Of all the attractions to close, possibly the hardest closure has been that of Muppets Vision 3-D. I was privileged to grow up in a Disney legacy family my father was in the Imagineering team that worked with Jim Henson, One of my biggest idols growing up. I grew up arguing with my peers that Sesame Street characters were indeed very much Muppets. Went to every muppet movie premier I could go to and probably burned through my VHS of The Muppets Classic Theater more times than my parents probably wanted to hear me sing the “Elvis Shoe Elves” sing about Blue Suedes.
I’m excited about Rock N Roll’s re imagination. But it’s not what the team envisioned when we were thinking about removing Cars. We wanted to bring Jim Henson’s Muppet Studios to life and bring Muppet Vision 3-D to the area. However the lords that be in Corporate shot this down. Jim Henson was worst than Disney, he was a child at heart and wanted children of all ages to enjoy his Muppets. Rock ‘n Roll will be an amazing overlay, however there won’t be anything for children besides the “occasional” meet and greet ala roaming Muppet AA’s.
I keep telling myself that things will get better. That management will take a look at our fan base and realize that maybe just maybe if we keep the things that last a lifetime and make families happy, maybe we don’t have to slap IP all over the wall and make it stick. Muppet Vision was an ode to Jim Henson the very same way that a certain Alien up east on I-4 is to Steven Spielberg. This current stream of forced and unnecessary change to catch up on the fact that for years we wanted to keep downplaying that the playing field in Central Florida has become tighter is tough.