New Details Revealed for the Monsters, Inc. Door Coaster
As we anxiously wait for all the new attractions and experiences coming our way in 2025, it’s always exciting when a bit of news is revealed. It could be new concept art, a new detail that gets revealed (and best of all, opening date announcements!).
Walt Disney Imagineering recently did just that at the 2025 SXSW event. In case you’re not familiar, SXSW (South By SouthWest) is an event that “dedicates itself to helping creative people achieve their goals.” The annual event (which is being held in Austin, Texas) features film and television screenings, exhibitions, tech competitions, awards ceremonies, and much more.
Taking to the stage during The Future of World-Building at Disney panel at SXSW, Pixar Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter and Imagineer Michael Hundgen walked the crowd through the latest updates for the Monsters, Inc. roller coaster coming to the new land of Monstropolis at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
The attraction, first announced at last year’s D23, will bring the world of James P. Sullivan and Mike Wazowski to life with an exhilarating ride through the Door Vault. “Imagineers have been itching to turn that moment into an attraction ever since we saw it for the first time,” Hundgen teased.
While many details about the attraction are still locked up in a laugh canister, Imagineering gave everyone a sneak peek at the load area for the attraction. We already know that the attraction will be Disney’s first-ever suspended roller coaster, but that’s not all! It will also be Disney’s first coaster to feature a vertical lift. Get ready to scream — not out of fright, but fun.
As you can see, once you board your vehicle you will be hoisted into the air (just like in the movie!) to zoom into the door vault. It’s going to be “an experience that’s as memorable and fun as the film,” Hundgen revealed.
“I can tell you that everyone at Pixar is excited about how this is coming together,” Pete Docter (director of Monsters, Inc.) told the crowd. “It really is like a dream come true for us.”
More News From Radiator Springs
The Magic Kingdom will also be welcoming a new Cars-themed land, where you’ll be able to leave Radiator Springs behind and head off into the frontier to put your wheels to the test. As Disney describes it: “Life is an off-road rally race, and Lightning McQueen, Mater, and the rest of the cars from Pixar Animation Studios’ Cars are going to ride it all night long.”
At the same SXSW panel, Docter and Hundgen revealed that Guests will need to strap in because they’re in the process of creating a new type of ride vehicle for this experience.
“Our primary goal is creating an emotional experience for our guests,” Hundgen told the crowd. “For this Cars attraction, we need to invent a new type of ride vehicle. No one builds these in a factory because it has to do so much more than just carrying you from one place to another. We have to create a car that conveys a feeling when you ride in it.”
The team took a trip out to the Arizona desert to jump in a real off-road vehicle to see what it felt like driving over the rocky terrain. These are all things Lightning McQueen and Mater haven’t experienced before, like racing over rocky terrain, ascending to mountain peaks, and dodging around geysers. In order to bring this vision to life, the Imagineering team worked with a motocross company to build a real dirt track to race on so they could collect the data necessary to begin work on creating the vehicles that will bring this exciting concept to life.
As Hudgen explained, “We’re using a customized production vehicle. It has sensors all over it, and we’re taking it for test drives on our dirt track to gather data on how the vehicle responds to different terrain. This is where we turn that feeling we want into real-world engineering,”
That all sounds great, but what will they look like?
That’s where the Pixar team steps in. To the excitement of the audience, Pete Docter shared some early concept sketches of the ride vehicles, teasing that they’re creating “new race car personalities for this attraction. Each vehicle in the ride will have its own name and number, just like a real race.”
As we get closer to the opening dates for these and the other upcoming attractions, stay tuned as Disney releases more updates! In the meantime, why don’t you grab some popcorn and settle in for a double feature of Monsters, Inc. and Cars? All in the name of research you know…
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Immerse yourself in the magic of Disney with features on:
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• Disney Weddings
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• A Look Back at the Living Seas
• Monsters University
• Muppet*Vision 3D
• 10 Things You May Not Know About Carl and Russell from Up
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