Muppets Courtyard (2016-2017) & Muppet Star Wars Rumor!

As many fans speculated, Disney is minimizing The Muppets already diminishing presence in the parks. 

It was announced today via the official Disney Park blog that Muppets Courtyard is being rebranded as Grand Avenue.

Muppets Courtyard, along with a portion of the former Streets of America, is being re-imagined by Walt Disney Imagineering to become a new area called Grand Avenue. Inspired by the revitalization and the vibrant culture of present-day downtown Los Angeles, Grand Avenue is where vintage office buildings and warehouses are being converted to exciting new uses. Guests will soon see facades for “merchants” appearing in this area for a music shop, loft apartments, a tailor and more, with each window on the street featuring charming displays.

The current Muppets Courtyard will become Grand Park, an urban square off Grand Avenue surrounded by shops and restaurants like PizzeRizzo and Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano. Guests can already see changes in the area, with the Muppets theater being renamed “Grand Arts Theatre” and boasting a brand-new marquee.

As it was only last April that Disney renamed the area "Muppets Courtyard", this has to be one of the fastest about faces Disney has done.

The folks at Disney know how this sounds, and are always great at putting good spin on bad news (maybe our president should hire them as his new communication director), so they end the post with...

But, not to worry – Kermit, Miss Piggy and the gang continue to star in their hilarious and irreverent “Muppet*Vision 3D” show.

Very reassuring indeed.

This week also brought a rumor that Disney might be adding a live Muppet Star Wars themed show, similar to Great Moments In History (But Just The American Parts), to the adjacent area leading to Star Wars Land.

The Muppets as que filler while people wait to get to a totally different part of the park. Sound like the people at Disney Parks have great faith in franchise. Sigh.

MuppetVision 3-D Gets New Entry!

If the more recent Muppet news isn't enough change for you, check out the latest updates to the entrance to Muppet-Vision 3D!

This isn't the first (or last) update though. The entire "Muppet Courtyard" at Disney Hollywood Studios has undergone some major revisions lately at it looks like the exterior to Muppet-Vision 3D is just the latest update.

Below is how the entrance, sign, and balloon originally looked:

A few years after Disney bought the Muppets, they removed Jim Henson's name, and "Muppets" from the balloon.

Original Kermit balloon with
" JIm Henson's Muppets"

Kermit balloon as it appears now 

In addition to removing " JIm Henson's Muppets", Kermit's face was replaced with a larger, yet more squashed version to fill up more space. 

Above is how it's looked the last few years.

With the plumbing being working on for the upcoming Star Wars land, the fountain has now been turned off as well. Miss Piggy as the statue of Liberty has remained, but Fozzie, Animal Gonzo and the rest of the fountains has been replaced (hopefully only temporarily) with plants. 

We heard rumors that the Kermit balloon was on the chopping block, now unfortunately for good, so that it didn't interfere with the view from Star Wars land.

As you can see from the photo above, the balloon is now gone, as well as the main Muppet 3D logo sign and the small "Presented by Kodak"below it. The Kodak sign was presumably removed since Kodak no longer sponsors any of the rides due to teh company going into bankruptcy a few years ago.  

You can still see the outline of the old sign, but next to it are now two large banners featuring the Muppets new Kermit "M" logo and "3D" surrounded by stock photos of many of the Muppets who appear in the film, plus Animal. 

They then installed a new sign inbetween the banners and renamed it the "Grand Arts Theater."

The new look adds both a modern / retro vide to the entrance, yet also feels that the name of the attraction inside could change at any moment.

Perhaps Disney is readying a new Muppet 3D movie to replace the 26 years old Muppet Vision.

What do you think of Muppet Vision's new look?

Current photos courtesy of the WDWmagic.