Disney’s Hollywood Studios is in the midst of an unprecedented architectural renaissance. Over the past year, the park has been systematically rewriting its layout, retiring older sections to pave the way for highly immersive, next-generation storytelling. While projects like the newly minted Walt Disney Studios Lot and the Muppets Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster rewrite have dominated headlines, the most ambitious project on the property is officially moving into overdrive: Monstropolis.
The upcoming Monsters, Inc.-themed land is completely consuming the former Muppets Courtyard and parts of Grand Avenue. For months, guests have stared at towering construction walls, wondering what was happening behind the scenes. Now, the veil has dropped. On-the-ground observations reveal that the historic Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano building has been radically gutted, while viral new aerial imagery from legendary theme park photographer bioreconstruct confirms that the land is officially climbing into the sky.
Here is your comprehensive look at the current state of Monstropolis, from the destruction of classic dining locations to the historic structural milestones of Disney’s first-ever suspended coaster.
Bye-Bye Mama Melrose: The Birth of Harryhausen’s Restaurant
For over 30 years, Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano was a staple of the park’s dining lineup, offering a cozy, eclectic atmosphere tucked away in an industrial backlot setting. That era officially ended when the restaurant served its final plate of pasta in May 2025. One year later, the building is practically unrecognizable.
Recent construction milestones reveal that the entire front face of the right side of the building has been completely torn away. Guests walking along the edge of Grand Avenue can look past the treeline and peer straight into the naked concrete skeleton of the structure. The demolition has exposed heavy steel structural columns, massive overhead HVAC ductwork, runs of electrical conduit, and complex internal piping networks.
Interestingly, a piece of the past still clings to the site. The original pink side wall of the restaurant remains standing for the time being, and sharp-eyed guests can still spot a portion of Mama Melrose’s iconic Mona Lisa mural painted on the exterior brick, resting just below a temporary safety railing installed along the roofline.
Directly next to this gaping structural void, the main facade of the old restaurant has been completely wrapped in thick, weather-resistant plastic sheeting and pinned down with bright red construction tape. The outlines of the original arched windows are still visible beneath the plastic, indicating that Walt Disney Imagineering plans to retain the building’s core structural shell while entirely reskinning its exterior to match the monster-scaled, industrial aesthetic of Monstropolis.
Once completed, this space will house Harryhausen’s Restaurant, the premier table-service dining experience of the new land. Inspired by the high-end sushi spot from the original 2001 Pixar film, the venue will place guests directly into the world of Monstropolis at a time when humans are celebrated guests rather than toxic biohazards.
Steel Rising: Bioreconstruct’s Aerial Photos Show Massive Progress
While the dramatic changes to Mama Melrose are turning heads on the ground, a bird’s-eye view reveals a much larger industrial marvel. The latest aerial photography from bioreconstruct on X showcases a construction zone that has successfully transitioned from a flat demolition site into a vertical powerhouse.
The epicenter of this activity is the construction zone for the Monsters, Inc. Door Vault Coaster, taking over a massive plot of land that previously served as a backstage parking lot. The aerial imagery highlights several major updates:
- Foundation Completion: Crews have poured a massive, multi-layered concrete foundation pad across the entire footprint of the ride.
- The Arrival of Crane Number Two: A second massive industrial construction crane has been erected on the site, joining the existing tower crane to accelerate the installation of heavy structural frameworks.
- Vertical Coaster Track Supports: Prominently visible from the air are the very first vertical steel support columns for the roller coaster track. Painted in shades of black and distinct light blue, these pillars outline the initial trajectory of the ride vehicle path.
- Station Construction: Near a sandy staging area, concrete block walls wrapped in wooden concrete forms and heavy scaffolding have begun to rise, marking the early framing of the coaster’s highly themed load and unload station.
A Disney Resort First: The Door Vault Coaster Specs
The anchor of Monstropolis will be the Door Vault Coaster, an attraction pacing to be one of the most technologically advanced and physically imposing structures at Walt Disney World.
Upon completion, the ride will house the largest attraction show building at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, dwarfing even the massive footprints of nearby E-ticket rides like Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. The scale is necessary to accommodate the ride’s boundary-pushing mechanics. It will mark the first-ever suspended roller coaster in Disney Parks history, allowing guests to hang beneath the track to simulate the feeling of flying through the movie’s iconic, multi-million-dollar storage facility.
Furthermore, the ride will feature an innovative vertical lift system rather than a traditional angled chain lift hill, hoisting vehicles straight up into the rafters to replicate the sheer verticality of the Pixar film’s climax.
Stripped to the Studs: The Rest of Monstropolis
The demolition extends far beyond Mama Melrose. Following the closure of Muppet*Vision 3D and PizzeRizzo in June 2025, the entirety of the former Muppets Courtyard has been stripped to its bare studs.
Aerial views show that secondary buildings have been completely hollowed out, their naked facades covered in protective tarps to shield the inner wood and steel frameworks from the Florida elements. The iconic purple gutters and classic clock faces have been completely removed from the former Muppet*Vision 3D theater building. This historic theater is currently undergoing an intensive interior and exterior remodel to become The Glob Theater. This repurposed show venue will anchor the inner city streets of the land.
With steel actively rising and major landmarks being hollowed out for radical new themes, the transition from the real world to the monster world is moving at a breakneck pace. Disney has yet to announce an official opening date for Monstropolis, but the visible vertical progress promises that a great big, beautiful—and monstrous—tomorrow is well on its way.
