Disney’s most famous comedian is finally heading to Hollywood! Mike Wazowski and friends will be arriving in Hollywood Studios as that park gets a new Monsters, Inc. land! In this post, we break down everything we’re expecting from this land, including the hanging door coaster, a look at where this land fits into the park, and some speculation on how long the project will take. Let’s get screaming laughing!
Related Posts
It’s a busy time for construction at Disney World! We’ve got some related posts you might want to read:
Monstropolis Coming to Hollywood Studios (you are here)
While those are mostly unrelated, they do interact a bit when it comes to predicting the timeline of all this.
Monsters Inc. Land Name and Backstory
Let’s start with some backstory…
What will Monsters Inc. Land Be Called?
The name of the new land at Hollywood Studios will be Monstropolis. Monstropolis is the main setting for the Monsters, Inc. franchise.
Hollywood Studios Monstropolis Backstory
Disney has finally revealed some backstory for Monstropolis! Humans are being invited into Monstropolis to celebrate H.U.M.A.N (Humans Understand Monsters Are Nice) Day. Cooked up by the “Department of Human Relations,” H.U.M.A.N. Day is “Part celebration and part cultural exchange, humans are invited to explore Monstropolis, interact with its citizens, and experience the city firsthand as monsters and humans come together through laughter instead of fear. “
What Rides Will Monstropolis Have?
Monstropolis will have one ride, the “hanging door”-themed coaster. Disney describes it as a “thrilling roller coaster ride through the Monsters, Inc. door vault.” It will be Disney’s first ever suspended coaster and its first vertical lift coaster.
This is an idea that’s been in the works for a long time, and the only thing we’ll miss more than Muppet Courtyard is the unending churn of rumors related to this project finally coming to fruition. It’s real, it’s coming.
What Else Will Monstropolis Have?
Details are thin. For starters, it’ll have a show. You can see below that MuppetVision 3D theater will be kept intact and replaced by “The Monstro” “The Glob” Theater. At the cost of $22 million, Disney is reworking this into a Monsters Inc. show.
A table service restaurant, Harryhausen’s Restaurant, will replace Mama Melrose’s. Monstropolis will have a quick service restaurant that replaces PizzeRizzo, but details haven’t been announced.
Beyond that, we expect some retail and snacks (bring money).
Where will Monstropolis Be Built?
Monstropolis is coming to Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World. Specifically, the bulk of it will replace the existing Muppet Courtyard area, former home to MuppetVision 3D, in the back of the park. Let’s dive into what’s really happening here…
What Does The Transformation Entail?
Concept art can be a bit deceiving, but it looks like you can sort of break this transformation into three components.
First, there’s the re-theme of the existing area. The concept art below is a good look at the plans. Some details have changed since this art was released, but the overall picture remains the same.
You can see that many facades and structures from the old Muppet Courtyard will remain. The theater that was used for MuppetVision 3D (closed June 7, 2025) will be converted to “The Glob” Theater (note: this art used the name “Monstro”).
Concept Art Copyright Disney/Pixar - Fair Use Claimed
Second, there’s the demolition of Stage 1 Company Store. I was a big fan of this store for the longest time, and I was sad to see it fall into disuse. I was lucky to be able to get inside as part of Jollywood Nights (they used it for merchandise for the event) last year. But this building is clearly missing from the concept art and, indeed, has been demolished.
Third, there’s the construction of the new coaster. This will be an entirely new structure, built mostly on land taken from the Cast Member parking lot.
While the coaster is certainly going to be the highlight of the land, this expansion is overall somewhere between a genuine “new land” and a re-theme of an existing area. That said, as much as a few of us diehards love Muppet Courtyard, I think it’s safe to say that we’re going to have a more cohesive land feel once all is said and done—having a flagship ride to anchor around does a lot for a space.
When Will Monstropolis Open?
Reminder: It’s possible Disney will announce more details on this project during D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, being held from August 14 to 16, 2026.
Update: Some media members (not us) were invited to look at construction in June 2026.
This is the big unanswered question in regard to this land, and the simple fact is we don’t know. But here’s some unbridled speculation…
The Coaster Is The Main Constraint
As noted above, this project is somewhere between a conversion of an existing land and a built-from-the-ground brand new land. In terms of time constraints, what matters is the construction of the coaster (no rivers to fill in on this one, for example). Everything else can be comfortably done within the timeframe it takes to build a coaster.
Quickly—this shouldn’t discount the work being done on the structures and facades. You can see, for example, in this behind-the-scenes video that a ton of work is going on. I’m glad to see Disney isn’t cutting corners on this, and they seem to be set on really making use of all the time the coaster construction will give them.
If you look at some recent construction timeframes, it usually takes between 1 and 2, sometimes 3 years to build a new coaster (including some indoor coasters). If we assume this will be an ambitious project, we can estimate it to take about 2 years, which would mean a late 2027 opening at the earliest.
How Does Monstropolis Fit Into Disney’s Bigger Plans?
This brings us to the slate of other ongoing projects at Disney World. I linked to these posts above, but Animal Kingdom is getting a new Tropical Americas land, Magic Kingdom is getting a new Cars area, and Magic Kingdom is getting a new land.
Of these, only Tropical Americas at Animal Kingdom has been given an opening timeframe—2027. While it’s feasible that Monstropolis could also open in 2027, I doubt it will.
While Disney hasn’t provided any updates, it appears that the optimistic target for Tropical Americas is mid-2027 (Memorial Day) now. That would leave only late 2027 for Monstropolis if it were to open that year. When you add in the possibility of a phased opening for Tropical Americas (some parts of the land opening before others), 2027 just doesn’t seem opportune for Monstropolis.
Moreover, if this was locked into 2027 they could just announce it already. Sure, they might want to play it close to the vest for any number of reasons, but if they’ve got new lands to debut, there’s also every reason to space them out to pump up demand year after year.
Not to mention—Hollywood Studios doesn’t really need this land. The park is handily the second best at Disney World and arguably the best. It has a majorly updated coaster (Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets), along with The Magic of Disney Animation coming in late summer. By contrast, Animal Kingdom urgently needs Tropical Americas.
On the other side of things, we have the Magic Kingdom projects. The Magic Kingdom expansions are much more extensive than the Monstropolis project. It’s conceivable the ride construction in the Cars area will be easier than building the coaster for Monstropolis, but that project requires a ton of foundational work first.
All of this boils down to something like 2028 as my speculative target for Monstropolis to open at Hollywood Studios.
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