Last Saturday, I went to Disney World to see a fun show called MuppetVision 3D. I made the most of my day since I love the Muppets, MuppetVision 3D is my favorite attraction at Disney World, and it’s closing forever on June 7th. As such, anyone reading this who would like to see it at least once while it’s still here has only a few days left to do so. In this post, I’ll recount my experiences with what will most likely be my last time getting to see MuppetVision 3D and visiting Muppets Courtyard (technically Grand Park, though I’ll call it Muppets Courtyard as that was once its name and I much prefer it). I’ll avoid giving a thorough synopsis of the show as I have a lot to talk about. In short, the Muppets are demonstrating a new 3D technology called MuppetVision 3D. In typical Muppets fashion, things go wrong in the best way possible. If you haven’t seen MuppetVision 3D, you can get a full synopsis of it here. Better yet, watch it here. Best yet, check it out for yourself in person at Disney’s Hollywood Studios while it’s still open if you have the time and money. Without further ado, it’s time to get things started.
I left the house around 6:45 that morning. It helps that I only live about two and a half hours away from Disney World. I listened to lots of Muppet songs (including songs from Jim Henson’s memorial, “Moving Right Along,” “Ain’t No Road Too Long,” “The Garden Song,” “Pictures in My Head,” “Follow Me,” “Rainbow Connection,” and “Rainbow Connection Reprise”) and shed many tears on the drive down. While I had wanted to get there when the park opened at 9, I ended up getting there around 9:30. Although the day started off rainy, it only took a few hours for the rain to stop and the sun to come out. Neither the rain nor the sun nor the heat bothered me much as I was inside for most of the day.
I felt so much nostalgia upon seeing the Disney World welcome sign, Tower of Terror, front entrance, and other cool stuff in the park that I hadn’t seen in almost a decade. After grabbing a map and doing a bit of sightseeing near the front of the park, I went straight to the Chinese Theatre replica to see handprints and signatures of Jim Henson and Kermit the Frog! My next stop was Muppets Courtyard. I watched MuppetVision 3D repeatedly (about 18 times total) over the course of the day, including that day’s final show. Watching it so many times allowed me to enjoy the many jokes and Muppet Easter eggs, see smaller details I’d never noticed before, commit much of the show to memory, photograph everything a little bit at a time, enjoy several different Muppet songs while waiting in line (including “I’m Going to Go Back There Someday,” “Moving Right Along,” “Couldn’t We Ride,” “Rainbow Connection,” and “Rainbow Connection Reprise” right before the last show of the day), and relive some fond memories from my youth.
I got lots of pictures of the whole Muppets Courtyard area throughout the day, including the inside and outside of the building housing MuppetVision 3D, the Stage 1 Company Store that used to have Muppet props and merchandise inside and still has lots of cool Muppet decorations on the outside, the PizzeRizzo restaurant, the defunct Mama Melrose restaurant, and the Miss Piggy water fountain near the front of that area. In a great spirit of camaraderie, people who’d never crossed paths before that day took pictures for each other. I got to participate in this by taking some pictures for other folks and they took some for me as well.
Later in the afternoon, I stopped for lunch at PizzeRizzo. That was my first time ever eating there, although I did eat there many times as a little kid when its theming was Pizza Planet after the restaurant in Toy Story. I had some good pizza and root beer, decent salad, and a delicious cannoli. Once I finished lunch and took some pictures around the restaurant, I asked someone working there if I could take a picture with the Rizzo plushie I saw earlier. She said that Rizzo was making pizzas in the back and would be busy for quite a while. So instead, I got to take pictures with a Kermit plushie outside the restaurant! That was even better since Kermit is my favorite Muppet! I felt overjoyed to get several pictures with him. That was one of the most pleasant surprises and biggest highlights of my day.
After the last show, I spent some extra time in the theatre. I’ve always loved going in there as it looks like the theatre from The Muppet Show. I and several other guests stayed there for some final memories until the cast members politely ushered us out. The last picture I got in the theatre was a rainbow painting from the waiting area that reminded me of “Rainbow Connection.” What a lovely way to close it out! I then got a few more lovely nighttime pictures of Muppets Courtyard before my phone died. Since I still wanted to get a few more pictures, a few kind souls took some pictures of me in front of the fountain and the MuppetVision 3D building with their phones before emailing them to me. We had some nice conversations, one of which made me aware of some Muppets pressed pennies available nearby. I decided to get them as lovely souvenirs! Once I said my final goodbyes to Muppets Courtyard, I walked away for the last time and cried while singing “I Don’t Want to Live on the Moon” as a crescent moon smiled down on me by Echo Lake near the front of the park. One quick tram ride later, I found my car, got my phone charged up enough to drive away, and headed home.
There were only a few negatives about my day. Since I got there about half an hour later than I had wanted, I had less time for everything than I’d have had if I’d arrived right as the park opened. I felt sad about not getting a picture with the Sweetums performer or the Rizzo plushie, and that the Christmas store called It’s a Wonderful Shop seemed to be closed. After my trip, I learned that there was a funny sign near the exit of MuppetVision 3D and possibly some other fun Muppet stuff that I didn’t notice, and thus didn’t photograph. That also greatly saddened me. My phone dying shortly before I left the park made things a little more difficult than if it had had enough power for the whole day. If I could do it over again, I’d have arrived earlier, asked earlier about getting a picture with Rizzo, made sure to photograph even more, and done more to keep my phone powered (used it less, turned down the screen brightness, put it on airplane mode for much of the day, and maybe even brought a portable power pack).
Toward the end of Jim Henson’s life, he was working on a deal with Disney that would create a whole Muppets land for Disney’s Hollywood Studios. After his death, however, all the Muppets got was a few short-lived stage shows, a courtyard containing MuppetVision 3D, a store selling Muppet merchandise, some fun pictures and music throughout the area, and, eventually, the PizzeRizzo restaurant. While I would have loved to have seen what would have happened had the original plans come to fruition, I am glad that the Muppets have as much as they do now. I feel sad that it will soon be taken away, especially since MuppetVision 3D was the last big project Jim Henson worked on during his life (and it opened exactly one year after his death).
I also worry about what will happen to all of the Muppet stuff after Muppets Courtyard closes. There is a long history of either destroying old Disney props, attractions, and at least one water park or leaving them to sit and rot. I fear any or all of those might happen to the props, pictures, animatronics, costumes, signage, and other fun Muppet memorabilia, especially since this already happened to the beautiful Kermit hot air balloon that used to sit atop the building housing MuppetVision 3D. I feel particularly concerned for the lovely, ornate carvings inside the theatre. Lots of attention, creativity, detail, and love went into those and other works of art in Muppets Courtyard, and I hope that they will all be well cared for long after Muppets Courtyard closes. This could happen if they’re moved somewhere else on Disney property (whether to be used in a new Muppets attraction or put on display) or given to someone who will lovingly preserve them as they are now.
Additional sadness came from knowing that this would be my first Disney trip since my dog Sawyer died. Him not being at home to greet me makes every return trip in general life that much more painful, and this one was no exception. I believe this was also my first Disney trip since both of my maternal grandparents died, and possibly my first one since my maternal grandfather died. I sometimes reminisce about being a little kid and going to visit my grandparents, spending a day or two at Disney World, and then returning to their house to tell them about our trip. There is lots of nostalgia around all of that, and I’ll never get to experience it again. That hurts even more than the loss of Muppets Courtyard and so much other stuff I loved about the Disney parks.
Overall, it was a lovely, sad, fun, and heartbreaking day. The Muppets had their usual display of humor and heart, and I thought that MuppetVision 3D held up well despite being around for so long. I’m so glad I went to see MuppetVision 3D, eat at PizzeRizzo, say goodbye to Muppets Courtyard, and pay my respects one final time. It warmed my heart to witness so many people having so much fun and getting so into it by wearing Muppets themed clothes, taking pictures and videos for each other, clapping, cheering, laughing, reciting lines, watching the show multiple times, and otherwise enjoying the Muppets throughout the day as we all shared the Muppet magic for one last time. There’s still lots of love for the Muppets, even 70 years after their television debut and 34 years after MuppetVision 3D opened. I wish that that whole area would stick around so that Muppet fans of all ages could enjoy it for many generations to come. If you love the Muppets and have any interest in checking this out before it’s gone, please do yourself a favor and visit. Whether that will be your first visit or the most recent of many, you’ll have a great time and make wonderful memories that will last you the rest of your life.