Farewell, Aerosmith! New Info Points to a Complete Overhaul at Disney’s Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster

A new permit filed by Walt Disney World points to a final farewell to Aerosmith at Hollywood Studios’ signature attraction that bares the group’s name.

Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith is an indoor launched roller coaster that opened at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in July 1999. The experience has Guests racing in limousines along a Los Angeles freeway to a concert hosted by the band. Guests have scored backstage passes to hang with the band, but everyone’s running late! As such, there’s an absolute need for speed if they’re going to make it on time to experience this once-in-a-lifetime event before the guys hit the stage.

Thanks to Walt Disney Imagineering and a little thing called linear motor electromagnetic technology, Guests are blasted from zero to nearly 60 miles per hour in less than three seconds. They can experience up to 5Gs as they twist and turn into crazy inversions like over-banked turns, a corkscrew and a sea serpent roll. (That’s roller coaster-speak for “YIKES!”)

Guests who love coasters usually make experiencing the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster ride a part of their visits to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and for those Guests who love coasters and Aerosmith, riding the attraction is a no-brainer.

But Aerosmith fans may soon find themselves experiencing some less than “sweet emotions,” as a new permit filed in Orange County, Florida, by Disney makes it sound entirely possible that Disney is gearing up for a total overhaul of the Guest-favorite rock band-hosted attraction that, once completed, could open to Guests minus Joe Perry, Steven Tyler, and the gang.

In 2002, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster avec Aerosmith opened to Guests at Disneyland Paris at the resort’s Walt Disney Studios Park. On September 2, 2019, however, the ride closed and was replaced with the Avengers Assemble: Flight Force attraction–a part of the Avengers Campus Paris land inside the park.

Rumors of a total retheming of the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios began last year and only gained traction with Guests after it was revealed that in August 2022, a notice of commencement was filed by Disney with Orange County, Florida. The permit was for providing “labor, material, and/or electrical for construction.” The address of the location of the aforementioned “construction” matched the official address of the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster attraction at Hollywood.

As of the time of this publication, the attraction is closed indefinitely–and has been since February 21, 2023. Disney World’s official website states that the ride will be back up and running later this summer.

But it’s not clear whether Aerosmith will be appearing when the attraction reopens, thanks to two new permits filed by Buena Vista Construction, Disney’s in-house team of contractors. The expiration dates for the permits are September 7, 2023 and September 14, 2023, respectively. Adena Corporation is listed on the first permit, and the second permit lists Maddox Electrical. Adena Corporation was responsible for work on Magic Kingdom’s soon-to-open TRON Lightcycle Run and EPCOT’s Guest-favorite Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind coaster, as the company specializes in tracks that make up a roller coaster experience. Adena was also responsible for work on the fan-favorite rides at Toy Story Land.

It remains to be seen (and heard) what Disney’s actual plans are for the attraction, but with a coaster track company on board for work between now and September, it’s entirely possible that Imagineers have already drawn up plans for a whole new experience.

Find both of the permits filed in February by clicking here and here.