When Will Rock 'n' Roller Coaster CLOSE in Disney World?

Some big changes are coming to Disney World, most notably to Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Muppets Courtyard will be permanently closing, along with Muppet*Vision 3D to make way for a new Monsters, Inc. land, while the Muppets make their way over to Sunset Boulevard to become one with the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. That means that the current version of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith will have to close — but when will that happen?

Disney originally announced Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith in 1998 when Hollywood Studios was still known as Disney-MGM Studios. Disney hired Vekoma to build the indoor roller coaster, which features a launch that goes from 0 to 57 mph in 2.8 seconds, three inversions, and an experience with up to 5 Gs. The ride opened in 1999.

Each train of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster has 120 speakers to play some of Aerosmith’s most iconic songs, including “Love in an Elevator,” “Walk This Way,” “Sweet Emotion,” and more. Disney worked with Aerosmith to create a soundtrack exclusively for the ride, with some lyrics being reworked JUST for the ride.

With Aerosmith Steven Tyler recently announcing his retirement from touring, many began to speculate about the future of the ride. Recently, Disney announced that the ride would be getting a new theme with the Muppets.

That means that the current version of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster will have to close to make way for a new version of the ride. So when might that happen? Well, Disney hasn’t exactly specified, but we can make a guess. First, it’s likely that construction on the new Monsters, Inc. land will begin in 2025. That means Muppets Courtyard and the only Muppets attraction in Disney World will close once construction begins.

One thing we don’t know is if Disney will close Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster when that construction starts — it wouldn’t make sense being that an entire area of the park will already be closed. So it could be late 2025 or even early 2026 before that happens. Granted, Disney may work on both projects at the same time, meaning there would be two less attractions open in Hollywood Studios.

This is also taking into account all the OTHER construction that will be starting in 2025. Magic Kingdom could be a bit of a construction mess once Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island close to make way for a Cars expansion and work on a separate Villains land there begins. Disney’s Animal Kingdom will also be dealing with construction on its new Tropical Americas-themed land, Pueblo Esperanza.

So until Disney announces its plans, we can only guess when Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster will close and then later reopen as a Muppets ride. However, we’ll be keeping an eye out for more details, so check back with AllEars again soon for more.