Monsters Inc. Door Vault Coaster Rises Over Hollywood Studios

Steel Rising: The Monsters Inc. Door Vault Coaster Becomes Real

For months, the Monstropolis construction site at Disney's Hollywood Studios has been a sprawl of dirt, concrete, and ambition. Now it has a skyline. New aerial photos from Bioreconstruct, shared by BlogMickey, reveal steel structures climbing above the site, marking the most visible milestone yet for the Monsters Inc. Door Vault roller coaster. Two steel structures are going up near what appears to be the load station or the start of the attraction itself, while vertical support columns for the suspended coaster track continue to be installed across the footprint.

The scale here deserves emphasis. BlogMickey reports that the attraction building will be the largest at Disney's Hollywood Studios, surpassing Rise of the Resistance, Avatar Flight of Passage, and TRON Lightcycle Run. Only the Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind complex at EPCOT is bigger across Walt Disney World. The coaster will be the first suspended coaster at a Disney Park, meaning guests ride with their feet dangling beneath them, and the first to feature a vertical lift. Imagineering is swinging for the fences on every technical front simultaneously.

The land itself, Monstropolis, is rising from what was once Muppets Courtyard plus a newly expanded section outside the park's original boundary. BlogMickey notes that the story picks up after the events of the original film: humans are now welcome to visit, and the monsters need laughter rather than screams to power their city. The concept was first revealed at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, when then-Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D'Amaro unveiled the plans alongside Disney Legend Billy Crystal.

What makes these aerial photos significant is timing. Back in early April, BlogMickey broke the news that roller coaster support columns had been installed, visible only from the guest parking lot more than a half mile away. Now, just weeks later, the site has moved from foundation work to vertical construction. Steel going up means the ride layout is being committed to physical space. The sandy area visible in the photos is likely the future queue, while concrete block structures with scaffolding and wood framing appear to define the load station area. For anyone who has watched Disney construction projects crawl, this one is moving.

The Parks

EPCOT delivered the most interesting crowd story of the week on Saturday, and the numbers back it up. Lightning Brain data shows the park ran nearly 40% above its 30-day baseline, landing at a 6/10 (Average) with a 20.8-minute median wait. The Flower and Garden Festival is clearly pulling guests in real numbers. The midday peak hit at 1:00 PM with a 30-minute median across the park, and Living with the Land ran double its typical wait at 20 minutes. On a 93-degree afternoon, a slow boat ride through air-conditioned greenhouses becomes significantly more appealing.

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The afternoon was harder to navigate than the overall crowd number suggests, though. Lightning Brain tracked four notable attraction downtimes at EPCOT on Saturday alone. Gran Fiesta Tour went offline for nearly two hours during the peak window, from 1:01 PM to 2:57 PM. Remy's Ratatouille Adventure was down for about an hour starting at 2:52 PM. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and Journey Into Imagination with Figment both had shorter closures in the evening. World Showcase is light on attraction alternatives, so most guests who wandered into the Mexico Pavilion for a shaded sit-down found themselves redirected to food booth crowds or other pavilions.

Over at Hollywood Studios, Lightning Brain reported a 6/10 (Average) day with a 38.1-minute median. Rise of the Resistance had a particularly difficult morning: offline from 8:35 to 9:21 AM, then down again at 1:33 PM until 2:25 PM. Two separate closures totaling about an hour and a half for the park's premier attraction is rough for anyone who anchored their morning plan around it.

Meanwhile, the France pavilion in EPCOT's World Showcase has good news. MickeyBlog reports that the Palais du Cinema theater has reopened, bringing back both Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along and Impressions de France a day earlier than expected. The schedule mirrors the pre-refurbishment pattern, with Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along running from 10 AM to 6:30 PM and Impressions de France bookending the day from 9 AM to 9:30 AM and again from 7 PM to 8:45 PM.

At Disney's Yacht Club Resort, the dominoes continue to fall in a long-running renovation cycle. MickeyBlog reports that Crew's Cup Lounge has officially reopened after closing for refurbishment on February 23. The timing is intentional: its reopening coincides with Yachtsman Steakhouse closing for its own refurbishment, which MickeyBlog says is expected to last through August 2026. While the steakhouse is closed, guests can enjoy select Yachtsman menu items at Crew's Cup Lounge. Disney Tourist Blog notes this is part of a broader renovation effort at the Crescent Lake resorts that has been underway since early 2025, touching everything from exterior work to Stormalong Bay.

Disney Parks Blog announced a major community investment ahead of Cool Kids' Summer, which returns to Walt Disney World from May 26 through September 8. The resort is putting $1.3 million toward education programs across five Central Florida counties, supporting school districts and nonprofits including Elevate Orlando, A Gift for Teaching, and programs at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. The Goof Troop visited local elementary schools to give kindergarten and pre-K students a preview of GoofyCore coming to EPCOT this summer, and educators received Walt Disney World tickets as a thank-you.

WDW News Today reports that Walt Disney World Lakeshore Lodge construction continues moving forward with roofing, scaffolding, and cabin work. The same recap notes that two projects called Bubbles and Amazon have been assigned to former Disney's BoardWalk Resort locations, though details remain sparse. And for one day, alcohol sales will be prohibited at both Castaway Cay and Lookout Cay, per WDW News Today.

The Screen

Jon Favreau confirmed that the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit series will release in 2027 on Disney+, produced by SPA Studios. WDW News Today carried the news, which lands the pre-Mickey character his most significant moment in the spotlight since Disney reacquired the rights to Oswald in 2006. For fans who have tracked Walt Disney's original creation through decades of corporate limbo, Favreau's involvement and SPA Studios' hand-drawn animation pedigree make this one worth watching closely.

On a very different note, The Walt Disney Company announced a landmark Oasis documentary coming to theaters and Disney+ later this year. The film, created by BAFTA and Oscar-nominated writer Steven Knight and directed by Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace, charts Liam and Noel Gallagher's reunion tour Oasis Live '25. It opens in select IMAX and cinemas worldwide beginning September 11 before streaming on Disney+ internationally and on Hulu and Disney+ in the U.S. The Walt Disney Company's announcement highlights unprecedented access, including the first joint interviews with Noel and Liam in over 25 years. Eric Schrier, President of Direct-to-Consumer International Originals, called the opportunity "incredibly rare" and described the film as "an intimate story of reconciliation, the power of music, and Oasis."

According to reports from The DisInsider, Sofia the First is returning with a new series that follows Sofia attending the Charmswell School for Royal Magic, with Rapunzel appearing in the premiere episode. Disney has released a trailer for the new chapter.

The Vault

The Durham Museum in Omaha opens Heroes and Villains: The Art of the Disney Costume on May 23, and this one deserves attention from anyone who cares about the physical craft behind Disney's storytelling. D23 reports the exhibition, curated by the Walt Disney Archives, showcases nearly 70 ensembles spanning nearly five decades of Disney film and television. These are original, film-worn costumes from characters including Cinderella, Maleficent, Mary Poppins, Captain Jack Sparrow, and Aladdin, with interviews from Emmy and Academy Award-winning costume designers explaining the choices behind every stitch. A dedicated "Cinderella's Workshop" section lets guests see how the classic character has been interpreted across different television and movie iterations.

The Durham is running a full programming slate alongside the exhibition through the summer, including Sunday matinees pairing the costumes with their source films: Cinderella (2015) on May 24, Beauty and the Beast (2017) on June 21, National Treasure (2004) on July 19, and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) on August 16. A behind-the-scenes event called "Behind the Seams: The Making of a Disney Exhibition" on June 4 will offer a look at how the show was curated, including new additions from Cruella (2021) and Peter Pan and Wendy (2023). For fans in the Midwest, this is a rare chance to stand inches from the actual garments that brought these characters to life on screen.

At Disneyland Paris, Disney Experiences published a detailed look at how Cast Members were trained to open World of Frozen at Disney Adventure World. The piece reveals that nearly 15 months before the land's opening, Disneyland Paris launched a recruitment effort combining internal mobility, targeted hiring, and a European casting tour. Thousands auditioned in summer 2025, and just 350 were selected to become Arendelle's villagers. Each received what was called a "letter from the village," which served as an invitation to become a citizen of the kingdom. Cast Member Dorine Hermier described being chosen for the opening guest flow team as a "heart-stopping surprise." When World of Frozen opened its gates on March 29, 2026, those 350 Cast Members were officially welcomed as villagers during a dedicated celebration. The approach reflects a broader philosophy at Imagineering and Disneyland Paris: the story begins with the people telling it, not the concrete holding it up.

Sources

BlogMickey · Lightning Brain · MickeyBlog · MickeyBlog · Disney Tourist Blog · Disney Parks Blog · WDW News Today · Walt Disney Company · D23 · Disney Experiences · The DisInsider