Credit: DisneyDisney’s Hollywood Studios has undergone dramatic transformations throughout its history, evolving from Disney-MGM Studios, which focused on celebrating the Golden Age of Hollywood and active film production, to a modern theme park that increasingly emphasizes immersive lands based on popular intellectual properties, such as Star Wars, Toy Story, and now Monsters Inc.
Disney is making changes that require the closure of some older attractions, themed areas, and dining spots. They believe these new experiences will attract today’s audiences and support their significant investments in expansions.
While this process of demolition and reimagining can be exciting, it also evokes a bittersweet feeling in fans. Many people have fond memories and attachments to the older spaces, which remind them of different times in the park’s history, even if those places weren’t always very popular when they were open.
Muppets Courtyard at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is a unique area that appeals to Muppets fans, but its attractions and dining options have mixed reviews. PizzeRizzo, the quick-service pizza restaurant there, is notorious for consistently ranking among the worst dining experiences at Walt Disney World.
Guests often describe the pizza as mediocre or worse, likening it to the kind of institutional food acceptable in a school cafeteria but disappointing for a theme park.
PizzeRizzo offers more than just good food. The restaurant’s interior is filled with Muppet themes, encouraging fans to explore rather than just grab pizza and leave. Upstairs, a ballroom adds a unique dining atmosphere, making it more than just a typical quick-service restaurant.
Guests can find Muppet Easter eggs in the artwork and signs, creating a fun treasure hunt for those who enjoy the details that Imagineers included in the space. For Muppet fans, PizzeRizzo is a chance to immerse themselves in that world while at Hollywood Studios, even if the pizza isn’t particularly memorable.
This morning, the PizzeRizzo era officially came to an end as the restaurant’s sign was removed. This change marks a clear step in transforming Muppets Courtyard into Monstropolis as part of the Monsters, Inc. expansion at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Taking down the sign means more than just removing a piece of metal and lights. It shows the complete end of the Muppets’ presence in the courtyard area, closing a chapter in the park’s history. Disney is fully committing to the Monsters, Inc. reimagining, bringing the franchise’s first major theme park attraction to the resort.
The Sign Removal at Hollywood Studios
The PizzeRizzo sign had been standing since earlier this summer, when the Muppets Courtyard area was blocked off for construction, serving as the last visible tribute to the Muppets in the cordoned-off space.
Guests walking past the construction walls could still see the distinctive signage identifying the restaurant, maintaining a tangible connection to what the area had been, even as demolition and preparation work proceeded behind barriers.
That connection has now been severed with the sign’s removal, leaving the building’s facade bare and generic without the identifying markers that gave it character and purpose.
Photos from this morning show the building with space where the PizzeRizzo sign previously sat atop the structure. The absence is immediately noticeable, creating that strange visual void that appears when familiar landmarks disappear, and our brains need time to adjust to the new reality of spaces we thought we knew.
The building itself remains standing for now, but the removal of its identifying signage suggests it, too, will eventually be transformed or demolished as the Monstropolis reimagining progresses.
The Gonzo’s Royal Flush sign has also been removed, eliminating another piece of Muppets theming that contributed to the courtyard’s atmosphere and identity before and after photos show the dramatic difference, with the colorful, personality-filled Muppets signage replaced by blank walls that await whatever Monsters Inc. theming will eventually cover them.
What’s Coming to Hollywood Studios
The entire Muppets Courtyard area is being reimagined as Monstropolis from Monsters, Inc., representing a significant investment in bringing the Pixar franchise to Disney’s Hollywood Studios in a substantial way, beyond just character meet-and-greets or minor attractions. The reimagined area will include the first-ever suspended roller coaster at a Disney theme park.
This significant milestone demonstrates Disney’s commitment to pushing technological boundaries and offering attraction experiences that guests cannot find elsewhere.
The suspended coaster will take guests through the iconic door vault from Monsters Inc., recreating one of the film’s most memorable and visually distinctive sequences in theme park format.
The door vault, where monsters access children’s closet doors to collect screams for power, provides a perfect setting for a coaster experience that can incorporate speed, surprise, and immersive theming as guests zip through the warehouse-like space, encountering familiar elements from the beloved Pixar film.
This represents Monsters Inc.’s first major theme park land, giving the franchise the kind of substantial presence that other Pixar properties, such as Toy Story, have received with dedicated themed areas.
For Disney, it represents the best that Monsters, Inc. remains relevant and appealing to contemporary audiences, despite the original film’s release in 2001, over two decades ago, and the prequel, Monsters University, coming out in 2013.
Mourning the End of an Era
For Muppets fans and Disney history enthusiasts, the removal of the PizzeRizzo sign and the elimination of visible Muppets presence from the courtyard area represents a genuine loss, even while acknowledging that PizzeRizzo itself wasn’t exactly the crown jewel of Disney dining.
The restaurant may have served subpar pizza, but it represented something larger: Disney’s commitment to maintaining a presence for the Muppets franchise within the parks, demonstrating that these characters retained value and deserved a place within the resort.
The loss of Muppets Courtyard continues a pattern where Disney prioritizes newer Pixar and contemporary properties over legacy franchises that don’t necessarily drive merchandise sales and attraction attendance at the same levels.
The Muppets, despite their long history with Disney and ongoing presence through Disney+ content, apparently don’t justify maintaining a dedicated space at Hollywood Studios when that real estate could instead house Monsters Inc. land that Disney believes will attract more guests and generate more revenue.
The transformation also highlights how quickly theme park landscapes can change when Disney commits to major reimagining projects. Spaces that felt permanent and established can disappear within months once construction begins, with familiar landmarks removed and replaced by new experiences that create completely different atmospheres and serve different audiences.
Moving Forward at Hollywood Studios
Soon, the blank spaces where PizzeRizzo and Gonzo’s Royal Flush signage once hung will feature new signs showcasing Monstropolis and introducing guests to the Monsters, Inc.-themed area.
The courtyard that once celebrated the Muppets will instead immerse visitors in the world of Mike and Sulley, trading one beloved franchise for another as Disney continues reshaping Hollywood Studios into a collection of immersive lands rather than a generalized Hollywood celebration.
For now, we mourn the official loss of PizzeRizzo and mark the end of the Muppets Courtyard era at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The sign removal this morning represents visible, undeniable proof that transformation is progressing and the Muppets’ presence in this area of the park has reached its conclusion.