Welp, it should have been a total eviction. Once again, Iger and his "Imagineers" fail to read the room. Flop after flop after flop from the puppets, yet apparently the dorks at Disney feared the online retaliation in the event of the puppet theater closure (which said retaliation would NOT represent the feelings of the general public, which has failed to show up at movie theaters or watch the shows starring the puppets...hence, flop after flop after flop) and so is trying to please everybody(?) With the usual results.
But what's funny about this, is that the puppet fans are screaming about this new development anyway. They want a hokey, dated attraction to remain in WDW forever. Disney can't win with those guys, so the sensible thing would be to make a clean break and render WDW puppet-free, just like all of the other Disney parks around the world. Most people, including kids, wouldn't care. But instead, with this move, Disney is generating more resentment. Not even its promise that it's going to preserve some of the stuff from the theater and place it - where? in its own mausoleum near the Haunted Mansion? Say! Maybe there'll be a Kermit the Frog headstone near Mr. Toad! Synergy! - is enough. This is a really lame choice and really bad PR move. And I fail to see how it's going to help park attendance or make WDW worth all the ridiculous price hikes. Fail, Iger. You've failed again. All hail Epic Universe!