The Disney-MGM Studios
Welcome to The Disney-MGM Studios!
This brand new destination at Walt Disney World is so much more than a theme park… It’s a real, working movie studio where you just might stumble upon a live taping, a real celebrity, or a hot set. No promises, though.
The truth is that this new theme park was a thinly veiled preemptive strike against Universal Studios, who had plans to import their world-famous Hollywood Studio Tour to Florida. Rumors have it that the new CEO here, Michael Eisner, knew about Universal’s plans since he used to be in charge of Paramount Pictures, and that he fast-tracked this park to try to ward Universal away. (It didn’t work. Universal still built their park just down the street, but since Disney stole their Studio Tour, Universal was forced to split the components of their Hollywood tour in separate, standalone attractions here in Florida, producing Lost Legends: JAWS, KONGfrontation, and Back to the Future: The Ride).
In any case, early visitors here to Disney-MGM Studios noted that, while it was interesting, the theme park just didn’t have enough to do compared to Magic Kingdom or Epcot. And even now, just three years after the park’s 1989 opening, the signature Studio Tour is looking a little… well… empty. Disney’s efforts to turn Orlando into a new moviemaking destination for the stars doesn’t seem to have stuck, which leaves the Disney-MGM Studios in need of something to do.
Luckily, Disney had already fast-tracked a copy of Disneyland’s Lost Legend: STAR TOURS that’s right at home here, as well as an Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular based on the brand new Raiders of the Lost Ark. They also opened up the “Streets of America” that had once been part of the tram tour.
By annexing the old street sets to the theme park, Disney was able to finish off the vision Eisner and Jim Henson had had from the park’s earliest days… a new land called Muppet Studios. As a child of the ’70s, ’80s, or ’90s, you’ve likely grown up with the Muppets on television, in theaters, and in Happy Meals. Just as you’d never expect Mickey Mouse or Ariel to fall out of favor, it’s clear that Kermit and his friends will be icons for many decades to come…
Muppet Studios
And here at the Disney-MGM Studios, they have their own lot where they produce their feature films. Passing into the whimsical backlot, you might get the impression that it’s modeled after New York. But in fact, you’ve stepped into the Mupepts’ very own hot set; the place where their mayhem is made, MUPPET STUDIOS.
There’s no doubt that this madcap backlot is unlike any other at the Disney-MGM Studios. Where else will you see “behind the scenes” of a studio lot run by a frog, with trailers for a bear and a pig, scoring by an orchestra of penguins, and craft services provided by a Swedish chef? Yep, Muppet Studios is unlike any other lot in Orlando. Don’t be surprised by splattered paint, spurting fountains and fire hydrants, and animatronic rats who are part of the crew.
In the lot’s main plaza, the requisite studio watertower has been replaced by an icon of a similar silhouette; a climbable tower of musical interactive instruments and propellers allowing guests to climb up to the base of the land’s “weenie”: a hot air balloon awash in psychedelic ’70s colors with the “MUPPET STUDIOS” logo stitched across its balloon.
In the land’s center stands an iconic fountain. Clearly modeled after Universal Studios Hollywood’s, this fountain replaces bronze director, cameraman, and boom operator with a film crew of a very different sort… Gonzo is immortalized mid-fall as he and his bullhorn head into the water. A pair of rats row rat-sized rowboats across the fountain. Fozzie is balanced on a floating brass barrel trying to grip a camera and an umbrella at once. And reigning over it all is Lady Liberty herself… Or, Miss Piggy’s best impression of her, water streaming out of her crown and torch.
Beyond the fountain would reside the land’s first anchor attraction: Muppet*Vision 3D. A cutting edge jaunt through the inner workings of Muppet Labs, this 3D feature would give guests an unparalleled and unexpected chance to try out the new “Muppet*Vision” technology created by Muppet Labs – our opportunity to meet the world’s first computer-generated Muppet. As you can imagine, the tour is handled professionally and courteously, and all goes exactly as planned. Well… kinda.
The show would exit into the Stage One Company Store, which – fans would note – was actually the set of the Happiness Hotel from The Great Muppet Caper, repurposed as a tchochkes shop in true Muppet fashion.
Deposited behind the Muppet*Vision theater, you might notice that the back of its showbuilding doesn’t carry through with the elegant red-brick plaza out front. Rather, this side of the studio soundstage is decked out in half-finished paintings, colorful pipes, gags, and murals. Sure, it’s what you’d expect the Muppets to do with the side of the building that’s not forward-facing.
But it’s also a nod to a very real event: In 1964, as the Muppets crew waited in NBC Studios’ green room to go on the Jack Paar show, they opened a closet and decided to waste time by painting the pipes inside… an artifact saved and now shared on NBC studio tours [left].
These wonderful in-jokes, hidden puns, layered details, and not-so-subtle surprises would permeate through the land, with interactive props, colorful creations, and half-built masterpieces in every nook and cranny. And best of all, this entire set of soundstages would carry on that character-filled optimism and energy of the Muppets in every single moment.
For example, you’ll likely need reservations to dine at The Great Gonzo’s Pizza Pandemonium Parlor. In the same style as the Hard Rock Cafe or Planet Hollywood, this star-studded dining experience allows you a once-in-a-lifetime look at some of the Muppets’ real artifacts and costumes. But when Gonzo and Rizzo are in charge, you can bet your dining experience will be… exceptional.
For one thing, your meal comes delivered on a tray carried by an exhausted rat (an animatronic on a track), racing directly to your table. And it’s the Muppets, so you shouldn’t be surprised when an explosion from the kitchen rocks the building, sending the doors bursting open, with smoke and chicken feathers flying into the dining room.
Of course, in the style of the 50’s Prime Time Cafe, you can bet that the staff is on it, hurriedly and embarassingly tidying up and apologizing for the ruckus… and trying to distract you from the unmistakable sound of Gonzo climbing through the air ducts overhead.
Next door beneath an inflatable hot air balloon of his head is Swedish Chef’s Cooking School, a uniquely interactive show and character encounter attraction where we get to watch the Muppets’ unintelligible head chef battle his ingredients for control of a meal. You can imagine how this hands-on experience could’ve walked guests through a chaotic kitchen creation not unlike a mix of Turtle Talk and the Animation Academy in an all-in-one wacky meal.
By far, though, the land’s anchor has to be The Great Muppet Movie Ride. Guests would enter this incredible, in-depth dark ride through a Frankenstein style castle (with a soundstage rising conspicuously behind) for a tour of the current, in-production films the Muppets were hopelessly working on.
An E-Ticket in its own right, this astounding oversized dark ride would’ve been packed with animatronics and special effects. Jim Henson himself described the experience as “a backstage ride explaining how movies were shot… and all the information is wrong.”
In this intentional spoof of the Great Movie Ride, you’ll see the greatest scenes in film history brought to life as only the Muppets can… And in each famous recreation, Statler and Waldorf – the Muppets’ resident retiree critics – would be on hand to offer their analysis.
Just imagine seeing all of the mayhem taking place on the set of the Muppets’ Frankenstein (above). The details are endless, and all brought to life through an animatronic cast the likes of which Disney hadn’t seen since Splash Mountain.
The Great Muppet Movie Ride would even poke fun at Disney’s best, with the Muppets’ live action remake of Peter Pan looking a little unusual, with Miss Piggy’s Tinkerbell really hogging the spotlight.
You have to imagine that for Jim Henson, Muppet Studios must’ve been a dream come true. With next generation meet-and-greets, details around every corner, an interactive restaurant filled with Audio-Animatronics, and two headlining anchor attractions – Muppet*Vision and the Great Muppet Movie Ride – Muppet Studios would’ve been the expansion the Disney-MGM Studios needed, and a permanent home for some of the most beloved characters on Earth.
But it never came to be…
It’s not that Disney Imagineers soured on the idea.
It’s not that Eisner lost interest. (In fact, he’d spend the next decade trying to make Muppet Studios happen.)
It’s not that the Muppets lost their popular appeal.
The real reason for the cancellation of Muppet Studios is much more sobering. Read on…