Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Closing for Lengthy Refurbishment at Disney’s Hollywood Studios – Dates, Retheme Coming?

Rock ‘n' Roller Coaster, the popular ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios that takes you on a thrilling high-speed journey aboard a super-stretch limo, will be closing for an extended refurbishment.

The beloved attraction has been experiencing extended downtime recently, and though it recently underwent a lengthy refurbishment in 2023, it seems there is still more to resolve during its upcoming closure. We are surprised to learn that roller coaster is closing again, but these closures can be important for safety and general upkeep.

Keep reading for more details on Rock ‘n' Roller Coaster's refurbishment as well as our speculation on a potential retheming of the roller coaster!

Rock ‘n' Roller Coaster Refurbishment Dates

Rock ‘n' Roller Coaster is closing for a scheduled refurbishment starting January 8, 2024. On the Disney World website, when you go to the attraction's page, you'll see that the last day it's available is January 7, 2024 before it says “No times available” on January 8, 2024:

Currently, no reopening date is marked on the calendar through February 18, 2024 (as far as the Disney World calendar currently goes). That said, we have received word from Disney that the attraction will remain closed until Summer 2024.

The ride closed for a long refurbishment in 2023 to address issues that were causing downtime, but unfortunately, the ride continued to suffer from the same issues that caused the attraction to close last year. Disney also stated that this closure is just for routine maintenance. You can read more on all the current Disney World ride closures here.

There is always a persistent rumor that there will be a Rock ‘n' Roller Coaster retheme for the attraction. Let's dive into what a retheme could look like and where those persistent rumors for these roller coaster changes come from.

Is Rock ‘n' Roller Coaster Getting Rethemed?

A question that has been on the minds of Disney guests for a while is whether Rock ‘n' Roller Coaster will be rethemed, though nothing has officially been announced to indicate if this will happen.

Though it seems likely a big goal of the refurbishment is to do some work on the older attraction to make sure it runs smoothly, there is the possibility that Disney is reevaluating the Aerosmith theming after accusations against Steven Tyler. So far, Disney has made no comments on this or indicated that they were going to switch over the attraction.

It is rumored that ever since the opening of the attraction that Disney has had the ability to remove the Aerosmith branding overnight if any scandal were to arise. Makes sense considering rock bands aren't exactly the most stereotypically scandal-free idea. Kind of the opposite.

It would be interesting to see the direction that Disney goes if they do decide to retheme the attraction. They could retheme it around another band and keep the same story of rushing a group of guests to a musician's concert or change it completely to just utilize the indoor roller coaster for a new story with a completely new overlay.

This could easily have become a location for a Marvel-themed attraction for one of the intellectual properties that Marvel can use in Disney World. Perhaps that ship has sailed now that the Guardians of the Galaxy coaster is opened and so successful at Epcot.

As for which bands could fit into the attraction, I would bet that Disney will not choose another external group when/if they retheme Rock ‘n' Roller Coaster and instead will pick an artist from their owned stories. A Muppets overlay featuring the Muppets Mayhem group was rumored and even given credence by the creator of the Disney Plus show, but it was never announced. It now seems more unlikely now that the show was canceled after just one season. Others close to the project have indicated that the retheme was discussed and highly considered but ultimately has not been announced.

The other names thrown around from this rumor seem to be more wishing and armchair Imagineering than anything that Disney would do today. Some have suggested a Hannah Montana change or Powerline Max from the Goofy Movie. Featuring Max at the front of the parade for Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party is one thing, but adding him and “Eye to Eye” as the main piece of an iconic Disney attraction retheme is another.

The difficulty with retheming Rock ‘n' Roller Coaster is that it would turn into a big project for Walt Disney Imagineering and would eventually be marketed as a new Disney World ride like the upcoming Tiana's Bayou Adventure that is a retheme of Splash Mountain. The marketing for the ride and potential return would have to justify the change to the attraction. With that in mind, it feels far more likely that a much bigger intellectual property from Disney paired with a bigger story change will be the eventual retheme of the attraction. The push to retheme the roller coaster as it in structure with a new band would likely come if there was a reason that Aerosmith needed to be removed.

Whether the popular Disney World roller coaster attraction that is closed temporarily is rethemed or not, we are looking forward to the work done during the refurbishment that will hopefully help it to run more reliably for park guests.

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