Avatar Experience Replaces Monsters Inc. - Monsters Inc. Closing Early 2026 - Future Expansion Plans

[irlandaise]

And the sad part is that it is in a park that usually closes before sunset.

I remember going on Expedition Everest at night. Can't they stop the safaris and animal walkthroughs and keep the non-animal areas open later? Or does that not fly with visitors, who maybe don't want to come to the park if the animal areas are closed?

 

[Smugpugmug]

And the sad part is that it is in a park that usually closes before sunset.

Animal Kingdom used to close at 10 pm during peak times like spring break (this was WAAAY before Covid, like 2018). It's one of the reasons why WDW regulars envy Disneyland park hours so much lol

 

[LAS2AMS]

I remember going on Expedition Everest at night. Can't they stop the safaris and animal walkthroughs and keep the non-animal areas open later? Or does that not fly with visitors, who maybe don't want to come to the park if the animal areas are closed?

They tried to turn it into an all day park experience, including a (modified) replica of World of Color (but with seats). After the pandemic, Disney did what Disney does best: save money by closing the park early (and ripping out much of the infrastructure for the nighttime show).

 

[mdmost]

I have no grand affinity for the Monsters Inc ride. It's a cute ride but I'm good with trading it in for a new ride and land. If this is the rumored boat ride then I could see it being a really nice followup. I doubt Disney is going to cheap out with this ride since Avatar has a very long shelf life with all the movies coming out. If it starts behind the street, they can make a nice transition to the ride. They have to account for the monorail so I'd imagine they will put the ride beyond it with a new mountain put up in place of where the monorail passes through.

I'd imagine we're looking a rebranding of California Adventure into something like the Walt Disney Studios in Paris when the new rides open. The lands will be an ode to California and the creativity that arose out of it with the MCU, Pixar, and Avatar. Then you still have the California portion with Soarin' and Grizzly River Run. You still have old Hollywood and the Animation Courtyard to be a tribute to Walt coming to Los Angeles.

 

[LAS2AMS]

I doubt they’ll rename the park. They like “Adventure.” WDSP is becoming World Adventure. Disney-MGM Studios was widely expected to become Disney Hollywood Adventure.

Disney’s California Adventure was a theme park about CA. Disney California Adventure is a theme park that’s an adventure located in CA.

 

[Living42Day]

Hmmm, not sure how to feel about this. I've never seen the Avatar movies so have no real interest in that but did really love Monster's Inc, it was a movie I grew up with.

I also thought they were doing some kind of expansion or experience off of Harbor and Katella, kind of near where the cheaper motels were. I feel like that was announced 2ish years ago.

 

[LAS2AMS]

Hmmm, not sure how to feel about this. I've never seen the Avatar movies so have no real interest in that but did really love Monster's Inc, it was a movie I grew up with.

I also thought they were doing some kind of expansion or experience off of Harbor and Katella, kind of near where the cheaper motels were. I feel like that was announced 2ish years ago.

The parking lots surrounding the hotels are earmarked for theme park expansion, but West St divides the parks from the expansion pad. Sounds like they want to permanently close West within the resort area but that project will take many years if it happens at all.

 

[Tinkaboo]

Didn't think The Avatar area at AK was all that...not much to it,,,if I want to look at beautiful scenery, I 'll go to any one of our national parks where I can see true natural beauty. I know I am the minority but I didn't care tor the movies, the concept and James Cameron doesn't come close to George Lucas in talent....IMHO....feel free to disagree....

That said, I will miss Monsters and its simplicity...just a sweet little ride.

 

[LKing]

Hmmm, not sure how to feel about this. I've never seen the Avatar movies so have no real interest in that but did really love Monster's Inc, it was a movie I grew up with.

I also thought they were doing some kind of expansion or experience off of Harbor and Katella, kind of near where the cheaper motels were. I feel like that was announced 2ish years ago.

I saw the first Star Wars movie 48 years ago and haven't watched a SW show since. I only know a handful of SW characters but I really enjoy Rise of the Resistance, Shadows of Memory and the overall immersive feel of SWGE.

My spouse made me watch the first Avatar movie prior to visiting WDW. I would have appreciated the land and attractions at WDW anyway, but watching the movie made it all that much more enjoyable.

 

[irlandaise]

They tried to turn it into an all day park experience, including a (modified) replica of World of Color (but with seats). After the pandemic, Disney did what Disney does best: save money by closing the park early (and ripping out much of the infrastructure for the nighttime show).

Yikes, it's even worse than I thought it would be based on your comments: I just checked, and DAK closes at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow night. On a Saturday. During the summer holidays. That's awful.

 

[LKing]

Yikes, it's even worse than I thought it would be based on your comments: I just checked, and DAK closes at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow night. On a Saturday. During the summer holidays. That's awful.

Yep and the other parks don't open until 9 am. EPCOT is open from 9 am to 9 pm. DHS and MK are open from 9 am to 10 pm.

 

[DodgerGirl]

What it seems like to me is that DCA is slowly shedding it's original California image and now is gaining a whole new identity and with Avatar Experience replacing the Monsters Inc. ride it seems that this will be the beginning of DCA's new identity. And with the new Coco attraction being built in 2026 this will be a sign that DCA might adopt a new name and perhaps rebrand as Disney's Pixar Place and Marvel Land. But what they could've done is expand Avengers Campus and made it a whole land to replace Hollywood Pictures Backlot rather than create an Avatar themed section which would've been better to put in the Condor Flats section. But I think if DCA was smart they could've put a new show in the Hyperion Theater or make a new ride to replace Grizzly River Run instead

 

[BrianL]

And #4 is "Titanic," but I don't see Disney rushing to do a ride based on that.

I still maintain that "Avatar" doesn't have nearly the place in the public consciousness that SW and the MCU/DCU do. I doubt that there are many kids with cancer who say, "My dying wish is to spend the day with a Navi."

Okay, sure, Avatar does not have the cultural significance of Star Wars, but what does? If that's the benchmark, there should be no attractions in the parks based on anything but Star Wars! Maybe you carve out a little spot for Marvel these days. I mean, you could say that Coco doesn't have the same cachet as Star Wars, so they shouldn't build the ride. You could say that about almost anything, probably even Mickey himself.

Avatar is well-known and popular. It is a valuable franchise. Building theme park areas based on it is not an unreasonable thing to do.

 

[nalababybear]

Avatar is huge. If they simply replicate FOP with update for fire and ash or Segway between way of water and fire....or frankly anything with that ride vehicle, you'll have a hit and wait times well into 90 consistently.

Couple that with an avengers ride that even comes close to cosmic rewind.....that will keep DCA well stocked for decade

 

[LAS2AMS]

There’s speculation that the Hyperion Theater will be demolished and included in the Avatar Experience (AE) as it has recently been cleared out. Sad that it’s not coming back. OCR mentions that the entire Hollywoodland, including Hyperion Theater, occupies about 6 acres. AE will expand into the existing bus loop and probably the backstage area surrounding the Hyperion Theater, which will increase the size. For comparison, Avatarland at AK is 12 acres.

 

[LAS2AMS]

Avatar is huge. If they simply replicate FOP with update for fire and ash or Segway between way of water and fire....or frankly anything with that ride vehicle, you'll have a hit and wait times well into 90 consistently.

Couple that with an avengers ride that even comes close to cosmic rewind.....that will keep DCA well stocked for decade

Avatar Experience will likely have a single ride. It’s expected to be a boat ride based on technology used for Pirates of Caribbean Shanghai Disneyland.

FOP has a low hourly capacity (1500 max, and there may not be room to build out four theaters at DCA). I liken it to Rocket Rods - cute ride, not worth the 2-3 hour wait (granted, wait times are decreasing).

Avengers Campus will have two new attractions. Neither will be a roller coaster but they will be thrill rides. Have you seen the show building for Epcot’s ride? It’s huge, nowhere to put that in the existing DCA footprint.

 

[MonocularVision]

As evidenced by my avatar*, I am a big Monsters Inc. fan. But I am glad to see them doing something new with the area. The ride is fun, but it isn’t some top tier thing.




* see what I did there

 

[tarheelalum]

Gotta say I’m bummed about them getting rid of monsters. I really like monsters but honestly could not care less about Avatar. I don’t know why Disney wants to pour money into a franchise that nobody wants.

Instead of avatar how about a Pixar Land. Pixar has lots of awesome characters and would make a fantastic Land.

 

[PiratesOfTheSea]

The two Avatar movies are two of the top three grossing movies of all time. Never bet against James Cameron.

Monsters was a nice reskin and salvage of what was probably the worst attraction in resort history, it's simply getting replaced by an attraction with newer technology and a far more popular franchise. They should at least blue Drew Carey and company somewhere in the Avatar ride.

 

[LAS2AMS]

Gotta say I’m bummed about them getting rid of monsters. I really like monsters but honestly could not care less about Avatar. I don’t know why Disney wants to pour money into a franchise that nobody wants.

Monsters is a cute ride, but it’s mostly a low budget overlay of SuperStar Limo. The attraction has had almost no updates or upgrades since it debuted. The Imagineers are very passionate about their work and I’d bet the attraction was not a favorite of theirs.

Hollywoodland is long overdue for an overhaul. The largest building (former food court) was shuttered shortly after the park opened - that’s almost 25 years. The second largest building has been shuttered since Who Wants To Be A Millionaire ended nearly 20 years ago. Most everything else is under utilized. Probably impossible to salvage the area or Monsters.

While I’m not crazy about Avatar, it’s been reported that after the land opened in the Animal Kingdom, the park saw the largest YOY increase in revenue of any park in Disney history. So don’t assume people don’t like Avatar .

Instead of avatar how about a Pixar Land. Pixar has lots of awesome characters and would make a fantastic Land

Isn’t that what Pixar Pier is for?