The best theme park attractions are more than just amusements. They’re tangible memories that can transport you back decades. You can also experience them anew by introducing them to others and passing them down to younger generations. Muppet*Vision 3D at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is that type of attraction for me. It was one of my absolute favorites as a kid, at a place that meantand meansso much to my family. I still love it as an adult. Only now it’s closing forever.
Like everything and everyone, it’s the inevitable fate that comes for the very best attractions one way or another. But while Muppet*Vision 3D might be leaving Walt Disney World, all of the things that made it great will make sure it endures long after its curtains shut.
From the moment Disney announced its major Monsters, Inc. expansion at Hollywood Studios it was clear to everyone that loves Muppet*Vision 3D the show was in danger. Muppet Courtyard was never exactly the most complete land in the park. The area’s original grand plans never came to fruition after Jim Henson’s death. It ultimately only housed one attraction and two restaurants, neither of which ever rated highly among Walt Disney World dining options. Its beloved store had already been closed for years when Disney shared its expansion plans. The proverbial writing was on the Muppet Courtyard wall.
Not that fans like myself didn’t make the case to save it. It was/is a good case, too! For lots of reasons, Animation Courtyard made far more sense as the location for the Monsters, Inc. area. Muppet*Vision 3D was also historically important as the last Muppets show Jim Henson ever worked on. And the show, which is actually a 4D experience, is still really funny and entertaining. Why get rid of the beloved group’s signature/only attraction at a theme park that had already lost so many of its oldest and most revered rides?
The answer to that is something we’ll probably never fully know because Disney is a business. We aren’t privy to relevant factors like “the quality of the literal land needed to build on,” foot traffic studies, and overall guest interest. But as people who love attractions, those things don’t matter to us and shouldn’t. The only thing that should is how a ride or a attraction makes us feel. And Muppet*Vision 3D always made me feel good.
As a kid, nothing made me laugh as much as Waldo C. Graphic, Muppet Labs’ digital 3D invention that takes over the show. His big line“All these other people think I’m talking to them, but I’m really just talking to YOU.”and stretching nose effect killed me. That one moment alone had me going back to see Muppet*Vision 3D again and again at my family’s favorite park. The fact it also involved animatronics and a live performer made me think the showheld in an incredible theater and starring Kermit, Fozzy, Missy Piggy, Gonzo, and all the other Muppets I lovedwas the greatest thing in the world.
Of course, so was The Great Movie Ride inside the park’s replica Grauman’s Chinese Theater. I was obsessed with it as a kid, too. It was the park’s signature attraction, a dark ride through cinema history that also employed live actors so you felt like you were inside a movie. But that wasn’t enough to save it. It closed in 2017. That was a lot longer than the park’s own name survived. DisneyMGM Studios became Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 2008. A plaque is the only reminder of what the park itself was once called by everyone who visited.
Do I wish The Great Movie Ride was still there? Every single time I walk into Hollywood Studios. I hope it comes back some day. I’d also give anything to do the Studio Backlot Tour again, but it closed in 2014. Just as the fantastic Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: Movie Set Adventure play area shuttered in 2016, long after SuperStar Television ended in 1998.
I loved all of them. I have vivid memories of each, some of the best from my childhood. And now unlike other Walt Disney World attractions like Haunted Mansion or Spaceship Earth which I can still go onthey’re like most memories, relegated to pictures, videos, and my own mind.
It’s sad. That might sound strange. It’s “just” a thing to do in a theme park with a million other fun things to do, after all. But even if you’ve never had that kind of connection to an amusement park attraction, you have your own experiences you don’t want changed either. There’s an obvious comfort in knowing the things we loved are still there when we need them. There’s a reason no one has ever been okay with Greedo shooting first. Editing that scene doesn’t change your memory of Han Solo getting one of the greatest introductions in movie history, but that doesn’t mean we like that change.
Yet, change itself is not inherently bad, and neither is the closing of Muppet*Vision 3D. I wish Disney would alter its plans at the last second so June 7, 2025 would instead become the show’s day of resurrection instead of its closing. But I still can’t wait to see Monsters, Inc. land. I’m ridiculously excited about riding its new vertical-lift coaster. I think it has a chance to be really special. Disney Imagineers never disappoint with original rides when they get to build something from scratch with all the space they need.
And all of those lost rides I mourn and always will? New attractions and new lands I now love took their place. Hollywood Studios’ Toy Story Land and Galaxy’s Edge are two of the best, most immersive, most beautiful theme park creations ever. And you know who also loves them? My son, who we just took to Walt Disney World for his first time. Toy Story Mania was his absolute favorite. He loved watching stormtroopers follow Kylo Ren around. And even if I’ll forever miss The Great Movie Ride, he had the biggest smile on his face on its replacement, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway.
He’ll only ever know what was once inside that building from me, but that’s okay. I wouldn’t trade the experience of him laughing at Daisy Duck teaching us how to “waltz” and “conga” for anything. The same is true of of my final time in Muppet Courtyard.
With a week to go before it closed forever, I wasn’t sure how many times I’d want to see Muppet*Vision 3D. Turns out the answer was just once because I got the most perfect goodbye possible. I watched the show, the one I fell in love with as a child, for the final time with my son sitting on my lap. Alexander cackled when Waldo’s nose came at him, same as I once had (and still did). He reached out to touch the 3D projections like they were real. He turned around when the Swedish Chef fired his cannon. And mama was there to take pictures, so one day, even if he doesn’t remember being in that theater, his sentimental dad can show him how happy we both were to be there together.
And when we visit Monsters, Inc. land some day to make all-new memories together that I won’t trade for anything, I’ll point out what was once in that spot. I’ll tell him why it was so important to me, just as I do with people he’ll only ever know because I talk about them. And I’ll also explain all of that inside a park thateven thiough it is so very different from the one I once knew and lovedthat still remains my favorite. And it does becase change doesn’t have to be bad if we’re willing to embrace what’s new. It’s okay to be nostalgia for the past and excited for the future.
I truly hoped Disney would keep Muppet*Vision 3D running forever. I’m also old enough to know that wasn’t possible. If it’s run didn’t end because of this expansion it would have ended because of a different one soon enough. Eventually even the most popular rides at the world’s most famous theme park eventually get upgraded, changed, or even closed. Attractions aren’t immune from the forces of time anymore than we are. But even if I can’t ever again step into this beloved memory, I can still forever hold on to it.
And when it comes to Muppet*Vision 3D I’m especially lucky. It will be easy for me to do that because it gave me its best memory the last time I was there.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. Despite what he said here about change, one day he’s going to make the case to bring back The Great Movie Ride. You can follow him on Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.
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This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak
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