Land Changelog // updated 2026.05.26
Hollywood Studios · Walt Disney World
Reopened as Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets, a full retheme fronted by Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem with a new G-Force Records queue, new storyline and soundtrack, a first-ever Scooter Audio-Animatronic, and Statler, Waldorf and penguin figures repurposed from the former Muppet*Vision 3D.
Closed permanently as Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith after its final day of operation, retiring the Aerosmith theme and soundtrack ahead of the Muppets retheme.
Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After grand-opened at the Sunset Showcase theater in Disney's Hollywood Studios, a live stage show hosted by the Magic Mirror featuring Maleficent, Captain Hook, and Cruella de Vil, with an original song, 'Magic Mirror.'
Fantasmic! returned in a reimagined form, adding an all-new Disney Heroes sequence (Aladdin, Elsa, Pocahontas, Moana, and Mulan) with upgraded lasers, lighting and sound, extending the runtime to about 29 minutes.
The show returned after its extended COVID-19 closure (dark since March 12, 2020), reopening with distancing-modified staging and choreography that later reverted to the full pre-pandemic format.
Fantasmic! went dark when Walt Disney World closed for the COVID-19 pandemic, and its lagoon was drained; it did not resume with the park's July 2020 reopening and stayed shuttered for roughly two and a half years.
The fixed triple-drop sequence was replaced with a computer-randomized drop system that selects one of several preset profiles for each ride, marketed as "Never the Same Fear Twice."
A re-staged second version debuted, reordering the musical numbers to follow the film's chronology and adding an Enchantress prologue recounting the Beast's curse — the version still performed today.
Opened at Disney-MGM Studios as Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, an enclosed launched roller coaster accelerating riders from 0 to 57 mph in under 3 seconds.
A third drop and enhanced effects were added, with roughly 30% more time in the shaft, greater acceleration, a rumbling shake and a stronger weightless feel, marketed as "Fear Every Drop!"
Fantasmic! opened at Disney-MGM Studios (now Disney's Hollywood Studios) in the purpose-built Hollywood Hills Amphitheater off Sunset Boulevard, debuting the nighttime water-screen, pyrotechnic and live-performer spectacular.
A second full drop was added to the ride profile, expanding the original single-drop finale into a two-drop sequence, marketed as "Twice the Fright."
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror opened on Sunset Boulevard at Disney-MGM Studios (now Disney's Hollywood Studios), a 199-foot Hollywood Tower Hotel-themed drop attraction whose elevator vehicle travels horizontally into a Fifth Dimension show scene before locking into a high-speed drop shaft. It launched with a single drop finale.
The show reopened in the newly rebuilt, now-roofed Theater of the Stars on the new Sunset Boulevard — its permanent home — after running since September 1993 at the Premiere Theater on New York Street during the boulevard's construction.
Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage premiered at the open-air Theater of the Stars (then near Hollywood Boulevard), debuting the same day the animated film reached theaters — the first time a Disney feature and its stage adaptation opened simultaneously.