DHS Monster Inc Land Coming to Disney's Hollywood Studios

[Brer Panther]

With a title like “Meet Monstropolis” I feared a fancier indoor meet n’ greet akin to what the princesses got at both castle parks.

That had me worried too. Replacing MuppetVision with a meet and greet would've been the ultimate insult.

they must have reasons for it even if many of us disagree

Bob Iger hates the Muppets. It's as simple as that.

If there were a desire to capitalize on the popularity of franchise, a company like Disney which has been hellbent on pumping out sequels would have already had Cars 4 in the works.

Give them time. I'm sure they're just waiting until Elio underperforms and they assume that it's because it was an "original" film as opposed to a sequel.

Iger has talked about a greater Moana presence at the parks. I wonder if that could be something they are eyeing for AC. It gives DHS a much needed water ride and you could bring the Shanghai pirates tech to WDW.

Wouldn't a Moana ride fit better in Adventureland? I dunno, I think it'd be out of place in Hollywood Studios...

I feel like this line of thinking of just theatrical releases mattering doesn’t work.

If how good a film does at the box office, or whether or not it's getting a sequel, mattered, we probably wouldn't be getting an Encanto attraction.

They do care. It's why they are sticking the Muppets at RnR, instead of abandoning them at the parks completely.

That's not a sign that they care. They're clearly only doing that because they knew people would be mad at them removing MuppetVision and greenlit this in an attempt to pacify them.

What's the over and under on Ice Age joining WDW?

I still think that would've been a much better IP to replace Dino-Rama with.

I’m one of the few who is pretty satisfied with Country Bears - so that team is quite good.

I was gonna bring up the new Country Bears too. That show had some pretty funny jokes in it ("Get a hook! Get a bear trap!"), so it gives me a little confidence.

Monsters is a great movie. I also think the sequel is very, very good.

Hey, somebody else who likes Monsters University! We're in the minority on the internet. Maybe if it had been released before Cars 2, people wouldn't hate it so much...

the 2nd season leaves a cliffhanger that could potentially be resolved in a yet to be announced official monsters inc 3. (Even if I think it might be somewhat unnecessary)

I don't think we need a Monsters Inc 3, personally. Just do a third season of Monsters at Work.

Hell even Gravity Falls got an attraction pitch. Muppets got one. And I know quite a few others that got one but were left on the cutting room floor.

Are you allowed to elaborate? I'm curious now...

think ITTBAB is the pinnacle of 4D theme park films - funny, clever, sentimental, even a bit educational.

How was it sentimental? I can understand finding it funny and clever, and yeah, it was educational, but I don't recall any sentimental parts...

 

[mattpeto]

View attachment 863960

I still dread the day when it's confirmed that the whole coaster isn't fitting in the Monsters Inc building but instead will need a much wider show building painted with blue 'sky'. Why not just build a larger MI building?! That would even make it more film-accurate!

Why are you dreading this? I feel like every attraction has this setup. You won’t see an ugly building. And if you do it will be themed.

Guardians was the one misfire that could have been handled better.

 

[BlindChow]

It’s no secret that the door coaster has been discussed for some time on these very boards. No one here ever said it was a bad concept. A suspended coaster design for a door coaster attraction is excellent, and will be a huge draw in this park.

Actually, there is one guy here who repeatedly insists everyone else is a simpleton for being excited by the idea.

 

[mattpeto]

That had me worried too. Replacing MuppetVision with a meet and greet would've been the ultimate insult.

Bob Iger hates the Muppets. It's as simple as tha t.

Give them time.

Wouldn't a Moana ride fit better in Adventureland? I dunno, I think it'd be out of place in Hollywood Studios...

If how good a film does at the box office, or whether or not it's getting a sequel, mattered, we wouldn't be getting an Encanto attraction.

That's not a sign that they care. They're clearly only doing that because they knew people would be mad at them removing MuppetVision and greenlit this in an attempt to pacify them.

I still think that would've been a much better IP to replace Dino-Rama with.

I was gonna bring up the new Country Bears too. That show had some pretty funny jokes in it ("Get a hook! Get a bear trap!"), so it gives me a little confidence.

Hey, somebody else who likes Monsters University! We're in the minority on the internet. Maybe if it had been released before Cars 2, people wouldn't hate it so much...

I don't think we need a Monsters Inc 3, personally. Just do a third season of Monsters at Work.

Are you allowed to elaborate? I'm curious now...

How was it sentimental? I can understand finding it funny and clever, and yeah, it was educational, but I don't recall any sentimental

It’s such a ridiculous take. Read the italics, it contradicts what's in bold.

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

That had me worried too. Replacing MuppetVision with a meet and greet would've been the ultimate insult.

Bob Iger hates the Muppets. It's as simple as that.

Give them time. I'm sure they're just waiting until Elio underperforms and they assume that it's because it was an "original" film as opposed to a sequel.

Wouldn't a Moana ride fit better in Adventureland? I dunno, I think it'd be out of place in Hollywood Studios...

If how good a film does at the box office, or whether or not it's getting a sequel, mattered, we wouldn't be getting an Encanto attraction.

That's not a sign that they care. They're clearly only doing that because they knew people would be mad at them removing MuppetVision and greenlit this in an attempt to pacify them.

I still think that would've been a much better IP to replace Dino-Rama with.

I was gonna bring up the new Country Bears too. That show had some pretty funny jokes in it ("Get a hook! Get a bear trap!"), so it gives me a little confidence.

Hey, somebody else who likes Monsters University! We're in the minority on the internet. Maybe if it had been released before Cars 2, people wouldn't hate it so much...

I don't think we need a Monsters Inc 3, personally. Just do a third season of Monsters at Work.

Are you allowed to elaborate? I'm curious now...

How was it sentimental? I can understand finding it funny and clever, and yeah, it was educational, but I don't recall any sentimental parts...

He wasn’t able to say much of anything about it.

That had me worried too. Replacing MuppetVision with a meet and greet would've been the ultimate insult.

Bob Iger hates the Muppets. It's as simple as that.

Give them time. I'm sure they're just waiting until Elio underperforms and they assume that it's because it was an "original" film as opposed to a sequel.

Wouldn't a Moana ride fit better in Adventureland? I dunno, I think it'd be out of place in Hollywood Studios...

If how good a film does at the box office, or whether or not it's getting a sequel, mattered, we probably wouldn't be getting an Encanto attraction.

That's not a sign that they care. They're clearly only doing that because they knew people would be mad at them removing MuppetVision and greenlit this in an attempt to pacify them.

I still think that would've been a much better IP to replace Dino-Rama with.

I was gonna bring up the new Country Bears too. That show had some pretty funny jokes in it ("Get a hook! Get a bear trap!"), so it gives me a little confidence.

Hey, somebody else who likes Monsters University! We're in the minority on the internet. Maybe if it had been released before Cars 2, people wouldn't hate it so much...

I don't think we need a Monsters Inc 3, personally. Just do a third season of Monsters at Work.

Are you allowed to elaborate? I'm curious now...

How was it sentimental? I can understand finding it funny and clever, and yeah, it was educational, but I don't recall any sentimental parts...

This is pretty much all they're allowed to show (a public post)

There is some visible text from the flipside but very blurry. I do see "Dipper's Book" aka Journal 3 mentioned as an important piece. I'm led to believe this was meant to be a Mystery Shack walkthrough attraction in Disneyland's Frontierland which would have made decent enough sense. Real shame it never got off the ground as the OG Imagineer said, Gravity Falls' real popularity came when it was already too late.

 

[Brer Panther]

It’s such a ridiculous take. Read the italics, it contradicts what's in bold.

If Disney cared about MuppetVision's fans, they wouldn't have removed MuppetVision at all.

 

[LSLS]

Monsters Inc remains one of the single most popular IPs in Disney’s library to this very day. I’m really not sure if you just don’t know anybody who grew up in the 2000s or you’re ignoring them because it doesn’t fit your narrative, but this movie has endured with those kids and that is evidenced not only in the depth of social media culture around it, but also in the sheer volume of merch it moves to this day. When the D23 announcements came out, this was one of very few things that actually got coverage in mainstream media that doesn’t typically touch on theme park news and the reason for that is because Monsters Inc. is just absurdly popular.

You could be correct, but anecdotal evidence does not prove your point. Do you have merch/streaming numbers? That's really what would tell the story. Your experience growing up around your set of friends doesn't corelate to the entire country/world.

That said, I don't disagree with putting this land in (though I'll again say I dislike losing something in this park, even if we are gaining one attraction). I don't think the IP needs to be the biggest or the best for it to be a good addition that will bring in people, it just needs to be done very well.

 

[KDM31091]

They are already expanding into the parking lot for this, so there is no reason they couldn't have built the whole thing there. They made a clear choice to get rid of Muppets and replace it with Monsters.

Exactly. Why does everything have to be a replacement? For the “blessing of size” they boast about we rarely get something that isn’t a replacement in some way or another

 

[monothingie]

Exactly. Why does everything have to be a replacement? For the “blessing of size” they boast about we rarely get something that isn’t a replacement in some way or another

Because

More stuff costs more to operate, and we can't have that.

AND

The stuff that we do have running must be able to generate revenue via LL. Muppets did not.

If Muppets was killing it on LL revenue, it would still be running.

All muppets did was provide capacity, which no one really cares about, because with less capacity there is more incentive to buy a LL, which would probably retail for a higher price due to increased demand.

 

[Moth]

They killed Muppets because it provided capacity, which is why they're building another theater show

 

[mattpeto]

If Disney cared about MuppetVision's fans, they wouldn't have removed MuppetVision at all.

Disney cares about the Muppet fans. We're all hurt about losing MV3D.

Disney does value the Muppets (going to RnR, WoC opener, Jollywood show). Disney also recognizes the grief that we'd carry if no attraction included the Muppets (to RnR). Was it convenient to get rid of Aerosmith and the licensing? Of course! It's still a win for Muppet fans.

MV3D got a better send off that most attractions that get closed permanently. And the parks blog article said they know they need to preserve the experience. They did an archive session and had a cast member goodbye event. We'll see a Disney produced version of MV3D again, although it likely won't be at a theme park.

They didn't even sell "goodbye merch" - even though they could have made a ton of money. I'm not accusing them of being altrustic here, but it's curious nonetheless.

Predicting them to go cheap with the Monsters Inc. theater show replacement (or reducing to M&G space only) is very on brand for many of you.

I guess we'll find out.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

If Disney cared about MuppetVision's fans, they wouldn't have removed MuppetVision at all.

They did commit to preserving it in some way - obviously still need to see the details but I don't recall them doing that for any other attraction so the care at least a little.

Just they weighed all the pros and cons and felt the best overall plan for their operations, company, park goers, etc was to replace a 34 year old attractions with a new, expanded land. While this comes at a cost of a segment of the visiting population, they felt the change overall was better - would have been cheaper for them to not replace it

 

[Ayla]

Overlayed comparisons of the old and new concept art.
View attachment 863993

Source:

I noticed immediately the only difference was the awning, the fountain and whatever the small kiosk is at the bottom of the picture.

 

[TheCoasterNerd]

I'm a bit late to this discussion, but 16-y/o here with my take on Monsters Inc not being popular. Sitting in school right now, it's finals week, and I've talked to some of my friends about this. If you unironically believe Monsters Inc isn't popular with Gen Z, you're insane. Every single one of my friends I've talked to are fans of the movie. One of my friends got onto the bus this morning (before I even asked him) wearing a Sully shirt. And this isn't a Disney town, this isn't a theme park town. But all the kids in my school like Monsters Inc and the ones I talked to about it are excited for the ride.
It's a VERY popular movie, this ride will be a smash hit. Yes, it hurts to lose the muppets - as a Parks fan. But for the general public, and even for us, this ride will be well-recieved by my age group. I promise y'all.

 

[JohnD]

I noticed immediately the only difference was the awning, the fountain and whatever the small kiosk is at the bottom of the picture.

Once again bloggers on X were lamenting that the restroom side no longer shows teeth but is back to the pipes from the current "Gonzo's Royal Flush" theme. They took it to mean that the Monsters, Inc. retheme is a "downgrade" because, in their view, Disney is not willing up to plus up the area more.

 

[monothingie]

They do care. It's why they are sticking the Muppets at RnR, instead of abandoning them at the parks completely.

The RNR retheme looks to be nothing more than a superficial reskin from the existing theme. Given the short timeline for the project (less than a year) I'm not expecting anything earth shattering or expensive.

My feeling is that the muppets were chosen only because it was an IP that could easily be slotted into the current attraction with the most minimal amount of extra work being required to retheme it.

 

[mattpeto]

The RNR retheme looks to be nothing more than a superficial reskin from the existing theme. Given the short timeline for the project (less than a year) I'm not expecting anything earth shattering or expensive.

My feeling is that the muppets were chosen only because it was an IP that could easily be slotted into the current attraction with the most minimal amount of extra work being required to retheme it.

And if they didn't care about the Muppets at all, they would have put another IP in.

 

[Purduevian]

Where does $19Bn come from? I haven’t seen any reliable lifetime merchandise sales estimates since around 2011.

The only thing relatively recently (2017) shows a drop as each successive film has come out

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/mattel-could-get-wrecked-by-weak-cars-3-toy-sales-2017-07-28

I mean, Betty Boop was once a merchandising sensation too. Too bad Universal has that IP locked down!

1. $10 billion up until 2011Source
2. $2.527 billion in 2012
3. $2.3 billion in 2013. 2012 and 2013 source
4. $1 billion in 2015.Source
5. $588 million in 2016.
6. $674 million in 2017. 2016 and 2017 Source

I don't have any numbers for the last 8 years, but 19 billion is certainly a low figure

As I stated, almost $17 billion of the $19 billion in merchandise revenue from that franchise number is pre-2015 (the rest is box office and home video revenue). That's not "a HUGE franchise" that resonates with today's young boys to the tune of billions in annual merchandising revenue. If it's generating $200 million in merchandising revenue now versus the $2 billion it generated in 2013, is it really "HUGE", like at least one person seems to want everyone to believe?

So no, $19 billion is not enough for me, because all of that was generated before 2017. That's like arguing "The Chicago Bulls have the most NBA jersey sales ever, so therefore they are a HUGE franchise!" but 90% of that came from 1985-1998. How is that relevant to decisions being made in the 2020's?

I don't have any current sales... but I can't imagine many franchises (other than the Disney tent poles) are making $500+million in merchandise sales 11 years after the first film.

My challenge to you is to find a franchise at least as old as cars that has better merchandise numbers (even in the 2010s) and is not currently featured in at WDW. (other than Stitch)

 

[monothingie]

I'm a bit late to this discussion, but 16-y/o here with my take on Monsters Inc not being popular. Sitting in school right now, it's finals week, and I've talked to some of my friends about this. If you unironically believe Monsters Inc isn't popular with Gen Z, you're insane. Every single one of my friends I've talked to are fans of the movie. One of my friends got onto the bus this morning (before I even asked him) wearing a Sully shirt. And this isn't a Disney town, this isn't a theme park town. But all the kids in my school like Monsters Inc and the ones I talked to about it are excited for the ride.
It's a VERY popular movie, this ride will be a smash hit. Yes, it hurts to lose the muppets - as a Parks fan. But for the general public, and even for us, this ride will be well-recieved by my age group. I promise y'all.

How much Monsters Inc. merch have your friends purchased in the last 5 years? How many times have they seen the movies in the past 5 years?

There is a difference between being a "liked" IP and being a popular IP. No question that Monsters Inc. is universally liked, but that doesn't make it popular or relevant.

RNR is super popular, not because there are so many Aerosmith fans out there, but because it is E-Ticket. This will be the same thing. They could have themed this to Darkwing Duck and it still would generate the same excitement, not because people love the IP, but because people want a thrill ride and something new.

It's just silly to say that because it's Monsters Inc. this is new land is going to be wildly popular. It's going to be popular, because it's in a park that desperately needs attractions.

 

[monothingie]

And if they didn't care about the Muppets at all, they would have put another IP in.

The muppets were the most easy IP to slot in without having to spend a ton of money to do it.

If it were cheaper and easier to fit in Marry Poppins to this, they would have instead.

Don't think for a second that this is because of any love of the Muppets, otherwise MV3D would still be operating today.