We Went Inside Monstropolis at Disney World for a Monster’s Eye Construction View.

Work is well underway on Monstropolis and the Monsters, Inc. Doors Coaster at Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World. We had the chance to go inside the construction walls and hear new details from Imagineers about the concept for the new land; we’ll cover that progress plus new on-the-ground and aerial photos, and more.

As basic background, Monstropolis is partially replacing Muppets Courtyard, with existing venues in that now defunct land being reimagined and the Monsters, Inc. Doors Coaster being built backstage as a proper expansion of DHS. 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.

Although Walt Disney World and Imagineers haven’t stated as much, we strongly suspect that Monstropolis will consist of one-for-one replacements of existing restaurants, along with a new show in the MuppetVision Theater. It does not seem like the existing buildings are being fundamentally transformed. This isn’t to say it’s a light reimagining or refresh, but rather, that the first half of the land will feature a familiar layout and substantive offerings.

As previously expected, the table service Mama Melrose is now officially confirmed as becoming Harryhausen’s, a table service restaurant. For those who are unfamiliar with it, Harryhausen’s is the restaurant in Monsters, Inc. to which Mike Wazowski takes his girlfriend Celia for her birthday. Sulley and Boo show up, as does the CDA, ruining dinner. It was a whole thing.

Harryhausen’s sounds perfect for a theme park restaurant, and our expectation is that they lean towards the ‘fun foods’ angle as opposed to Japanese fine dining. Harryhausen’s has the potential to serve attention-grabbing and photogenic in-universe dishes, including Goo-tofu, Vegetable Tempuki, Swill & Sour Soup, Flab cake, Spider roll, and Terrible Teriyucky.

It’s also likely that PizzeRizzo is going to be reimagined into a counter service restaurant with an identical footprint in a manner similar to the conversion of Pizza Planet into PizzeRizzo. The concept art shows an almost identical building to what’s there now, and we can’t imagine Disney is going to radically reinvent the interior.

As part of our hard hat tour of Monstropolis, we actually went inside the former PizzeRizzo building. Although a lot has been removed to the point that it feels like an eerie shell of its former self, a lot has also been retained.

Based on what’s still there, my impression is that the layout is being preserved. That the changes will be mostly cosmetic, with the interior given a refresh and new thematic window-dressing, but booths, tables and everything else being 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.

My hope is that Disney goes big on the fun-factor with something over the top. Both of the previous iterations of this restaurants have been relatively restrained and did not fully deliver on their (strong) premises. Disney’s Hollywood Studios has several incredibly immersive table service restaurants, but counter service skews more on the nondescript side. This is a chance to change that.

Meanwhile, MuppetVision Theater will be transformed to accommodate a brand-new show. Some fans have speculated that Monsters Laugh Floor will move from Tomorrowland at Magic Kingdom, but that is not what Walt Disney World announced and we have reason to believe that’s wrong.

Based on public filings, Walt Disney World is Spending $22.4 Million on MuppetVision Theater Transformation, and that’s just the structure, not the show itself. If Disney is spending that much on the building, it’s safe to assume this isn’t a cheap relocation.

Monsters Laugh Floor is starting to show its age, and would likely be sunset at some point soon as part of a separate reimagining of Tomorrowland even if Monstropolis weren’t happening.

Our expectation is that this will be a supporting or secondary attraction to the Door Coaster, but an ambitious one given how perpetually packed it’ll be. It behooves Disney to spend big and make this a worthwhile addition that’ll round out Monstropolis and last decades.

Finally, there’s the Monsters, Inc. Doors Coaster at the end of the corridor. This is the bona fide expansion, with the new attraction, gravity building, and central courtyard all on what was previously Cast Member parking.

While many details about the attraction are still locked up in a laugh canister, what we do know about the upcoming attraction is that it’ll feature the first-ever suspended coaster at any Disney Park, and the first-ever vertical lift. It also has one of the largest show buildings in all of Walt Disney World, rivaling Cosmic Rewind and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.

Zooming around inside the door vault lends itself perfectly to a roller coaster, and should make for a classic ‘stepping into a story’ or wish fulfillment attraction. There’s a reason why the idea for a door coaster has been bouncing around Imagineering for the last two decades!

Unfortunately, we were not able to walk to the backstage parking lot, so the bird’s eye view via aerial photos from bioreconstruct will have to suffice. As you can see below, these show coaster support columns being installed, and work beginning on what appears to be the load station. Take a look:

When Will Monstropolis Open?

With so much visible progress and work speeding along, it’s hard not to wonder when Monstropolis will open. Officially, Walt Disney World has not indicated when the Monsters, Inc. land will debut, but they have announced that Tropical Americas will open first of the upcoming additions, in 2027. Our expectation is that Tropical Americas debuts in late 2027, potentially in phases.

As discussed in the 5-Year Construction Plan for Walt Disney World, they’re going to return to a cadence of opening one major addition per year. This would put Monstropolis in 2028.

Although it’s still early, our expectation is that it debuts in time for a “Monstrous Summer” celebration that year, reviving an event from 2013 when Mike Wazowski and his enormous eye were projected onto Spaceship Earth as part of an all-nighter to kick off the summer.

The only wildcard is how early Muppets Courtyard closed, which could result in a phased opening. Given the closure timing and the comparative simplicity of those reimaginings, the front half of Monstropolis could theoretically debut by 2027. Unless Tropical Americas is delayed to 2028, we view a phased opening of Monstropolis as a mistake.

Walt Disney World has likely learned its lesson about doing phased openings after this area’s next door neighbor, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, fell flat upon its partial opening in mid-2019. My best guess is that Monstropolis is coming all at once in Spring or Summer 2028.

Monstropolis Construction Observations

If you’ve been to Disney’s Hollywood Studios recently, you’ve seen that the Monstropolis project has really kicked into high gear. Scaffolding is up around all of the buildings, facades are starting to be ripped open and replaced, and rebar is rising at the entrance for columns. Likewise, there’s a lot that aerial photos reveal about the Monsters, Inc. Door Coaster.

Having followed all of this closely for months, the one thing that struck me about the courtyard is just how much larger it looks and feels without the Stage 1 Company Store. This doesn’t shock me, as you get that sense even from aerial photos or standing in the courtyard, but it’s one thing to see it via photos or outside the walls, and another entirely to stand in the land and see it in person from within.

Demolishing Stage 1 is something that Walt Disney World should’ve done years ago, back when Grand Avenue debuted in the lead-up to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, as opposed to painting it over.

Stage 1 made the area feel cramped, which was the point at one time to make it feel like an alley in New York, but foot traffic back here likely suffered as a result. Making this park less a mess of soundstages is the smart move as Disney minimizes the studios in Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Opening up this courtyard and having a longer approach to the Monsters, Inc. factory will make this feel like an inviting and fully-fledged land, making it more conducive to foot traffic. It’s also going to provide an opportunity for more details on the facades lining Monstropolis, which should result in a more lived-in sensibility with personality, gags, and distinct storefronts and residences.

Based on concept art for the facades that we were shown during the tour along with the explanations given by Imagineering, it’s clear that Monstropolis is following the template established by Zootopia at Shanghai Disneyland. In fact, Disney referenced that land as the benchmark for which they’re striving with Monstropolis.

That approach makes sense. As basic background, the Zootopia themed land in SDL modeled after Savanna Central invites guests to fully immerse themselves in the mammalian metropolis of Zootopia, and has been a huge hit as it scores incredibly well on guest satisfaction metrics according to Disney. Over 90% of guests surveyed listed Zootopia as a reason for visiting, and over 95% of guests rated “Excellent” or “Very Good” after experiencing the land’s iconic attraction, Zootopia: Hot Pursuit.

Guests in Zootopia land are immersed in the movie as they stroll down Mane Street, which is lined with “storefronts” in a variety of sizes, big and small, leading to its civic plaza. The land features custom-made business signs and oversized billboards with animated advertisements, with the city’s skyline behind it.

That land also uses a wide variety of innovative new technologies that bring its citizens to life. For example, at Zootopia Central Station, a large metro train can be seen passing behind an upper-level decorative stained-glass window. The train comes and goes, picking up and dropping off animal commuters, just as in the film.

In the second-story windows of the Tiger Dance Club, Gazelle’s famed tiger dancers can be seen celebrating Zootopia Day alongside a wide variety of animals. Meanwhile, the Zootopia Transit Authority features a “hyper-tube” used by Lemmings on their commutes. The diverse residents of Zootopia are brought to life via a mixture of advanced multi-media, Audio Animatronics, and more traditional effects.

Details can be spotted throughout the land for an authentic Zootopia experience. The architecture incorporates animal motifs; the landscape design takes inspiration from the distinctive and individual geography of the different districts; and the land features city fixtures and facilities that are scaled up and down to accommodate animals from all walks of life.

Zootopia land is a treasure trove of detail and Easter Eggs, all of which serves the important dual purposes of world-building to make the metropolis feel lived-in and make guests want to linger. Both Zootopia and World of Frozen have been smash successes in this regard, keeping guests occupied for longer and more satisfied with their experience. With these two lands, it would seem as if Imagineering has finally found its own Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

We fixate on Zootopia land here because Monstropolis will pull from that same playbook, from the windows and storefronts bustling with activity right down to the facade of Grand Central Station (the backside of what’s currently the theater).

The art for the Monstropolis facades shown during the hard hat tour were oozing with personality, suggesting a level of placemaking and immersiveness well beyond what’s been revealed to date via the aerial concept art. Based on that, I would assume the goal is to make Monstropolis a significant capacity addition from an actual utilization perspective, with this land having the potential to border on a half-day experience for many guests.

Imagineering declined to offer more details or specifics about how Monstropolis would come to life, presumably wanting to save something for the upcoming D23 Expo, but given how much inspiration they appear to be drawing from Zootopia at Shanghai Disneyland, I’d say that it’s pretty safe to look at that land as the blueprint here. World of Frozen or Cars Land are also somewhat similar, but the overlap of the respective metropolises is probably far greater. In an absence of official details, it’s fairly easy to point to the existing Zootopia land as a reference point and say it’ll be like that, but make it Monsters, Inc!

I’m still not over the closure of MuppetVision 3D, but admittedly, this contextualization (paired with the success of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets) makes it sting a little less. The Monsters, Inc. Door Coaster would’ve been a smash success as a standalone attraction, and would’ve rekindled interest in MV3D by virtue of increased foot traffic back here.

At the same time, there’s also something to be said for a fully-fledged, immersive land like Monstropolis. It’s also fair to point out that the former facades were fairly nondescript, and nothing that made guests linger to soak up the atmosphere, design, and placemaking. (I did love the Muppets gags that were painted over, but even those were more surface-level.)

Given the high guest metrics that Shanghai Disneyland has reported with Zootopia, it’s no surprise that Imagineering and Walt Disney World want to replicate that success. Kind of makes you wonder when that land is getting cloned in California!

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YOUR THOUGHTS

Thoughts on Monstropolis construction progress? If you’ve experienced Zootopia, World of Frozen, Cars Land, or the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, do you feel that any of those lands are good templates for Monstropolis? If the Imagineering borrows liberally from the successful blueprint of Zootopia, but remixed for Monsters, will that be a win? Excited for this new land, or will you miss Muppets Courtyard? 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!