Muppets Mini-Land / Muppets Courtyard Additions & Refurbishments

[Goofyernmost]

That was all gone months ago so it definitely wasn't taken down for the storm. Don't think we'll see any of that brought back, but I'm hoping they move the Miss Piggy billboard to somewhere it can be seen. It seems strange that they didn't remove it with everything else.

If it can't be seen, why should it be moved right now. There is a long time between now and when that area is complete. I don't think moving that is a priority right now. That building will have to be decorated or painted to blend into the SWL theme because building a berm that high would not be realistic. Patience my friends.

It's only a matter of time until muppets is gone. I'd be a bit surprised if it survives 2018.

It certainly looks that way. Removing props and décor, installing generic theater marquee.

It's amazing that many of you folks don't break a leg, or at the very least sprain an ankle, jumping to unfounded conclusions based on the replacement of a less then impressive attraction sign to a detailed theater marquee to fit in with the surrounding theme. Don't quit your day jobs to become an imagineer folks. The future of any attraction at any theme park is always dependent on many factors. Nothing is sacred. So to say that any of them have numbered days, could be accurate, but, after spending a whole bunch of money upgrading, adding Rizzo's plus the new sign and other massive expenses, it doesn't appear to be leaving anytime soon. Now the next round of projects may include that, but, based on the speed that Disney makes decisions to change things... I'd guess it is a ways off.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

It's only a matter of time until muppets is gone. I'd be a bit surprised if it survives 2018.

It will be toast when management tries to figure out how to do an "Star Wars Expansion" in a cost effective way. Star Tours will be saved because they don't have to spend money on a new attraction. Muppets will be turned into a SW Rebels / Clone Wars showplace to appeal to the younger demographic.

 

[Movielover]

It will be toast when management tries to figure out how to do an "Star Wars Expansion" in a cost effective way. Star Tours will be saved because they don't have to spend money on a new attraction. Muppets will be turned into a SW Rebels / Clone Wars showplace to appeal to the younger demographic.

They have plenty of room for a Star Wars expansion without having to demo Muppet's.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

They have plenty of room for a Star Wars expansion without having to demo Muppet's.

I know. But will they spend the money. There is the berm area for expansion. I do like how the Muppet is starting to look with the work over at the old SOA. The next few years will be interesting.

 

[Movielover]

I know. But will they spend the money.

Adapting the land set aside for expansion would be cheaper than demoing the Muppet's area to blend it in with the rest of Galaxy's Edge.

 

[Casper Gutman]

It will be toast when management tries to figure out how to do an "Star Wars Expansion" in a cost effective way. Star Tours will be saved because they don't have to spend money on a new attraction. Muppets will be turned into a SW Rebels / Clone Wars showplace to appeal to the younger demographic.

I'm afraid it'll be gone long before then - I suspect the decision has already been made. The new marquee can be changed in a couple hours or less and the Pizzeria can be de-Muppitified very rapidly.

 

[FoozieBear]

I hope this weekend's successful show at the Hollywood Bowl was a wake-up to Disney executives who realize that these characters are not being utilized nearly as much as they should be. I'm worried about MV3D, which has gotten far less Muppety, hardly sells any more Muppet merchandise, and not to mention the extended queue is already being taken apart. I love this attraction, and I'm very concerned about it's longevity.

 

[Magic Feather]

Muppets will remain for the forseeable future. All of these evforts have been to make Muppets more cohesive and blend with the area. No, unlike Walt Disney Presents, The Muppets marquu can not have its letters switched. Muppets is about expansion pad number 5 (in order) for Star Wars, assuming they dont put in in another park first. The only reason Muppets might go away anytime soon is if a convenient IP comes along that WDI developed a new thing for the space, and even that would be a few years off. WDP will be the movie preview center for the considerable future.

 

[Magenta Panther]

Muppets will remain for the forseeable future. All of these evforts have been to make Muppets more cohesive and blend with the area. No, unlike Walt Disney Presents, The Muppets marquu can not have its letters switched. Muppets is about expansion pad number 5 (in order) for Star Wars, assuming they dont put in in another park first. The only reason Muppets might go away anytime soon is if a convenient IP comes along that WDI developed a new thing for the space, and even that would be a few years off. WDP will be the movie preview center for the considerable future.

So TDO's letting a tired old 27-year-old movie stay there while they gut The Great Movie Ride and have One Man's Dream get mostly taken over by commercials. Gotta love TDO's priorities...but frankly, like others here, I don't believe it. Unless TDO is really just that cheap.

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

Muppets will remain for the forseeable future. All of these evforts have been to make Muppets more cohesive and blend with the area. No, unlike Walt Disney Presents, The Muppets marquu can not have its letters switched. Muppets is about expansion pad number 5 (in order) for Star Wars, assuming they dont put in in another park first. The only reason Muppets might go away anytime soon is if a convenient IP comes along that WDI developed a new thing for the space, and even that would be a few years off. WDP will be the movie preview center for the considerable future.

Do you know if the interior is going to be changed to remove the Muppet Labs theme? Now that it's meant to be a theatre, it seems likely.

 

[MisterPenguin]

So TDO's letting a tired old 27-year-old movie stay there while they gut The Great Movie Ride and have One Man's Dream get mostly taken over by commercials. Gotta love TDO's priorities...but frankly, like others here, I don't believe it. Unless TDO is really just that cheap.

OMD is just a huge commercial for Disney. "Come and see how great Walt Disney is and everything he created!" It's its own homage. Now, it will include commercials for more contemporaneous offerings. I see little difference.

Are you saying you don't believe the Muppets are sticking around? For every 'clue' they might be leaving, there are clues they are staying:

• WDW could have connected Star Tours with SWGE by razing the Muppets, but didn't. SWGE and Grand Ave are all being built around the existing Muppet property and not taking it over creating firm boundaries for it to continue to exist.
  
• WDW put money into a PizzeRizzo makeover.
• WDW put time and effort into highlighting the space as Muppet Courtyard, and then specifically place-setting it in Grand Ave with posters in PizzeRizzo.
• The new marquee, as mentioned here and many times, does not have movable type. The lettering is bolted in place.
• As much as people mistrust Disney pronouncements, the Disney Blog went out of their way to say the Muppets are staying.
• Muppet's Great Moments in History and Muppet Mobile Labs are still around... no phasing out of Muppets.

Now, nothing lasts forever, but, with these clues and insider insight, I'm confident MV3D and PizR will be around for at least a few more years. There are 4 other spaces in DHS for movie previews, and one of them is being used just for that. There is no need at all for MV3D to become a preview theater like in Anaheim.

Do you know if the interior is going to be changed to remove the Muppet Labs theme? Now that it's meant to be a theatre, it seems likely.

MuppetVision 3D is staying as is. That means that Muppet Labs interior is staying as such to comport with the MV3D movie.

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

MuppetVision 3D is staying as is. That means that Muppet Labs interior is staying as such to comport with the MV3D movie.

What a strange dichotomy that creates. Walk through this non-descript theatre entrance and suddenly you're in the reception area for Muppet Labs?

 

[MisterPenguin]

What a strange dichotomy that creates. Walk through this non-descript theatre entrance and suddenly you're in the reception area for Muppet Labs?

The dichotomy of actually being in Muppet Labs and then seeing a movie about Muppet Labs never bothered you before?

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

The dichotomy of actually being in Muppet Labs and then seeing a movie about Muppet Labs never bothered you before?

The film was always a little odd to me in the sense that you were essentially getting a film tour of the place you were supposed to be in, so it was already a little off.

I feel like this new exterior now just kind of makes it more confusing. Now you go into a theatre entrance and find yourself instead in the lobby of a lab then eventually wind up in a theatre to watch a film about the lab that you were allegedly in mere minutes ago. At least before, the whole building was meant to be Muppet Labs and they had a theatre to show you their new 3D technology.

 

[PizzaPlanet]

OMD is just a huge commercial for Disney. "Come and see how great Walt Disney is and everything he created!" It's its own homage. Now, it will include commercials for more contemporaneous offerings. I see little difference.

Are you saying you don't believe the Muppets are sticking around? For every 'clue' they might be leaving, there are clues they are staying:

• WDW could have connected Star Tours with SWGE by razing the Muppets, but didn't. SWGE and Grand Ave are all being built around the existing Muppet property and not taking it over creating firm boundaries for it to continue to exist.
  
• WDW put money into a PizzeRizzo makeover.
• WDW put time and effort into highlighting the space as Muppet Courtyard, and then specifically place-setting it in Grand Ave with posters in PizzeRizzo.
• The new marquee, as mentioned here and many times, does not have movable type. The lettering is bolted in place.
• As much as people mistrust Disney pronouncements, the Disney Blog went out of their way to say the Muppets are staying.
• Muppet's Great Moments in History and Muppet Mobile Labs are still around... no phasing out of Muppets.

Now, nothing lasts forever, but, with these clues and insider insight, I'm confident MV3D and PizR will be around for at least a few more years. There are 4 other spaces in DHS for movie previews, and one of them is being used just for that. There is no need at all for MV3D to become a preview theater like in Anaheim.




MuppetVision 3D is staying as is. That means that Muppet Labs interior is staying as such to comport with the MV3D movie.

Also people keep saying how lightly themed PizzeRizzo is, but they went all out with the exterior so it would match the rest of the courtyard. If their intention was to remove MV3D in the short term they wouldn't have even bothered.

 

[FoozieBear]

The dichotomy of actually being in Muppet Labs and then seeing a movie about Muppet Labs never bothered you before?

The story is never that you enter MuppetLabs, you enter the Muppet Theater, which is the same theater The Muppets use to make The Muppet Show (okay, here its a movie theater and The Muppet Show, it's a stage, but let's allow that part of course). Now that you're another audience member, you treated to a live demonstration by Muppet Labs. Everything else is meant to be as if you visited the same iconic theater that The Muppets are known for, with the newest Muppet Labs technology, Muppet-Vision 3D.

Turning the Muppet theater into the Grand Arts theater kinda loses that. I'd be happy that the attraction is staying, but they did kind of lose the feeling with this new area theme.

 

[PizzaPlanet]

The story is never that you enter MuppetLabs, you enter the Muppet Theater, which is the same theater The Muppets use to make The Muppet Show (okay, here its a movie theater and The Muppet Show, it's a stage, but let's allow that part of course). Now that you're another audience member, you treated to a live demonstration by Muppet Labs. Everything else is meant to be as if you visited the same iconic theater that The Muppets are known for, with the newest Muppet Labs technology, Muppet-Vision 3D.

Turning the Muppet theater into the Grand Arts theater kinda loses that. I'd be happy that the attraction is staying, but they did kind of lose the feeling with this new area theme.

Unless the Muppets renamed their own theater!

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

A new video during the Muppets at the Hollywood Bowl came up now showing the singing styles of Matt Vogel...

 

[Goofyernmost]

A new video during the Muppets at the Hollywood Bowl came up now showing the singing styles of Matt Vogel...

I have always thought that was one of the best songs ever. It applies to so many people in so many ways and is especially significant in todays world. That voice could be Jim's, in fact I thought it was a digitally enhanced recording done by Jim Henson. If that was Matt... Kermit is reborn.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

I have always thought that was one of the best songs ever. It applies to so many people in so many ways and is especially significant in todays world. That voice could be Jim's, in fact I thought it was a digitally enhanced recording done by Jim Henson. If that was Matt... Kermit is reborn.

Another video popped up with Kermit & Fozzie singing Movin right along...It's pretty good.