It’s a time for change at Walt Disney World, and new photos from Bioreconstruct have given Disney fans a unique look at ongoing construction projects taking place at multiple Walt Disney World theme parks. Yesterday, we got a glimpse at the drained Rivers of America and early construction work in Magic Kingdom. Earlier today, we took a look at new work underway for an Encanto-themed ride coming to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. And now, we’re going to take a closer look at the first signs of infrastructure work for a Monsters Inc. roller coaster coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Infrastructure Work Underway for Monsters Inc. Roller Coaster
Walt Disney World is turbocharging its investment into the theme parks, including active, large-scale construction projects at three of the four parks. The big project currently underway at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is the transformation of a Muppets-themed area into a Monsters Inc.-themed area. The new Monsters Inc. Land will include an all-new roller coaster themed to the door vault experience seen in the first movie.
To make way for the reimagined area, Walt Disney World demolished the former MuppetVision 3D gift shop, the Stage 1 Company Store. We brought you a first look at the demolition back in late July, and new aerial photos from Bioreconstruct show that the cleanup is nearly complete.
First, here’s a look at updated concept art for the Monsters Inc. Land coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
The Stage 1 Company Store used to sit in park area seen in the middle of the concept art above. Here are some aerial photos of the area as crews are nearly done cleaning up the debris from the demolition.
Here’s a look back at this part of the construction site from a couple of weeks ago.
Zooming out a bit, we can see that the remainder of the former Miss Piggy fountain has also been demolished. Concept art for the new Monsters Inc. Land does show a fountain in this area, but it clearly won’t be what was there before, even with a retheme. It’s gone.
Also demolished was an overhang for the seldom-used exterior queue. Everything up to the entrance of the former MuppetVision 3D attraction has been turned to dirt. The building will remain standing and be rethemed. Walt Disney World hasn’t provided many details about what will replace MuppetVision 3D beyond a “new theater show“. It remains to be seen if this space is used for a theater show or if other plans may arise.
Zooming out more, we can see the massive construction site and footprint for the all-new Monsters Inc. door vault roller coaster. In the aerial photo below, we can see the construction site dwarfing the existing (former) Muppets Courtyard area. It’s clear that this is a true expansion of the footprint of Disney’s Hollywood Studios, with the roller coaster building taking up a significant portion of the Cast Member parking lot.
The interesting news from this series of aerial photography is that infrastructure work is now underway for the Monsters Inc. door vault roller coaster. As seen below, early work is taking place on the north side of the site, near the footprint for the roller coaster building.
It’s possible that this early work could be to support drainage or other infrastructure work around the building ahead of the building going vertical. This work appears to be outside of the assumed footprint of the building, but it’s certainly within the construction site for the new roller coaster.
Interestingly, the excavated dirt is being dumped within the building footprint, perhaps creating a new foundation for the new structure. We’ll likely see this type of early infrastructure work continuing over the weeks, and perhaps months, ahead as Disney prepares the site.
Walt Disney World has not announced an opening year for the Monsters Inc. Land. With the Tropical Americas land slated to open at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in 2027, it would seem likely that the Monsters Inc. Land could be ready by 2028, with Piston Peak National Park following in 2029 and then Villains Land in the 2030s. Anything beyond the confirmed 2027 opening timeframe for Tropical Americas is speculation at this point.
While we’d love to say that we hope to hear more concrete timelines at the Destination D23 event later this month, Disney is not going to host a theme park presentation. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be any theme park news, but we expect most of the big theme park news to be saved for the D23 Expo in 2026.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!
