Everything Disney Revealed About Monstropolis at D23 2026
See everything Disney announced at D23 Monstropolis presentation, from the Glob Theater show name to new monster reveals at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Muppets Courtyard has been closed for the better part of a year now, and this weekend at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, Disney finally started filling in the blanks on what’s replacing it. Monstropolis, the Monsters, Inc.-themed land coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, got a genuine flood of news. The D23 Monstropolis information includes a theater show name, new monster character reveals, and a wall of concept art detailing everything from restaurant signage to themed doorbells. This goes along with the basic plan Disney fans heard previously.
We got an opening year (sort of). Still, if you’ve been wondering whether this land is more than just a coaster with some IP slapped on it, D23 answered that pretty emphatically.
During “Horizons: A Carousel of Progress” at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, Neil Patrick Harris brought a few special guests out to tell us about the new sights coming soon to Monstropolis at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. “Welcome to Monstropolis,” written by Disney Legend, Randy Newman, is the first song that Randy has composed for a Disney theme park, and guests will hear it next year when Monstropolis opens to humans.
While work continues on the door coaster, parts of Monstropolis will open to guests in 2027. Michael Hundgen, vice president Creative, and Chris Beatty, Vice President, Walt Disney Imagineering, were on stage to talk about the dynamic moments and locations you’d expect to see in Monstropolis.
D23 Monstropolis: The Glob Theater Finally Has a Show
The former MuppetVision 3D theater, reimagined as The Glob Theater, a pun on Shakespeare’s Globe that Disney has been sitting on since permits leaked back in the spring, now has an actual show attached to it: Welcome to Monstropolis! With Sulley & Mike. The concept art shows a marquee with a giant eyeball perched above it and matching eye graphics worked into the building’s clock, plus a banner reading “Our Chamber of Commerce Welcomes You, the kind of lived-in civic detail that tells you Imagineering is treating Monstropolis as an actual city, not just a backdrop.
Chris explained that humans are invited to attend a new show at the Glob Theater, titled “Welcome to Monstropolis,” just like Randy Newman’s new song. Chris also revealed that the monsters in the show will introduce humans to Monstropolis , and highlight how similar monsters and humans really are. “Mike and Sulley will be our hosts,” Chris said. “Sulley has been working on a small, homespun show, but Mike – ever the showman – has a few surprises up his sleeve that he thinks will bring down the house. Hopefully not literally.”
We still don’t know exactly what happens once the lights go down, but a marquee-level reveal this close to the show’s presumed content strongly suggests Mike and Sulley will be doing the hosting duties themselves, Muppet-telethon style.
Archie’s Scare Pig Pizza
People and monsters all love pizza, right? So, according to Disney, Monstropolis’ top-rated pizza (it will probably look a lot like rat pizza) will be guests’ go-to place to grab a slice. Humans may recognize Archie, Fear Tech’s beloved six-legged mascot, but after years of being “borrowed” by mischievous MU students, he’s become a fan favorite on both campuses.
Also, next door, the Monsters University Alumni Club has also opened its doors to human visitors eating at Archie’s. Chris said you’ll even find a tribute worth browsing. “Inside the Alumni Club is the elite Scarer’s Club, honoring the school’s legendary scarers from years past.” Also,you’ll want a little something to commemorate your visit to Monstropolis. The Scareporium, as Chris said, will be, “… a shop where all of us human tourists can grab a great souvenir to remember our visit.”
Harryhausen’s Restaurant
For more upscale dining, the D23 Monstropolis reveal gave us more information about that. Michael discussed the table service dining location we have all been waiting for, the location of one of Mike and Celia’s most unforgettable dates.
With a new menu to lay your eyes on (whether you have one, two, or ten), a visit to Harryhausen’s will spotlight the famed sushi chef, brought to life here as a new Audio-Animatronics figure. Watch his many tentacles whip up delicious-looking Monster-worthy creations, but don’t worry, there’s more than just sushi on the menu. Michael also said that it will be, “A menu unlike anything else we offer at Walt Disney World. It will be a great place to bring your Schmoopsie-poo for a romantic meal.”
Meet Monstropolis’s New (Very Weird) Wildlife
In a media preview ahead of the main showcase, Disney unveiled sculpted models of local Monstropolis “wildlife” — basically ordinary animals that got the monster treatment. First up is the Splitting Hare, a rabbit with an unsettling extra ear, followed by a two-headed pigeon whose right head looks friendly enough and whose left head very much does not. A three-eyed, three-tailed Monster Squirrel rounded out the trio at the Imagineering pavilion, where all three appeared as painted maquettes.
Sharp-eyed Pixar fans will recognize the two-headed pigeon as a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo from the opening of Monsters University, which makes this less a random creature design and more an Easter egg promoted to full theme-park citizen. It’s a small touch, but it’s exactly the kind of worldbuilding detail that separates a land that feels designed from a land that feels licensed.
D23 Monstropolis: A Cork Board Full of Business Names and Facade Secrets
The bigger reveal for detail-obsessed fans was a sprawling “design wall” inside the Imagineering pavilion, styled like an actual working cork board complete with fake sticky notes, decals, and process photos. Confirmed and rumored signage spotted across the board included Tony’s Grossery, Mike and Sulley’s, and a mysterious restaurant or shop logo for Sal’s Barfalo Wings. There was also a nod to the Monstropolis Transit Authority, complete with its own MTA-style sticker, and photos of a themed lamppost, crosswalk sign, and the land’s centerpiece fountain. A section labeled “Designing on Monsterous Scales” showed off elevation renderings for The Glob Theater itself, while a separate strip of art reimagined the old Muppets Courtyard storefronts with new scale-textured facades and monster signage.
For anyone tracking the dining side of things, this lines up with what’s already under construction: Mama Melrose’s is becoming Harryhausen’s, a full sit-down restaurant themed to the monsters seen dining out in the first Monsters, Inc. film, with structural steel for its facade already going up on-site as of this summer. PizzeRizzo is expected to become a new quick-service spot, though Disney hasn’t attached a name to it yet.
Don’t Forget the Coaster
Lost a little in the shuffle of theater names and restaurant logos: Monstropolis is still getting Disney’s first-ever suspended roller coaster, themed to the Door Vault chase from the original film. Guests will ride suspended beneath the track, essentially becoming one of the doors flying through the factory. The coaster’s ride vehicle model first debuted at D23 back in 2024, and this year’s reveals were much more about the neighborhood growing up around it than about the ride itself.
D23 Monstropolis: So… When Does It Open?
At this D23, Disney announced an opening timeframe for Monstropolis. It is 2027! Construction has progressed steadily all year; for example, foundation work, structural steel on Harryhausen’s, and now visible scale-textured detailing on The Glob Theater exterior. However, they need more time for the door roller coaster.
The Bottom Line
Between a named theater show, three new monster character designs, and a wall of concept art covering everything down to doorbells and trash cans, this was the most Monstropolis has felt like a real place rather than a construction zone with a name. Disney’s Hollywood Studios has needed a genuine new land for a while now, and if this level of detail is any indication, Imagineering is taking the assignment seriously.
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