Credit: DisneyThe skyline and landscape of Disney’s Hollywood Studios are undergoing their most radical transformation in years. As Walt Disney World marches forward with its massive expansion plans, the former Muppets Courtyard and Grand Avenue areas are officially morphing into Monstropolis—the bustling, laughter-powered metropolis inspired by Pixar’s Monsters, Inc.
While fans have known about this upcoming Pixar expansion since its initial announcement, construction has reached a shocking, highly visible new milestone. On-the-ground updates confirm that the beloved, long-standing Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano has been completely gutted to make way for the land’s highly anticipated table-service restaurant: Harryhausen’s.
Compounding these ground-level updates, legendary theme park aerial photographer bioreconstruct took to X to share a breathtaking bird’s-eye perspective of the widespread construction. The viral update on social media showcases the staggering scale of Monstropolis’s footprint, highlighting that the entire zone has officially transitioned from a demolition site to an active, vertical industrial powerhouse.
Here is an in-depth update on the progress of Monstropolis at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, detailing the destruction of a classic dining spot, the vertical milestones of Disney’s first-ever suspended coaster, and what the future holds for this ambitious Pixar project.
The Death of Mama Melrose: Welcome to Harryhausen’s Restaurant
For over three decades, Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano served up classic comfort food in a quirky, brick-walled studio environment. However, the restaurant permanently closed its doors in May 2025 to prepare for the Monstropolis takeover. Now, a year after its closure, the physical transformation is officially in overdrive.
The right side of the former Mama Melrose building has had its entire front face completely removed. Peeking through the trees of Grand Avenue, guests can look straight through what used to be a dark brick wall directly into the exposed concrete structure of the building. Heavy steel columns, massive HVAC ductwork, electrical conduit runs, and intricate internal piping are entirely visible to the public.
The original pink side wall of the building remains standing for now, offering a bittersweet easter egg for nostalgic fans: a portion of Mama Melrose’s iconic Mona Lisa mural is still visible on the exterior skin, sitting right beneath a temporary safety railing along the roofline.
Directly adjacent to this open chasm, the main facade of the old restaurant is completely wrapped in thick plastic weather sheeting and secured with bright red construction tape. Despite the heavy wrapping, the building’s signature arched window detailing remains visible underneath, suggesting that Imagineers are preserving the structural shell while re-skinning the exterior to match the industrial, monster-scaled architecture of Monstropolis.
Once completed, this location will house Harryhausen’s Restaurant, the premier dining destination of the land. Named after the famous sushi spot from the 2001 film, where Mike Wazowski takes Celia for her birthday, the restaurant is expected to offer a highly immersive, monster-themed menu that picks up on the timeline in which humans are now openly welcomed into the monster world.
Bioreconstruct’s Eye in the Sky: Monstropolis Goes Vertical
While the gutting of Mama Melrose’s is turning heads on the ground, the view from above paints a much larger picture of how fast this land is coming together. The latest aerial imagery from bioreconstruct reveals that the broader Monstropolis construction zone is officially accelerating into its vertical phase.
The centerpiece of the land is the massive Monsters, Inc. Door Vault Coaster, which is being built over what was previously a massive cast member parking lot behind the former Muppets Courtyard. Bioreconstruct’s aerial photo tracking shows that a multi-layered concrete foundation pad has been poured across the mammoth footprint.
Construction crews are actively embedding electrical conduit networks and heavy steel rebar into the concrete slabs, burying structural components under sand before casting final building floors. Most notably, vertical progress is now highly visible:
- Steel Supports Rising: Several large-diameter black and light-blue steel support columns have officially risen from the foundation, mapping out the initial physical layout of the coaster track.
- Heavy Machinery Overdrive: A second massive construction crane has arrived onsite, joining the existing towers to assist crews in hoisting heavy structural steel frameworks.
- Station Framing: Near a sandy staging area believed to be the ride’s queue, vertical concrete block structures wrapped in scaffolding and wood forms are taking shape, defining the future load and unload station.
The Monsters, Inc. Door Vault Roller Coaster: A Disney First
The anchor of Monstropolis will undoubtedly be the Door Vault Coaster, which is quietly pacing to become one of the most technologically ambitious E-ticket attractions Walt Disney World has ever constructed.
When completed, the attraction will hold the title of the largest attraction show building at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, eclipsing massive structures like Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. Across the entire Walt Disney World Resort property, only the Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind show building at EPCOT will surpass it in pure volume.
The ride will make history as the first-ever suspended roller coaster at a Disney theme park. Guests will sit in vehicles with their feet dangling, designed to mimic the exact sensation of being attached to a fast-moving closet door.
Furthermore, the attraction will introduce Disney’s first vertical lift system. Rather than a traditional angled hill, the coaster trains will be hoisted straight up into the air, perfectly replicating the iconic cinematic moment when Mike and Sulley launch into the multi-million-door storage facility to rescue Boo.
Stripped to the Studs: What’s Happening to Muppets Courtyard?
To make room for the sprawling infrastructure of Monstropolis, the former Muppets Courtyard area was completely walled off to guests in June 2025, forcing the permanent closures of Muppet*Vision 3D and PizzeRizzo.
Aerial photography confirms that the surrounding secondary buildings have been completely stripped down to their bare structural studs. These naked facades are currently sheathed in transparent tarps to protect the internal frameworks from the volatile Florida weather until new Monstropolis facades can be installed.
In a notable visual shift, the iconic purple gutter and the large clock faces have been completely removed from the former Muppet*Vision 3D theater building. This historic theater is being heavily repurposed into The Glob Theater, a new show venue that will anchor the inner city streets of the land.
A New Era of Hollywood Studios
The fast-moving construction of Monstropolis is just one piece of a massive, park-wide revitalization strategy currently unfolding across Disney’s Hollywood Studios. In May 2026 alone, the park debuted a revised guest map featuring the brand-new Walt Disney Studios Lot land (replacing the old Animation Courtyard), the premiere of Disney Jr. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live!, a major Mandalorian & Grogu update to Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, and the grand opening of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets.
With major landmarks like the Door Vault Coaster and Harryhausen’s hitting crucial structural milestones, Monstropolis is quickly moving from the drawing board to physical reality. While Disney has yet to announce an official opening date for the land, the sheer speed of the steel installation and building gutting indicates that a great, big, beautiful—and monstrous—tomorrow is arriving sooner than fans think.
