When you’re waiting for new attractions at Walt Disney World, nobody likes to hear about delays. In this case, however, they might actually be good news. One attraction that has remained closed at Disney World since the global pandemic, the Little Mermaid stage show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, was finally supposed to get a refreshed and updated show this year. Unfortunately, anybody waiting for The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure will now need to wait until 2025.
This week, Disney announced that the planned opening in late 2024 is being pushed back into the summer of 2025. That’s a pretty significant delay for a live stage show. According to Disney, work is set to begin on the exterior of the building, including a new marquee, soon. However, one has to wonder if the delay in the new show and other plans for Disney’s Hollywood Studios may have something in common.
The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure Delay Could Mean Big Changes For The Animation Courtyard
The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure was originally set to open basically now. The fact that we’re only now getting the announcement that the show is delayed is indicative, though certainly not conclusively, that whatever caused the delay is some sort of last-minute issue that just came up.
In addition to that, the fact that permits to build a new marquee for the theater are only just being filed, when certainly those could have been filed earlier, could indicate that the work about to begin is something different than what was previously planned for the attraction.
If that’s the case, it could mean that even more changes are planned for the Animation Courtyard. The courtyard is one of two spots at Disney’s Hollywood Studios that are likely locations for the new Monsters Inc. land that has been announced as coming to the park. If Monstropolis is coming to the Animation Courtyard, that means the fan favorite Muppet Vision 3D may have received a stay of execution.
MuppetVision 3D May Have Been Spared, At Least For Now
Disney’s Hollywood Studios' Grand Avenue, otherwise known as the Muppet Courtyard, is currently home to Muppet Vision 3D, the last Muppet project that Jim Henson was personally involved in, as well as Pizzarizzo, the oddly popular dining location. Many believe, mostly based on concept art, that this is where the Monsters Inc. land announced at D23 this year is, or at least was, set to go. An official location hasn’t yet been announced.
However, because a lot of people love The Muppets, there’s been an outcry against replacing Muppet Vision 3D. Some rumors have implied that while Disney was planning to replace the Muppets, the outcry has caused them to reconsider, and the new land may go in the Animation Courtyard instead
So the idea here is the delay for The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure is because the previous plans have changed, and in order for Animation Courtyard to accommodate both the new show and a Monsters Inc. land, some additional work on the Mermaid building is needed.
At this point, it’s all speculation. We don’t when work will begin on Monsters Inc. land. Disney World has a lot of construction planned in 2025, with work set to begin at Disney's Animal Kingdom already planned for January, and a major redevelopment of Frontierland at Magic Kingdom also in the cards. Even if we do ultimately lose Muppet Vision 3D, that day could still be several years away.
