. See official concept art below.
Despite all of the news announced today, it looks like Rock 'n' Rollercoaster isn't going anywhere... for now. I personally think a 2025 closure of the coaster is still likely, but we're probably not going to see anything crazy get announced until sometime later this Summer, for what I believe will be a possible Fall closure.
Of course, I could be wrong. If you asked me a couple of months ago back in November when it was confirmed that the Muppets would be replaced by Monsters Inc., I would've put my money on a Fall 2025 closure for the land, with Rock 'n' Rollercoaster around the same time. Looks like I was wrong about that, as a late Spring/early Summer closure is way earlier than I expected. The timing is interesting.
It just baffles me that we have a closing date so soon for Muppet Vision along with the rest of Grand Avenue, but still no closing date for things like the Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island at the Magic Kingdom, or even for It's Tough to be a Bug at Animal Kingdom.
All else I have to say is that you can definitely be on the lookout for a Hollywood Studios construction update coming your way sometime next week. As far as my thoughts go on these changes, I am excited to see Monsters Inc. come to Disney's Hollywood Studios in a new land that's shaping up to have some great new offerings, I just wish it wasn't at the expense of Muppet Vision...
However, it looks like Disney is clearly going to address this issue sometime soon. Not only do Disney fans love Muppet Vision, but it was also the final project that Jim Henson worked on before he passed away in 1990. Muppet Vision opened at Disney's Hollywood Studios one year later in 1991, but unfortunately he never got to see his final project in person. Even though Muppet Vision is not an opening day attraction at the park, it is an extremely historical and timeless piece of Disney and American entertainment history that deserves to continue to be experienced by audiences for generations to come. I sincerely hope that Disney sticks to their statement and actually tries to relocate or preserve parts of the attraction in some way, and by that I don't just mean putting it on Disney+. Muppet Vision is a 365 sensory experience and deserves to be watched in person with all its moving parts, and I will not settle for a lazy solution.
But what are your thoughts on these recent announcements? And how do you feel about Muppet Vision 3D? Once again, I encourage you to go see the show one last time before it closes for good... we don't have much time left. At the time of writing this, you have 134 days remaining to see Muppet Vision before the final curtain calls. It'll be here before we know it.
Thanks for reading everyone!
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