Walt Disney Imagineering has released a behind-the-scenes video showing off progress on three Walt Disney World projects, including two roller coasters scheduled to reopen at the Orlando theme park next month.
“The dreams of our Imagineers are literally starting to take shape,” Portfolio Executive Creative Producer Michael Fungen said in introducing the “Pardon Our Pixie Dust” segment.
At Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park, the production is being shown in the loading area of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets. Among the props discovered were a statue of Gonzo from the Muppet movies, a rubber ball horn, a rubber chicken, a trombone, feathers, an old-fashioned camera, a giant key, a shirt on a clothesline, a top hat, and a wooden box labeled “The Great Gonzo Weird Stuff.” It looks different from the Aerosmith version of the screaming machine that opened in 1999.
“When we started this project, we never expected to be surrounded by so many feather boas, but here we are,” said Associate Set Decorator Ben Conway.
Conway, who wears a Kermit Head pin on a lanyard in the video, said inspiration for the prop came from VHS tapes of “The Muppet Show.”
“It’s come up in a lot of my research,” he said. “I look for and find these little Easter eggs… What do people care about, what do people want to see in this attraction, who do I want to see here, and what do we bring to life in the story we want to tell?”
The coaster closed for renovations in March and is scheduled to reopen on May 26th. Last weekend, Disney announced five Muppet-inspired songs that will be played during attractions. These include “Love Rollercoaster” and “Born to Be Wild,” as well as celebrity cameos from Neil Patrick Harris and Wayne Brady.
Disney: Opening Day, Muppets Roller Coaster Set Songs
The Imagineering video also features the special effects process used in the concrete areas of Magic Kingdom’s Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Coaster. The steps shown include pouring and leveling the concrete, color curing, cutting the cracks, placing stones on the slab, “crack soil stamps”, and creating imprints on the surface using wagon wheels.
“The final step is to put a donkey print between the wheels of the wagon, so it looks like a donkey is pulling the wagon to and from the mine,” says associate craftsman and sculptor Jave Jones. “It sells the illusion that this is more than just old concrete.”
Big Thunder has been closed since January 2025 and is scheduled to reopen on May 3.
The four-minute video also includes footage of the construction of Lakeshore Lodge, a Disney Vacation Club property built on the site of the former River Country Water Park near Fort Wilderness. The 967-room resort will be located on Bay Lake and is scheduled to open in summer 2027.
Other projects underway at Disney World include Tropical America’s Land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Monsters, Inc. land and two Cars-inspired attractions at Hollywood Studios, and Villains Land at Magic Kingdom.
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