Land Changelog // updated 2025.10.28

Grand Avenue

Hollywood Studios · Walt Disney World

31 changes logged4 spots trackedsince 1991

Everything that changed here

across the land, newest first
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20172 changes
  • Area UpdateSep 2017at Muppet*Vision 3D

    Muppets Courtyard was completed as Grand Avenue, and the theater's Kermit sign was replaced with a new marquee renaming the building the Grand Arts Theater.

    Muppets Courtyard / Kermit marquee→Grand Avenue / Grand Arts Theater
    Wikipedia dates the completion of Grand Avenue to September 2017 but dates the new marquee and theater name only to 2017, without a month.
  • Area UpdateSep 2017at Muppets on Location: The Days of Swine and Roses

    The surviving Muppet-adjacent New York block, held under the placeholder name Muppets Courtyard, was completed as Grand Avenue, a Los Angeles-inspired district beside the Muppet theater.

    Wikipedia records the Streets of America to Muppets Courtyard to Grand Avenue progression with Grand Avenue completed in September 2017; the Muppet*Vision 3D infobox lists the same area sequence.
20165 changes
  • Area UpdateApr 2, 2016at Muppet*Vision 3D

    The Streets of America, the block the theater fronted, closed permanently, and the area around the theater was redesignated Muppets Courtyard.

    Streets of America→Muppets Courtyard
    The attraction infobox gives the themed-area spans as Streets of America (1991-2016) and Muppets Courtyard (2016-2017); the April 2 day is the park's Streets of America closure date rather than a date tied to the show itself.
  • Area UpdateApr 2, 2016at Muppets on Location: The Days of Swine and Roses

    The Streets of America backlot, which contained the New York Street facades where the show had played, closed to make way for construction of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.

    Wikipedia's Disney's Hollywood Studios article gives the April 2, 2016 closure and the Galaxy's Edge reason, and notes that a single New York block survived and was folded into the Muppet-themed area.
  • Area UpdateApr 2, 2016at The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights

    The Streets of America, the display's final home, closed permanently to make way for Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, and a single surviving block of its New York facades was rethemed into Grand Avenue, completed in September 2017.

    This is the fate of the venue, not of the show: the Osborne display had already given its final performance on January 6, 2016, roughly three months before the Streets of America closed.
  • RefurbishmentJan 6, 2016at The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights

    The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights ran for the last time, three days later than first scheduled, closing with "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and the Mickey Mouse Club Alma Mater.

    Wikipedia records the extension from the announced January 3 date and the two closing songs; Yesterland describes January 6, 2016 as the end of a 20-year run at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
  • Update2016at The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights

    The majority of the display's lights were donated to Give Kids the World Village in Kissimmee, Florida, where they were later used for the charity's Night of a Million Lights event.

    Wikipedia records the donation after the final performance but gives no specific date, so this is held to year precision.
20151 change
  • UpdateSep 11, 2015at The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights

    Disney announced that the 2015 holiday season would be the final season for the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights, with the last performance then scheduled for January 3, 2016.

20131 change
  • Changed2013at Muppet*Vision 3D

    Kodak's sponsorship of the attraction ended after backing it since the 1991 opening.

    Kodak sponsorship (1991-2013)→unsponsored
    The attraction infobox gives the sponsorship run as 1991-2013 with no month or day, so this is recorded as year-only.
20111 change
  • Update2011at The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights

    An overhaul converted the display's bulbs to LEDs and redesigned the overhead canopy with 21,600 pixels capable of over 16 million colors, replacing a canopy that had been all red.

    Wikipedia dates the LED conversion to 2011 and describes the redesigned 21,600-pixel canopy in the same account; the color-capability figure is the source's own wording, not a per-pixel hardware description.
20061 change
  • Changed2006at The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights

    The park added over 1,500 dimmer relay circuits and control switches so the lights could be choreographed electronically to holiday music, and the display was renamed The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights.

20051 change
  • Area Update2005at The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights

    The display returned on the park's Streets of America section, the former New York Street backlot set, and grew to roughly five million lights.

    Sources conflict on the return season. Yesterland states outright that the spectacle moved to the Streets of America beginning with the 2005 holiday season; Wikipedia describes the move to the New York Street set without attaching a year in its prose and is commonly summarized as 2004. Dated to the year a source states outright rather than averaging the two.
20031 change
  • Area Update2003at The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights

    Residential Street was demolished to make way for the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show, and the 2003 holiday season passed with no Osborne display.

    Yesterland states that Residential Street was demolished for a stunt show and that 2003 was the one season the display did not operate.
19961 change
  • Refurbishment1996at Ace Ventura: Pet Detective - Live in Action

    The show closed permanently at an undocumented point in 1996.

    Wikipedia lists the closing as '? 1996' with no day or month, and Laughing Place states no closing information could be found, estimating sometime in 1996. An aggregator page (thewdwexpert.com) asserts October 31, 1996, but cites nothing and is contradicted by both sources above, so only year precision is claimed. Goosebumps HorrorLand did not open in the same venue until October 8, 1997, so it is not treated as a successor.
19956 changes
  • NewNov 24, 1995at The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights

    Disney relocated the Osborne family's Arkansas Christmas light display to Disney-MGM Studios, where roughly three million lights debuted on the Residential Street of the Backstage Studio Tour as The Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights.

    Yesterland gives the specific debut date of November 24, 1995 and places the display on the Residential Street of the Backstage Studio Tour; Wikipedia supports only the year 1995.
  • NewNov 10, 1995at Ace Ventura: Pet Detective - Live in Action

    Ace Ventura: Pet Detective - Live in Action opened on the New York Street backlot at Disney-MGM Studios on the same day the film Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls reached theaters.

    Wikipedia's DHS attraction list places it at the New York Street venue with an opening date of November 10, 1995; Laughing Place states it opened day-and-date with the film; the film's own Wikipedia page confirms a November 10, 1995 US release. Laughing Place describes the venue as the Streets of America and Walt Dated World as the New York Backlot - the same place.
  • Area UpdateNov 10, 1995at Muppets on Location: The Days of Swine and Roses

    Ace Ventura: Pet Detective - Live in Action opened as a comedy stunt show on the backlot, replacing the Muppet show nearly two years after it closed.

    Wikipedia's attraction list gives November 10, 1995 and a New York Street location; Laughing Place says an Ace Ventura comedy stunt show replaced the Muppet show; waltdatedworld places Ace Ventura on the Backlot. Confidence is medium because no source names the exact stage. This is a later reuse of an outdoor street location by an unrelated show, not a same-site reskin.
  • Update1995at Ace Ventura: Pet Detective - Live in Action

    The show was built around a licensed non-Disney character from the Morgan Creek and Warner Bros. film series and was staged as a promotional tie-in for the sequel.

    Walt Dated World states the character was licensed because the films were not made by Disney; Laughing Place adds that the rights holders agreed to the attraction as a tie-in. Morgan Creek produced and Warner Bros. distributed the film per its Wikipedia page. The precise licensing arrangement rests on fan sources, so confidence is medium.
  • Update1995at Ace Ventura: Pet Detective - Live in Action

    The show was performed about five times a day, with a performer playing Ace grappling down from a building, crossing between facades by rope swing and zip line, and capturing an escaped giant spider puppet.

    Walt Dated World is the only source describing the staging, and it credits fan memories; Laughing Place mentions no zip line, spider or bat. Walt Dated World also documents an alternate version in which Ace arrived by car hunting a missing albino bat, but gives no date for when that version was in rotation, so it is not claimed as a dated beat here.
  • Update1995at Ace Ventura: Pet Detective - Live in Action

    Each performance ended with a meet-and-greet with the Ace performer alongside a display of props from the film and two photo spots.

    Laughing Place confirms guests could stay to meet the performer afterward; Walt Dated World adds the film prop display and two photo spots.
19941 change
  • RefurbishmentJan 23, 1994at Muppets on Location: The Days of Swine and Roses

    Muppets on Location: The Days of Swine and Roses gave its final performance and closed permanently after a run of about two years and four months.

    January 23, 1994 is stated by D23's official A-to-Z entry and corroborated by Wikipedia's attraction list, waltdatedworld and Laughing Place.
19914 changes
  • NewSep 16, 1991at Muppets on Location: The Days of Swine and Roses

    Muppets on Location: The Days of Swine and Roses opened as a live outdoor show on New York Street at Disney-MGM Studios, near Muppet*Vision 3D.

    Four independent sources give September 16, 1991, including Disney's own D23 A-to-Z, whose entry reads in full: 'Live show at Disney-MGM Studios beginning on September 16, 1991, and running until January 23, 1994.' Wikipedia's attraction list gives the location as New York Street; Laughing Place places it near Muppet*Vision 3D.
  • Area UpdateSep 2, 1991at Muppets on Location: The Days of Swine and Roses

    Here Come the Muppets, a live stage show that had run at Disney-MGM Studios since 1990, closed, and its oversized walkaround Muppet costumes were reused for the new street production.

    Direct predecessor production; the two runs dovetailed exactly two weeks apart. The September 2, 1991 date rests on Wikipedia's attraction list alone, so confidence is medium; Laughing Place independently supports the 1990 debut and the costume reuse from the earlier show. The predecessor's exact venue is left unstated because neither cited source names it.
  • NewMay 16, 1991at Muppet*Vision 3D

    Jim Henson's Muppet*Vision 3D opened at the Disney-MGM Studios on the Streets of America as a Kodak-sponsored 3D film with in-theater effects and Audio-Animatronics.

    The show opened one year to the day after Jim Henson's death on May 16, 1990; the film was among the last projects he worked on.
  • Update1991at Muppets on Location: The Days of Swine and Roses

    The show staged a fictional movie shoot in which Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo and Bean Bunny appeared as walkaround costumed characters rather than puppets, the Electric Mayhem performed musical numbers, the audience was cast as extras, and a mid-show segment let guests meet the characters at small sets around the performance area.

    Format description drawn from a single source, Laughing Place, and dated year-only because it describes the run as a whole rather than a dated change. A second source, thewdwexpert, was rejected: its account contradicts every other source and appears fabricated.

That's every change on the record in Grand Avenue since 1991.

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