On the final day of MuppetVision 3D, Walt Disney World has announced some ‘silver lining’ news about the opening timeframe for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets, which will replace Aerosmith in 2026. This covers everything we know about the thrill ride reimagining, and when you might expect the old coaster to close & new attraction to debut.
The first thing we know so far is that Monsters, Inc. Door Coaster and Monstropolis mini-land is getting started much sooner than expected, with PizzeRizzo, MuppetVision 3D and the rest of Muppets Courtyard closing today (June 7, 2025). As of tomorrow, walls will go up around Muppets Courtyard, leaving open only Ice Cold Hydraulics, Baseline Tap House, and the Grand Avenue thoroughfare into Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
When announcing the closure of Muppets Courtyard, Walt Disney World revealed that Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and more of their friends will be moving right along to Sunset Boulevard. The Muppets will be taking over Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, teaming up with some of music’s biggest stars for a rockin’ music festival. Thanks to a fresh update, we now have new details about the timing of this move.
Featured on the poster for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets are all of the above-mentioned Muppets plus Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem Band, including Floyd Pepper, Janice, Lips, Animal, and Zoot. It’s unclear of whether those are “some of music’s biggest stars” or if that’s a reference to non-Muppets music that’ll be played on the coaster.
It’s possible that the Muppets are used as the storytelling device in the queue and pre-show, but the ride experience features mainstream music (a la Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind). In which case, maybe Aerosmith won’t be totally evicted, after all!
As the first Disney ride ever to feature The Muppets, there’s sure to be laughter, screams and new tunes for this attraction for fans to enjoy throughout the adventure and plenty of Muppets-themed merchandise on Sunset Boulevard! In the meantime, there’s still enough time to catch a super-stretch limo to the Forum to enjoy Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith.
According to a new Walt Disney World press release, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith is now officially set to close in 2026 for its ride reimagining. This still does not specify a day, month, or even season yet, but it does reveal that the reimagined Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets will also open sometime in 2026.
From this, we can surmise a bit more about the closing and opening timeframes for both versions of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. But first, here’s a fun announcement video from Kermit the Frog:
Hi Ho everyone! @TheMuppets are packing up and moving to Sunset Blvd for their first ever coaster! Grab your guitar (or banjo), because Rock ’N’ Roller Coaster Starring @TheMuppets speeds into Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 2026! pic.twitter.com/ldltI3dGmi
— Walt Disney World (@WaltDisneyWorld) June 7, 2025
As a quick aside, I’m still not used to that voice. Although it does make me want to give Gonzo’s homemade laundry chute roller coaster a go, and it’s nice to have this ‘silver lining’ update on Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets, especially as some fans have speculated that it’s going to be quietly cancelled–that it was only announced to placate fans and provide “cover” for the closure of MuppetVision. (I’ve heard from multiple sources that this is not the case, and that there’s been active production for the queue and pre-show for a while now.)
For further speculation about when Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith will close in 2026–and when RnRC Starring the Muppets will open–we should look to other project timelines at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and beyond.
One thing we’ve already seen recently is the new Villains Unfairly Ever After and Little Mermaid Musical Adventure stage shows both debuted simultaneously around Memorial Day. That was a good move from a marketing perspective, as it provided a splashier package than a single stage show. Still not quite enough to compete with Epic Universe, but they tried!
Looking down the road into 2026, there’s a similar setup at Disney’s Hollywood Studios once again. The New Mission featuring Mandalorian & Baby Yoda for Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run debuts on May 22, 2026.
In the case of the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge attraction, that date is not being chosen strategically for the sake of Walt Disney World. May 22, 2026 is simply when the new movie debuts.
At this point, it’s unclear whether that’ll necessitate a closure or be done overnight like the new scenes in Star Tours. As a more elaborate attraction, my hope is that Smugglers Run will go down for at least a few weeks for minor changes to make the queue and pre-show mesh with the mission. Who knows, though.
In any case, we’re skeptical that Walt Disney World would be willing to have Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run closed for refurbishment at the same time. They’re two major thrill rides that are pretty popular and help soak up crowds. While having them both debut on May 22, 2026 would make for an intriguing marketing package, I’m more than a bit skeptical that’ll happen.
Not just because of the refurbishments, either. (Again, it’s still unclear Smugglers Run will have any downtime.) There’s also the reality that the new mission for Smugglers Run is a Star Wars marketing tool, at least in part, so it’s more likely that Disney will package a suite of enhancements around that in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
We’re addressing all of this because there’s the possibility that we’re wrong, and May 22 is the target debut date for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets. That’s not a bad guess, and at this point, there’s really nothing else on the calendar to aim for.
With that in mind, another thing to consider is the closing date of DINOSAUR over at Animal Kingdom. While that’s yet to be officially announced, every sign points to mid-January 2026 after the holiday rush of crowds and Walt Disney World Marathon is over. It’s entirely possible that Disney will take the same approach with RnRC, and also close that in mid-January. This could set the table for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets to debut around the start of Spring Break season.
Another possibility is much later in the year, with RnRC Starring Aerosmith closing after the end of Spring Break season (mid-April 2026) or after the end of summer (mid-August 2026). In which case, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets could debut in June or July 2026 or between Fall Break and Veterans Day 2026. Another very real possibility is that the closure and opening occur seemingly at random, something that’s been occurring more and more with Walt Disney World closures and openings.
But if this is strategic (and it probably is since DHS has capacity constraints), the goal would be losing the RnRC capacity when it’s needed the least, and gaining the capacity of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets right before a big tourist season. We’d fully expect that to be how this plays out.
There’s also the question of just how long the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster reimagining will take. Test Track is going to end up being closed for over a year. Ditto Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. DINOSAUR’s conversion into Indiana Jones Adventure will (hopefully) take at least 18 months.
If RnRC’s reimagining is comparable, Walt Disney World might instead work backwards from the ideal reopening timeframe to dictate the closure date. In which case, you might assume that since Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets is going to open sometime in 2026, the version Starring Aerosmith needs to close ASAP in 2026 to accommodate. We might be talking a January closing just to have a chance at a November 2026 opening!
We strongly suspect the RnRC reimagining won’t take anywhere near that long. The roller coaster track and layout are almost certainly going to remain unchanged inside the current gravity building, and changes to any of that is what would balloon the timeline of this project. It’s probably not getting a new facade or any structural changes to the exterior.
Given the concept art, we know the ride vehicles are not changing (aside from cosmetically). It’s also likely that the load area, launch, and unload will likely stay the same. If we had to guess, Imagineering will create story contrivances that offer considerable overlap with Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith.
Maybe it’ll be the Muppets racing to get from their studio on the Jim Henson Company Lot in Hollywood to Downtown Los Angeles for a show. That would allow for a lot of what’s currently part of RnRC to remain unchanged. In all likelihood, this is going to be what they call a “no dough” reimagining–that’s probably how Imagineering got the pitch approved in the first place.
Being a roller coaster in the dark with minimal props, there’s probably a decent amount of prepwork that could be done after hours while Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith is still operational without guests noticing. It’s also entirely possible that the current props don’t really change if the attraction retains the Los Angeles concert conceit.
The trickier and time-consuming changes will happen in the queue and pre-show. Even then, it’s our understanding that Disney has contingency plans in place that would allow the company to remove all references to Aerosmith overnight. That Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster could continue operating, without closure, in the event of an Aerosmith scandal that required Disney to distance itself from the band immediately. This is nothing new–these plans were probably formulated during the attraction’s development.
This same contingency plan could allow for a reimagining with minimal downtime. If you’ve done RnRC early in the morning, late at night, or during After Hours events, you might know that it’s sometimes possible to bypass the pre-show. This is because, unlike many other attractions, the non-skippable safety spiel is not during the pre-show.
With the doors open on that pre-show room allowing for guests to pass through, this theoretically opens the door for the Muppets Mayhem takeover to come to life without RnRC ever going down for refurbishment. Meaning it could close as “Starring Aerosmith” one day and reopen as “Starring the Muppets” the next. This is not what we expect to happen–just illustrating the possibility to underscore how work could be done while the ride is operational. This is how the Jungle Cruise reimagining was conducted post-COVID, for reference.
Honestly, I hope this isn’t the case–and doubt it will be. Less downtime is the worst-case scenario from my perspective, as it means the ambitiousness of the reimagining and its budget are low.
It would mean we almost certainly aren’t getting any of the Audio Animatronics from MuppetVision 3D or any other “meaty” additions to Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. That may be a welcome relief to those of you who are holding out hope for a true preservation of MuppetVision 3D, and perhaps the creation of a Muppets Courtyard back here when Villains Unfairly Ever After ends its run.
Honestly, I’m the opposite. While I’d love for Disney to hold back the MuppetVision assets for a revival of that show, I just don’t see it happening in any realistic scenario. And on the other hand, the less that’s invested in Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets, the more likely it is that this is the stopgap solution.
It’s entirely possible this RnRC reimagining is only being done to placate Muppets fans and because Disney wants to ditch Aerosmith in the near-term. This whole corner of the park could be destined for another purpose, perhaps a Marvel-ous one, sometime in the 2030s after Villains Land debuts in Magic Kingdom. But I digress.
The more money and time that’s spent on Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets, the better. If this is a glorious 6-month project that installs Audio Animatronics and makes fairly ambitious changes to the queue, pre-show, and post-show, that’s great. If it somehow takes 11 months? Absolutely phenomenal.
Not only does it mean that Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets will be a better attraction, but it increases the likelihood that the thrill ride will stick around for at least a decade, perhaps more. The longer the closure and the more money spent, the longer Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets sticks around.
My sincere hope is that Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith closes on January 5, 2026 and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets opens on December 11, 2026. That would be the best-case scenario based on what we now know. I highly doubt it’s going to be that big of a gap between closure and reopening, but that would be the dream.
Ultimately, that’s a wide range of possibilities and it’s really difficult to predict the most likely outcome. My gut is that a January closure that coincides with DINOSAUR (exact same date) and reopening in time for Spring Break 2026 is Option #1. Alternatively, a closure around early to mid-August and reopening between Fall Break and Veterans Day is Option #2. I’m probably about 50/50 on those at this point in terms of likelihood–the latter makes more sense, but also seems more doubtful since it’s further into the future.
Although my fear is that the project will be able to be accomplished entirely overnight (in which case the timing could be whenever), I doubt that’s the reality. More likely is that the RnRC reimagining necessitates a closure ranging from a few weeks to a few months. We already know that it’ll be less than a year-long project, but I’d bet on it being less than a 6-month project, with 3-4 months probably being the sweet spot.
The saving grace for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets is that there are hardcore Muppets fans in Walt Disney Imagineering. That means that they’ll also fight for a healthy budget, reasonably long reimagining, reusing elements from MuppetVision that would otherwise be discarded, and having as much unique Muppets humor as possible. This being a passion project is a very good thing, even if it’s accomplished on a tight budget (that’s how we got PizzeRizzo).
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YOUR THOUGHTS
When in 2026 do you think Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith will close? What about an opening date for the Muppets Mayhem version? Think this will be a short reimagining or a lengthy one? Expect an opening by Spring Break or after Summer? Big budget or “no dough” project? Are you upset about the Muppets replacing Aerosmith, Monsters replacing MuppetVision, or both? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
