A lot is changing at Walt Disney World, especially for fans of pizza and The Muppets.
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After months of rumors and speculation, Disney has finally revealed when it will close Muppet*Vision 3D at its Hollywood Studios theme park. Disney first announced the attraction’s closure last year, a decision that proved to be quite controversial amongst diehard Disney fans and newcomers alike.
Outcries from fans could be seen and heard all throughout social media, with a few celebrities even pleading with Disney to save The Muppets. However, this backlash fell on deaf, or closed, ears, with Disney now moving ahead with its plans to close Muppet*Vision 3D forever.
Muppet*Vision 3D will be ending its theatrical run on June 7 to make way for an exciting and controversial new expansion based on Pixar’s Monsters Inc. franchise. However, some fans and future travelers may not realize that the entirety of Muppets Courtyard is closing, not just Muppet*Vision 3D, meaning several other locations, namely PizzeRizzo, will also be shutting their doors forever this summer.
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Muppets Courtyard is not only the current home of Muppet*Vision 3D but also serves as a hub for several other popular locations at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Guests can come and visit Muppets Courtyard to get their Italian food fix at Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano or enjoy some shopping at the Christmas-themed outlet, It’s a Wonderful Shop. The area’s biggest and most popular location is, without doubt, PizzeRizzo, which, as its name suggests, promises guests pizza and the occasional rat.
It’s quick, cheesy; it’s “rat pizza,” and it’s a perfect blend of The Muppets’ iconic brand of comedy and wacky hijinx with Disney’s need to provide its guests with something quick and relatively cheap to eat, with PizzeRizzo becoming a cult-classic location over the years.
However, with the closure of Muppet*Vision 3D and Muppets Courtyard, guests don’t have much longer to enjoy this wonderfully unique and refreshingly simple quick service location.
“To make way for the monsters, the Grand Avenue area will begin a phased closing in May, with the last day to dine at Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano on May 10,” said Dsney in a statement. “Following that, Muppet*Vision 3D and PizzeRizzo will close, with the last day to experience both locations on June 7.”
As stated earlier, Disney is shutting down its Muppets-themed area to make way for a bold and exciting new expansion inspired by Pixar’s Monsters Inc. series of films. Rumors about Disney bringing Mike, Sully, and the rest of Monstropolis into the Walt Disney World Resort date back decades, making the new expansion’s reveal last year all that more surprising.
While fans have watched as multiple classic rides and attractions have closed over the years, the loss of Muppet*Vision 3D seems to sting quite a bit. Muppet*Vision 3D is not just a fun three-dimensional show featuring a large cast of colorful puppets; the attraction acts as a museum of sorts for Jim Henson himself. Muppet*Vision 3D was the final project Henson worked on prior to his death in 1990, making the loss of Muppet*Vision 3D harder to process.
However, there’s one silver lining here, as Disney actually plans to keep The Muppets inside Hollywood Studios, just not in the way fans might think. See, The Muppets aren’t the only ones being evicted, with Disney confirming that it would be closing and retheming its Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.
The thrill ride has been headlined by legendary rock band Aerosmith since its opening day, but this all changes soon, with The Muppets soon to call the coaster their new home. That’s right, The Muppest will soon take over Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, with Disney teasing the modified attraction in an announcement last year.
The concept art shown above serves as a tease of what guests can expect when the project is completed.
While it may seem like there is a lot going on, this is a drop in the bucket compared to Disney’s other plans for its Orlando theme park resort.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom has already closed parts of its DinoLand U.S.A. area, which was home to carnival games, rides, and other attractions. Some experiences, like the park’s ferocious “E-ticket” attraction, DINOSAUR, will operate throughout the year, while others have already closed permanently. This is all being done to make way for a new “South America” land that will be home to new rides inspired by Encanto and Indiana Jones.
The Magic Kingdom will be undergoing perhaps the biggest of them all, with the park’s Rivers of America waterways set to shut down. This means the closure of Tom Sawyer Island as well, an underappreciated gem that’s been a part of the Walt Disney World Resort since 1973.
Are you sad to see The Muppets go away?
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