Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Courtyard: What Remains Open During Muppets Refurbishment

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Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Closed - A Look Around the Courtyard

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Posted: Monday March 2, 2026 10:01am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Rock 'n' Roller Coaster closed last night at Disney's Hollywood Studios, beginning its transformation into Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets. The ride won't reopen until summer 2026, but the courtyard area remains accessible to guests.

Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Closed - A Look Around the Courtyard

Here's what's still operating in the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster courtyard right now:

Rock Your Face - Face painting station
Shop 'N' Roll - Gift kiosk
Pretzel Palooza - Snack kiosk
Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After - Access to the Sunset Showcase theater for the stage show remains open through the courtyard
Sunset Showcase - The venue is accessible via the courtyard
Restrooms - Remain open

Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Closed - A Look Around the Courtyard

Note that Rock Around the Shop, the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster gift shop, is closed.

Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Closed - A Look Around the Courtyard

If you're heading to Hollywood Studios specifically for Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After, your route through the courtyard is unaffected by the closure.

Construction on the Muppets retheme is expected to move quickly. Disney has confirmed a summer 2026 opening for Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets. The ride system stays the same, but the story, pre-show, and theming will all change to feature Kermit, Miss Piggy, Scooter, and the Electric Mayhem band.

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HMF3 hours ago

The building always was quite minimalist theme-wise and would look even worse in that case.

HMF3 hours ago

Indeed!

Tom Morrow3 hours ago

I think it's just going to be the car and some swirls on the guitar. If that's all they do, I think it's okay and a way to signify that the attraction is different than before. However, if they paint the whole building in technicolor and place silly props all over, like the gift shop that was adjacent to MuppetVision, then that would be inappropriate for this space.

TrainsOfDisney3 hours ago

I can’t figure out if it is or not! And I don’t think Disney does either haha.

HMF3 hours ago

If only the Studio framework was still a thing.

𝐌𝖆𝖓 𝖎𝖓 𝐖𝖊𝖇4 hours ago

I'm not digging this. If everything is painted technicolor vomitus it renders the aesthetic itself pointless. The Mayhem Bus for example, worked because its gonzo design stood out against an otherwise normal world; that contrast made it whimsical. But treating that kind of visual madness as the default “Muppets look” misses the point. If every surface is pushed into exaggerated spectacle, it becomes empty noise instead of charm. The tone that defined The Muppets was closer to "quirky understatement" than constant chaos, with oddball elements slipping casually into ordinary settings. What WDI is doing here feels tonally off.

Movielover4 hours ago

Welcome to the internet! Want a cookie?

Chester&Hester Enthusiast5 hours ago

So literally all you guys can do is post useless dismissive hyperbole in response to thoughtful posts laying out specific reasons one might object to the new design. Simply because you disagree. Got it. Thanks for the very valuable contribution. Really starting to think s select group of you don't really understand what a discussion is, since every single thread now seemingly has to devolve into pages and pages of arguing against you and like three other specific posters against nonsense misrepresentations of what is even being said. It's ridiculous.

sedati6 hours ago

A simple way to add more visual cohesion with the new paint design is to add some colorful plants/flowers. Put some more color into the Market area in the corner by the Arch. Doesn't have to be dramatic, but some flower power will make the change less abrupt.

JEANYLASER9 hours ago

They could be a huge improvement if we end up that area "Muppet Studios" too.

TrainsOfDisney10 hours ago

They could be a huge improvement if we end up with that area being “Muppet Studios” one day.

Tom Morrow10 hours ago

RnRc was always a bit of a clash with the area so they had to drum up a backstory about G Force records seeing a spike in business from the intrigue surrounding the Hollywood Tower Hotel. But that’s the same method as putting a carnival in DAK and then saying it’s there because of backstory and not because it was easy and cheap to do at the time. All that said, RnRc was like a baby step in mismatched theming, the Muppets changes are only incrementally more as long as they show restraint, which they most likely are either by choice or the constraints of the budget and/or timeframe for this project.

TrainsOfDisney10 hours ago

Yes, it was an example of excellent transitions in a Disney theme park.

eddie10411 hours ago

Why are we acting like that whole conversation wasn’t connected to the original discussion of RNRC? Yes that was separate tangent but ultimately it was still pertaining to how Disney was gonna approach the Muppets transition.