NEWS: Attraction to Close to Make Way for New Villains Show Coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Disney has surprised fans by announcing a new Disney Villains show is coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 2025. A relatively new attraction, Lightning McQueen Racer’s Academy, will be closing to make way for the new show. Learn more below.

Here are all the details from Disney Cast Member Joey McElroy:

Deep in the shadows of Sunset Boulevard at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, something delightfully wicked is about to take the stage. It’s an all-new live production starring your favorite Disney Villains – debuting summer 2025!

The creative minds at Disney Live Entertainment will transform Sunset Showcase into the mysterious, reflective realm of the Magic Mirror. The show will feature appearances by dozens of the most infamous evildoers, with fiendish foes Cruella de Vil, Captain Hook and Maleficent each breaking through the glass to take the stage in live production numbers.

Before these villainous fiends take the spotlight at Sunset Showcase, guests should speed on over for another lap around the track at Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy before October 7.

Never ones to shy away from barging in unexpectedly, the Disney Villains’ appearance in this new show comes in addition to the future Villains-themed land announced for Magic Kingdom during D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event. Keep an eye right here on the Disney Parks Blog as we reveal more about this production and other new experiences coming to our parks and cruise ships around the world.

RELATED ARTICLE: Monsters Inc Land Announced with Door Coaster for Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Tonight, during the Horizons: Disney Experiences Showcase at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event,  Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro announced some very exciting plans for Disney’s Hollywood Studios! We admit we were surprised by this announcement, and we’re not the only ones! Learn more below.

Here are all the details from Disney Cast Member Chris Beatty:

It’s laughter they’re after when a brand-new land themed around Disney and Pixar’s “Monsters, Inc.” comes to life at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort.

The news was shared during Horizons: Disney Experiences Showcase at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event. Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro, with a little help from Disney Legend Billy Crystal, took to the stage to reveal plans to build a living, breathing, and not-at-all-scary Monsters-inspired area where you’ll be able to stroll the streets alongside some of your favorite monsters.

Picking up after the events of Pixar Animation Studios’ beloved film, humans have now been invited to visit the world of Monsters, Inc. — and the monsters need laughter to power the city and keep it running smoothly. But it’s not a true visit without the factory itself. You’ll be able to see the sights, hear the laughs and zoom through the building just like James P. Sullivan (a.k.a. Sulley) and Mike Wazowski — via a door!

Yes, a door. If you’ve been dreaming of riding through the door vault since the movie was released in 2001, you’re not alone — Josh has been thinking about this, too.  “The first time I saw Monsters, Inc., all I wanted to do was ride on one of those doors like Mike and Sulley,” he told the crowd. “You’ll go into the factory and experience the first suspended coaster ever in a Disney park. Remember in the movie how those claws grab the doors and hoist them up into the air to take them away? We’re doing that, too. And you’re going along for the ride.”

The coaster will put you right in the middle of the monster action. Just be sure to fill out your paperwork! Roz is always watching…

Work on the project is slated to begin next year, so get ready to ROAR with laughter!

“At Disney Experiences, Imagineers dream, create, design and build these stories into real places. And we have Imagineers in place right now all around the world because everything we’re going to share with you is in active development. Plans are drawn. Dirt is moving. I just want to be clear about this: We are doing everything you’re going to hear tonight.” — Josh D’Amaro