It’s the end of an era as Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano has officially closed leaving PizzaRizzo the last standing restruant in Muppet’s Courtyard.
On May 10th, Mama Melrose’s served its final guests, and the next day, the doors were closed, and there was no more garlic bread and pasta to share. What’s happening with the restaurant now that it’s closed for good?
While there was no noticeable construction overnight (we’re looking at you DinoLand U.S.A.), the windows are blacked out, meaning no sneak peeks in the windows.
The menu that hung outside the restaurant has been taken down, but the signage is still above the restaurant.
Even the door windows are blacked out!
Muppets Courtyard is starting to look a little empty. It’s a Wonderful Shop, the Christmas store in Muppets Courtyard, and Stage 1 Company Store have been closed for a few years now and used as seasonal spaces for extra merchandise or Santa Claus meet and greets.
PizzaRizzo, MuppetVision, and Gonzo’s Royal Flush bathroom are the only buildings to remain open, and their last day is June 7th.
But why is everything closing so soon? While we’re devastated to be losing our Muppets, the Muppets are moving right along and leaving space for Mike and Sulley to join the party.
Muppets Courtyard is turning into Monstropolis from Monsters, Inc. where there will be the first ever Monsters, Inc. roller coaster where you get to move like the hanging doors in the movie.
A new show will also take over the MuppetVision building. Disney hasn’t dropped any details on the show (and we literally mean no details), but this will be Monsters, Inc.’s first show outside of the Laugh Floor in Magic Kingdom.
If Disney is closing two very large restaurants, what will the food situation be like? Well, Disney hasn’t confirmed that, but the concept art showed HarryHausen, the restaurant directly from the movie!
Disney Cruise Line’s Adventure ship, sailing out of Singapore at the end of this year, will feature a premium dining experience called Mike & Sulley’s Flavors of Asia. This experience will offer a “full-service Japanese steakhouse, a lively Teppanyaki room, Omakase-style dining, and an outdoor sushi-sashimi experience.” We would love to see this experience in Hollywood Studios!
As we say farewell to Mama Melrose’s, tell us what you’re going to miss most about Muppets Courtyard in the comments. Keep following AllEars for more Disney news!
We ate at Mama Melrose on most visits to DHS. Their food service was solid if not spectacular – somewhere above Tony’s in MK and below Via Napoli in EPCOT.
But what we will miss the most in that area is Muppet vision 3D. Yes the 3D technology has aged out but the humor still tickled us. Maybe it was a Net full of Jello (Annette Funicello) hanging over the pre-show. Maybe it was Kermit asking Sam Eagle if the finale was ready – Sam saying it was a glorious 3 hour extravaganza and Kermit telling him he had a minute and a half.
We will miss that, but Disney more and more is turning into missed and missing memories.