Disney Has Filed a Permit For the Demolition of the Stage 1 Company Store
Last January, Muppet fans got the news that they had long been dreading, when Disney announced that Muppet*Vision 3D and the rest of Muppet Courtyard would close at Disney’s Hollywood Studios to make way for the new Monstropolis land.
A staple of the Studios since it opened in 1991, Muppet Courtyard was one of the last locales the embedded the spirit of the Disney-MGM Studios. For a park bereft of any opening-day attractions, Muppet*Vision and the surrounding stores and restaurants felt essential to the makeup of the Walt Disney World theme park.
Muppets Courtyard
Prior to the closure of Muppet*Vision, however, Disney made numerous decisions that seemed to indicate that the land was not long for this world.
Stage 1 Company Store Has Been Closed For Years
The first was the introduction of Grand Avenue and its modern San Francisco theme. The second was the closure of the Stage 1 Company Store.
Photo: Pinterest
For those who don’t know, Stage 1 Company Store was the ultimate shop for Muppet fans. Stocked with Muppet souvenirs and intricately themed, it was the kind of store that Disney was once famous for.
Unfortunately, after the COVID-19 pandemic, Stage 1 Company Store remained closed. Slowly, many of the Muppet flourishes that adorned the buildng were also stripped away.
Stage 1 Company Store
With Muppet Courtyard in its final days, the bell has finally tolled for the shop.
Disney Has Filed a Permit to Demolish the Store
Today, Walt Disney Imagineering filed a Notice of Commencement calling for the demolition of the beloved shop.
The permit assigns the work to PLC Construction Services and includes demolition, infrastructure preparation, and utility modification.
Photo: Muppets Wiki
By the look of things, Stage 1 will be the first structure to go when the demolition of Muppet Courtyard begins.
