Monsters, Inc. Coaster Building to Be Built in Cast Member Lot

Written by Joshua Posted June 29th, 2025

A new map from the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District offers a new perspective on the scale of the upcoming Monsters, Inc. land at Hollywood Studios. While Disney’s concept art always hinted at its size, the map reveals just how massive Monstropolis will be. The land’s suspended coaster won’t even fit within the existing park. Instead, it’s to be built in the Cast Member parking lot, outside the park’s current footprint.

Using CFTOD’s map as a reference, we created this version to highlight the new ride’s location. We included Rise of the Resistance and the buildings being reimagined for the Monsters, Inc. land for perspective.

Aerial view of Hollywood Studios showing where a Monsters, Inc. rollercoaster will be built

Bioreconstruct‘s aerial Muppets Courtyard photo adds even more perspective.

Aerial photo of Muppets Courtyard. Photo courtest of Bioreconstuct. — Photo courtesy of Bioreconstruct

We’ve seen several concepts for the new land, the first at last year’s D23 Expo. That artwork didn’t reveal much; at that point, Imagineers hadn’t decided where Mike and Sully would reside.

Concept art for Monsters, Inc. land in Hollywood Studios

Once Imagineers decided on Muppets Courtyard, we saw a concept that matched the existing land’s buildings (although the Stage 1 Company Store was missing). The scare/laugh factory can be seen in the distance, almost touching the Rise of the Resistance show building.

Monsters Inc. land concept art. Copyright Disney.

At this point, it was clear Hollywood Studios was expanding. Rise abuts the park perimeter, and the new land extends beyond that line. Once Muppets Courtyard closed earlier this month, Disney added an updated rendering to the land’s construction walls. While some minor details were updated, the main takeaway was that the factory was being pushed even farther back. Again, use the Rise building on the right as a reference.

After CFTOD updated the map, Bioreconstruct snapped pics of Hollywood Studios’ Cast Member parking lot. His photos revealed that crews had already painted the scare/laugh factory perimeter on the asphalt. The yellow lines are most visible in the third image.

Hollywood Studios Cast Member parking lot being prepped for a Monster's, Inc. rollercoaster. Photo by @bioreconstruct. — Photo courtesy of Bioreconstruct

Yellow lines showing where a Monster's, Inc. coaster will be built. Photo by @bioreconstruct. — Photo courtesy of Bioreconstruct

While CFTOD’s map shows the building’s size, Bio’s photos make that size tangible. We calculate it to be over 100,000 square feet. By comparison, Rise of the Resistance is 92,000 square feet. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, Disney World’s largest attraction building, is a whopping 197,000 square feet.

With the scale of both Monstropolis and Galaxy’s Edge, along with their close proximity to one another, Imagineers will be tasked with keeping the two lands separate. Yes, I’m talking about sightlines. While their importance has been overstated recently, they still can’t be ignored. Imagineers could use a large landscaped berm or double-sided facades (Monstropolis and rockwork, respectively) to separate the lands.

So this is exciting, right? Losing Muppet*Vision 3D was a gut punch. But I’m not going to take it out on Mike and Sully. I’m excited for Monstropolis.