The Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster: a pretty good ride! Located within the Hollywood Studios theme park, the coaster is one of the more exciting experiences one can have at Disney World in Orlando, shooting you off at high speed right away and sending you careening upside down. Until recently, that experience involved Aerosmith. Not anymore.
Disney World fan accounts are reporting that all Aerosmith branding, which has been part of the attraction since its launch in 1999, has been removed without notice. Some of those accounts are pretty upset about it, too — such as Hallie Jones, who writes on her Disney World tourism-themed Instagram account @itallstartedwithamouse138, “Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster is still rockin’, but saying goodbye to the Aerosmith pre-show hurts. Walking into a blank wall instead of that chaotic “backstage” studio, with no warning at all, felt like a little piece of Hollywood Studios history just vanished overnight.” A distraught @disneyfoodblog posts, “This ride pre-show was an all-time classic, from the black Les Paul guitar, to the suuuper stretch limo, to those infamous backstage passes…but as of today the show is NO MORE.”
This was not a total surprise. Over a year ago, news broke that Disney would be phasing out Aerosmith in favor of a Muppets theme as the existing Muppet*Vision 3D show was replaced by a new Monsters Inc. area. The change is now underway, and the abrupt nature of the change, precluding any opportunity to say goodbye, seems to be the cause of people’s consternation. According to WDW News Today, “The recording studio is now walled off from guests with a series of G-Force records logos. Once the doors to the preshow open, guests now walk straight through to the loading area of the ride without waiting.”
Previously, a video message with a greeting from Aerosmith was played while riders waited. According to People, “The pre-recorded show took guests behind the scenes of an Aerosmith recording session. The presentation featured band front-man Steven Tyler, guitarists Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton, Brad Whitford and drummer Joey Kramer as they jam out to a track in the control room. The video even included cameos by a young Ken Marino, playing a sound engineer, and Illeana Douglas, who appears as Aerosmith’s manager.” The greeting video was edited in 2016 to remove Steven Tyler’s “shocker” hand gesture after 17 years.
Disney confirmed to People that the giant guitar outside the coaster will remain but will get a “revamp.” The Muppets version of the ride is set to open this coming summer.
Apparently Disney didn’t get the memo that Aerosmith are the hottest rock band on the charts right now.
