by Lorelai Thompson
On November 22, Disney announced their plans for new attractions and rethemes for their Disney World parks in Orlando, Florida. They recently announced opening new themed areas in their parks, such as a new Cars-centered section of the park, and a Monsters Inc. roller coaster and themed area. While these new ideas have been met with relatively positive feedback from fans, their placements for the new sections have been met with backlash.
While the plans for the Monsters Inc. section of the park are engaging and relevant to modern Disney media, the section would replace Muppet Courtyard in Hollywood Studios. While many Muppet fans have been predicting Disney closing down Muppet Courtyard and Muppet Vision 3D for years, the anticipated announcement for the retheming of this park section still stung many Muppet fans. Muppet Vision 3D was one of Jim Henson’s final projects before his tragic passing, and while fans have been expecting Disney to erase their beloved section of the park, they’ve also hoped for Disney to at least preserve Muppet Vision in honor of Jim Henson, even if it’s moved to another section of Hollywood Studios.
Aside from Muppet Courtyard being rethemed, another beloved attraction is also facing a retheming in the future. Rock n’ Roller Coaster, an Aerosmith-themed roller coaster in Hollywood Studio, is facing a retheming due to Aerosmith’s contract with Disney not being renewed. While many fans of the ride have been throwing around guesses as to what would replace the Aerosmith theme, with many hoping for it to be based on A Goofy Movie, they were all thrown completely off with what would replace the theme of the coaster. While the Muppets lost their first spot in the park, they were picked as the new theme of Rock n’ Roller Coaster.
The new theme will focus on the Muppet rock band, The Electric Mayhem, traveling to a music festival, using original songs from the franchise, as well as new songs for the ride itself. The retheming of the ride fits perfectly, using one of the many franchises Diseny owns, while also rehousing a beloved franchise that is losing land. However, many seem to feel conflicted about this new theme. Vocal commenters claim that they don’t see the fast-moving coaster fitting well with the pacing of the songs from the Muppet franchise, or that the theme should have been given to another rock band.
While this change has upset many fans of both the Muppets and Aerosmith, this change may not be necessarily as bad as the crowds believe. Many of Disney’s recent project proposals that have received negative responses have ended up catching the hearts of their audiences, such as Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, which replaced Splash Mountain in 2023. Even though it’s bittersweet seeing a classic attraction being replaced with something more modern or “not as good,” it helps the park keep up with the evolving tastes of its future guests, giving them new attractions to experience.
The retheming of Rock n’ Roller Coaster is relevant to what Disney is currently producing, since they released a one-season show for The Electric Mayhem on Disney Plus in 2023. It’s a perfect homage to the most relevant Muppet production from Disney and keeps the rock coming, despite the Aerosmith theme coming to a halt. While it hurts seeing Rock n’ Roller Coaster’s original theming leave the parks, it’s interesting and exciting to imagine what Disney plans on doing with The Electric Mayhem and the roller coaster.
