Disney Parks confirmed on May 16 that the Statler and Waldorf Audio-Animatronics from the now-closed MuppetVision 3D have found a new permanent home inside Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and for fans still holding out hope for a MuppetVision 3D revival, this is the answer you didn’t want.
The animatronics will be instantly recognizable to longtime guests — they were a beloved centerpiece of MuppetVision 3D at Hollywood Studios from 1991 until the show’s closure in 2025. Disney even leaned into the connection: one of the jokes previewed in the reveal video calls back directly to MuppetVision’s famous finale, where the two groan that they can’t use the bathroom before the next show because they’re bolted to the seats.
They’re still bolted. Just somewhere new.
As recently as July 2025, Brian Henson told fans that the MuppetVision animatronics, including Statler and Waldorf, the Swedish Chef, and the penguin orchestra, had been “packed away perfectly,” and that theoretically Disney could bring the attraction back if they wanted to. This week, Disney answered that question. They didn’t bring it back. They bolted the figures into a roller coaster.
At least one major Disney fan site noted the bittersweet reality: the more props and animatronics that get reused from MuppetVision 3D, the less likely it becomes that the show ever returns in any form. That’s putting it gently. Once the physical animatronics are integrated into a permanent attraction, opening to the public May 26, there is no realistic version of MuppetVision 3D coming back to Hollywood Studios, or anywhere else.
Our Take: We loved MuppetVision 3D. It was a piece of Jim Henson’s soul embedded in a theme park, and losing it still stings. But if those figures had to go somewhere, this is probably the best possible outcome. Statler and Waldorf aren’t in a warehouse. They’re not on a shelf. They’re heckling guests on a roller coaster, doing exactly what they were built to do. It’s a good ending for them, even if it’s a final one for the dream of a revival.
Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets opens May 26, 2026, at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Annual Passholder previews begin May 21. For more Hollywood Studios coverage, visit Fantasy Land News.
