Disney World Makes Monster Construction Progress on Monstropolis Ahead of Accelerated 2027 Opening!

ByTom Bricker

Walt Disney World has been making monstrous progress on Monstropolis, which is racing towards its ahead-of-schedule (phased) opening in 2027. Here’s the latest progress on the colossal door coaster rising backstage, as well as the reimagined front half of the land as its attractions, restaurants and retail are transformed from Muppets to Monsters.

Let’s start with that last point. There are essentially two halves to Monstropolis, which the top photo helps put into context. The front half is on the right side of the photo, and is being reimagined to replace Muppets Courtyard, with existing venues in that now defunct land being repurposed. This is what will open in 2027.

In the bona fide expansion of Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the Monsters, Inc. Doors Coaster is being built backstage in what used to be Cast Member parking and an access road (on the left in the above photo). This is the blockbuster E-Ticket element of Monstropolis, and Walt Disney World has not yet provided any opening timeline.

As will be made abundantly clear with the construction photos, there’s zero chance whatsoever of this debuting in 2027. Our expectation for a while has been that the Door Coaster debuts sometime in 2028, with the kickoff of Monstrous Summer being the odds-on favorite this far out.

You can see the walls along the corridor of Grand Avenue as you walk to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, along with changes to the facades of the former MuppetVision 3D theater, as well as the PizzeRizzo and Mama Melrose restaurants. Meanwhile, the Stage 1 Company Store has been demolished. This front area has been dubbed Dark Avenue by Imagineers, although it’s not clear whether that’s an official or informal name.

Dark Avenue is the main street-esque area that will lead to the Laugh Factory, which will house the marquee Monstropolis attraction, the suspended door coaster. Dark Avenue will also feature Harryhausen’s Restaurant, Archie’s Scare Pig Pizza, Monsters University Alumni Club, the Scareporium, and more.

Disney has already revealed thematic details that are being built in the land, including pillars, horns, teeth, and more to Monster-ify the land. They explained that they’re not re-creating animated structures from the movies, but rather, places with a lived-in real world sensibility that are inspired by the films. Although these are difficult to discern via eye-in-the-sky photos, some are already visible from ground level through the scaffolding.

Against that backdrop, let’s turn to the latest construction photos. As mentioned above, Monstropolis is moving fast as of Fall 2026, racing towards its phased opening dates. As always, all aerial photos are courtesy of theme park eye in the sky bioreconstruct.

Monsters Door Coaster Construction Progress (September 2026)

The latest aerial construction photos of the Monsters, Inc. Door Coaster offer a look at considerable progress to the roller coaster infrastructure, including the supports and the load station. Most notably, there are two tall steel structures rising on opposite sides of the central space, which form the attraction’s vertical lift systems.

If you need help locating these, look for the lighter gray structures spaced with two pairs of archways between them in the photos above. (The close-up shot immediately above the video is of the load area.)

Disney previously released a look at the load area for the Monsters, Inc. Door Coaster:

The door coaster load station will be styled after the factory’s large scare laugh floor, with two side-by-side loading stations each beneath distinctive archways that, together, form an M-shaped ceiling. Those arches or (combined) M-shaped elements are now visible between the vertical lift structures of the construction photos.

Guests will board ride vehicles from the floor of the Monsters, Inc. Laugh Factory. The suspended roller coaster will then be lifted over than 40 feet into the air in four seconds, raising riders toward the curved ceiling above the loading area. Each individual seats will rotate from sideways boarding positions to face forward during the lift.

Once the ride vehicles reach the top of the lift, the coaster will launch forward into the door vault. Much of the upper floor of this area is now enclosed, and the multi-level layout gives us an idea of how much room there is for layering the roller coaster track.

All of this might look rather tight and even small in the aerial close-ups, but I assure you that it is not. I recently saw this from the ground while driving around, and it is massive. As a reminder, the Monsters, Inc. Door Coaster building is a bit bigger than the one for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, making it the largest at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It’s among the largest show buildings in all of Walt Disney World, almost on par with the big blue box for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at EPCOT.

It’s also likely to be a tall and efficient show building. Beyond multiple levels of winding track, there could be queue and pre-show under the roller coaster track. This is not the case with Cosmic Rewind, which is a combination retrofit in the old Universe of Energy building and a detached gravity building.

Between the massive size of the building and this potential efficiency, we’re now optimistic this will be a meatier attraction than first suspected. Hopefully this coaster will clock in at over 2 minutes longer. One of the big advantages Cosmic Rewind has that makes it a better attraction than TRON Lightcycle Run is a much more satisfying duration. It’d be nice if that’s also true of the Monsters, Inc. Door Coaster. Here’s hoping that turns out to be true!

Now let’s take a look at the front area of Monstropolis, which continues to be transformed from Muppets Courtyard to Dark Avenue…

All of this is less interesting from the air, in part because the views from ground level in the park give us good views of the facades, whereas the Door Coaster can only be seen from the far corners of the parking lot.

The biggest change since our last on-the-ground update is basically just that scaffolding has shifted around. It’s coming down from The Glob, revealing the new brickwork on the facade. The marquee is still to come, and hopefully there are other monstrous details to give the building personality. Deeper in the land, there’s now scaffolding covering the facade of Harryhausen’s, the front of which was open as of last month, as well as the adjacent retail.

Marking the entrance are concrete columns that have been rebuilt in a slightly different location after an early false start. You can also see the groundwork being laid for underground plumbing where the central fountain will be installed. This is more or less where the old Miss Piggy fountain was located, and it still is somewhat surprising to me that they didn’t just retrofit that.

While I don’t purport to be a plumber, I would assume this is much more money and time-consuming than swapping out the thematics. Perhaps there were infrastructure issues that needed to be addressed?

Either way, I’m just happy to see Walt Disney World willing to spend on water features, as those have become somewhat of an endangered species in the parks over the last few decades. (Without counting, I would wager that Magic Kingdom has fewer water features today than it did in 1971.)

If you’re wanting more details about what will debut in the Dark Avenue section of Monstropolis in 2027, here’s a rundown…

Glob Theater

The new show at the Glob Theater is titled “Welcome to Monstropolis,” featuring an original Randy Newman song by the same name. The monsters in the show will introduce humans to Monstropolis, and highlight how similar monsters and humans really are.

Mike and Sulley will be hosts,” Imagineers shared at D23. “Sulley has been working on a small, homespun show, but Mike – ever the showman – has a few surprises up his sleeve that he thinks will bring down the house. Hopefully not literally.”

Imagineers have boasted that the production will be packed with technology, which is backed up by what we know of investments into the space based on recent public filings.

I visited an offsite Walt Disney Imagineering facility in Central Florida earlier this summer, and saw some of the technology and Audio Animatronics that’ll be featured in “Welcome to Monstropolis.” The monsters in the lower left and right of the concept art above (on drums and camera) will be Animatronics, with screens and more being used center stage and on the upper sides.

While I can’t speak to the quality of the show from a storytelling perspective, the array of mixed media in “Welcome to Monstropolis” is going to be impressive. It should have good depth as a result, as opposed to being another one-dimensional (or 3D/4D) screen-centric production.

Ironically enough, what I saw reminded me of a modernization of MuppetVision 3D, but with Monsters. I’m skeptical that the story and comedy will be that good, but “Welcome to Monstropolis” should far surpass Monsters Laugh Floor.

Archie’s Scare Pig Pizza

Imagineers also revealed that, across from “Welcome to Monstropolis,” you’ll find Archie’s Scare Pig Pizza. People and monsters all love pizza, and Monstropolis’ top-rated pizza will be your go-to place to grab a slice. Humans may recognize Archie, Fear Tech’s beloved six-legged mascot, but after years of being “borrowed” by mischievous MU students, he’s become a fan favorite on both campuses.

Archie’s Scare Pig Pizza was previously PizzeRizzo. The reimagined restaurant will once again be a counter service pizza place, with an identical footprint in a manner similar to the previous conversion of Pizza Planet into PizzeRizzo. Expect it to look similar to that, except with Monsters window-dressing as opposed to Muppets.

My impression is that the layout is being preserved with Archie’s Scare Pig Pizza. The changes should be largely cosmetic, with the interior given a refresh and new details. Booths, tables and everything else will likely be reinstalled towards the tail end of the project. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. There’s a lot of room for Imagineering to radically reinvent the restaurant with a new interior.

Still, I don’t expect Archie’s Scare Pig Pizza to be all that exciting. My guess is that Disney will allocate the bulk of the budget to Harryhausen’s and let this be more of a utilitarian, high-capacity location. The comparison I’d use here is Docking Bay 7 in terms of detail and design depth meets PizzeRizzo in terms of Easter Eggs, but better than both.

Monstropolis Shopping

Next door, the Monsters University Alumni Club has also opened its doors to human visitors eating at Archie’s.

Head on down for a who’s who of all the student clubs, fraternities, and sororities at MU. Chris said you’ll even find a tribute worth browsing. “Inside the Alumni Club is the elite Scarer’s Club, honoring the school’s legendary scarers from years past.”

For something to commemorate your visit to Monstropolis, the Scareporium will be a shop where human tourists can grab a great souvenir. No details as to the location of this one, but we’re guessing this might be attached to the Monsters, Inc. Door Coaster, in which case, it will not open in 2027.

Harryhausen’s Restaurant

Harryhausen’s was the location of one of Mike and Celia’s most unforgettable dates in the movie. Sulley and Boo show up, as does the CDA, ruining dinner. It was a whole thing. Harryhausen’s takes over the space previously occupied by Mama Melrose, and will likewise be a table service restaurant.

With a new menu to lay your eyes on (whether you have one, two, or ten), a visit to Harryhausen’s will spotlight the famed sushi chef, brought to life here as a new Audio-Animatronics figure. Watch his many tentacles whip up delicious-looking Monster-worthy creations–and there’s more than just sushi on the menu.

As one of the most iconic locations in Monstropolis, we’re expecting Disney to go all-out on Harryhausen’s. That’s not really a bold bet–just take a look at the Audio Animatronics sushi chef:

Our expectation is that Imagineers will recreate Harryhausen’s from the movie, with an end result that amounts to Oga’s Cantina meets Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant meets Space 220, but better than all three. It should join the already-formidable themed restaurant roster at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Harryhausen’s has tremendous potential for a ‘show’ component beyond just the Audio Animatronics sushi chef. Here’s hoping that it also serves up some unique, themed cuisine.

Not that we have high expectations or anything! In reality, even if it’s awful, Harryhausen’s will be the hottest Advance Dining Reservation at Walt Disney World. Here’s hoping it’s actually good…and stays that way. (We can already hear the complaints about adventurous and/or “alien” cuisine. We plan on getting our fill of Harryhausen’s ASAP, as the menu in 2027 might be very different from the menu in 2028 or 2029!)

More on Monstropolis’ Phased Opening in 2027-2028

It’ll be interesting to see how well the phased opening works out for Monstropolis. My personal preference is a single opening, which is a marketable event. At the same time, I’ve started to question conventional wisdom that phased openings suck the excitement out of debuts, which was derived from Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge flopping hard when it launched in Summer 2019.

It’s possible that’s an outlier, and more an example of a botched marketing campaign than a botched launch. After all, Disney was so aggressive with its messaging and crowd control measures that they potentially scared people away. And if there’s one thing we’ve learned from all of this, it’s that Monsters don’t scare anymore.

Maybe phased openings aren’t such a bad thing if messaged carefully. Between the dedicated Walt Disney World fanbase that’ll make visits for every new thing (allowing for Disney to double-dip), no matter how big or small, and the casual guests who would plan around a Cool Kids’ Summer (or whatever) campaign, maybe it makes sense.

Perhaps there’s also something to be said for front-loading some of the demand to reduce the influx of crowds once the main event opens. This is doubly true for Monstropolis, which is expected to be treated as an attraction unto itself where guests linger, shop, and eat. Exhausting demand, along with capturing high-margin merchandise and food & beverage sales, before the Monsters, Inc. Doors Coaster opens might actually be the savvy play. We shall see!

The final question is a matter of when we shall see. The facades are starting to take shape and scaffolding is coming down, but there’s still a decent amount of work on the courtyard itself. That’s to say nothing of the Harryhausen’s and Glob Theater interiors, which are likely the bigger undertakings. With little visibility into any of that, our gut is that the first half of Monstropolis debuts in Summer 2027, right alongside the first third of Tropical Americas. But again, we shall see!

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YOUR THOUGHTS

Thoughts on construction progress? Surprised to see the structure for the Monsters, Inc. Door Coaster going up so fast all of the sudden? Cautiously optimistic about Dark Avenue, or still disappointed that the Monsters evicted the Muppets? Excited about Monstropolis as a whole? Surprised to see it’ll start debuting in 2027, or did you expect a phased opening? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!

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