Walt Disney World has teased an announcement of the opening date and full setlist of music for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets, revealing the first song and a countdown clock! Here’s the latest, including our predictions in terms of when the ride will reopen, bands it’ll feature, and more.
As basic background, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster will soon embark on a Muppets takeover featuring Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and more of their friends. The Muppets are in the process of moving right along to Sunset Boulevard, teaming up with some of music’s biggest stars for a rockin’ music festival.
Walt Disney World has really been pulling the curtain back on Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets. We’ve learned about the courtyard, backstory, music, Audio Animatronics, and pre-show stage-setting scene.
Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets is expected to be one of the higher profile attraction openings of 2026. That’s definitely true for Walt Disney World and/or Muppets diehards, especially since this ride reimagining was basically an olive branch to fans following the closure of MuppetVision 3D.
While I would personally prefer to have kept that iconic show and gotten a different retheme of RnRC, I’ll take the olive branch that is a new twist on Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster (as opposed to the actual alternative: no Muppets at WDW at all), and am very optimistic for what I understand to be a labor of love by Imagineering. I’m so looking forward to it, in fact, that it ranks #1 on our list of Rankings & Opening Dates for Disney World’s 14 New Summer Announcements!
Just last month, Walt Disney World announced opening dates, deals, and other updates for Summer 2026. Only a couple of attractions mentioned on that press release didn’t get specific reopening dates: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets, which instead got ‘stay tuned’ teases.
Fast-forward another month, and Walt Disney World revealed the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Opening Date & Rule Change Details last Wednesday. In case you missed it, that refreshed ride will return to Magic Kingdom on May 3, 2026; BTMRR has recently kicked testing into high gear, suggesting we might see soft openings before the end of this month.
Now, Walt Disney World has posted a countdown clock for a reopening date and musical setlist announcement for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets, which will come bright and early on Thursday, April 16, 2026.
So, when will Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets open? As we reported last month, there have been a lot of rumors swirling, suggesting that the project has been fast-tracked and the aim is to open around Memorial Day weekend if at all possible. While we cannot independently corroborate these, they’re not the least bit surprising to us.
In fact, we’ve been saying for months that this project is probably on a tight timeline with the goal to reopen ASAP. The single biggest ‘data point’ happened months ago when Walt Disney World Quietly Closed the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith Pre-show. The pre-show was walled-off in late November so that Imagineering could get a headstart on reimagining the ride. In the months between then and its permanent closure, RnRC did not have a pre-show.
Shuttering the pre-show allowed Imagineering the opportunity to start work on the new Muppets takeover of the fan-favorite thrill ride ahead of everything else. With the pre-show walled-off, Disney was able to operate the attraction during the transformation. That move alone strongly signaled that Walt Disney World wanted to minimize downtime of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster to the greatest degree possible.
As we’ve been speculating for months, Imagineering likely indicated how long the reimagining would take and Walt Disney World has a date by which they want Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets to open. The two then worked backwards from that to figure out a tight timeline missing as few major tourist timeframes as possible to determine a closing date for the Aerosmith version.
The deliberate decision to take Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster down ahead of the busy Spring Break season said to me that the target was not the midway point of summer, but the beginning. Walt Disney World not waiting for Easter to pass before taking RnRC offline, at which point there would’ve been smooth-sailing crowds wise for 6 full months, says it all. (And in fact, DHS was rough during the peak weeks of Spring Break without it. I experienced my first 9/10 and 10/10 crowd days there in a while!)
There’s also visible progress, which has happened fast since the ride closed for reimagining. The upside-down super-stretch limo over the archway has been quickly and completely repainted in the psychedelic color scheme of the Electric Mayhem band. Presumably, similar progress has been made on the guitar itself that’s outside the entrance but concealed by scrims.
The substance of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster will not materially change for the most part, so a speedy turnaround is entirely feasible. The roller coaster track and layout are going to remain unchanged inside the current gravity building.
Aside from cosmetically, the ride vehicles are not changing. It’s also likely that the load area, launch, and unload will likely look somewhat similar when all is said and done. Work was done during two lengthy refurbishments in 2023 and 2024 to extend the life of the coaster and ride system.
Imagineering has created story contrivances that offer considerable overlap with Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, allowing for a lot of RnRC to remain unchanged. It’s possible that the current props in the ride-through don’t change all that much, or are perhaps have a bit of “Muppetization” added on top of what’s already there.
The biggest changes will occur in the queue and pre-show. My guess is that a lot of the props inside the attraction have been hauled over from MuppetVision 3D, and will fill a similar role they did in that attraction’s pre-show. Fan service to MV3D seems like the easy and obvious approach.
Swapping out of posters and other stuff in the queue to be particularly time-consuming. In all likelihood, what’s dictating the reopening date is likely the pre-show, which is what Imagineering started on first. Everything else could be finished or close to it by this point.
The fact that Walt Disney World plans on announcing a reopening date for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets on April 16, 2026 says to me that date is in the next two months.
Since this project is on a tight, race against the clock timeline, it would be premature to reveal a July or August date at this point. If the reimagining were going to take that long, there simply wouldn’t be sufficient certainty to reveal a more distant date yet. (That is, unless they were being conservative and planned on a lot of previews or soft openings, but this is inconsistent with past precedent for the last several years on projects like this.)
Given all of that, the most plausible official reopening date for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets is May 26, 2026, alongside everything else at the start of Cool Kids’ Summer. (Even though this ride is technically just for the kids at heart, or bigger kids.) Walt Disney World’s actions to date pretty clearly demonstrate a target date that’s sooner rather than later.
May 26, 2026 was our prediction previously for the reopening date of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets, and this announcement makes us only double-down on it.
If anything, that date being more than one month into the future makes me question whether the reopening date will actually be earlier than Memorial Day weekend. Again, this is a tight turnaround and basically a race against the clock, meaning Walt Disney World would have less certainty about when it’ll be done if that timeline were to be farther into the future. Unless it actually is not that far, and they’re playing it conservatively with the official date.
Speculating a bit further, I wouldn’t be surprised if the target is earlier than Memorial Day, with Walt Disney World wanting soft openings or AP and DVC previews during shoulder season. If it’s ready to roll by early to mid-May, I’d expect affiliation previews. If it’s closer to May 22, 2026, soft openings are probably more likely. That’s the date that the new Mandalorian and Baby Yoda mission debut for Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run; I wouldn’t be surprised if RnRC also reopens in time for that.
Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets Music: A Set List Tease
Walt Disney World has also teased the “killer set list,” sharing that music takes center stage with Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets, and revealing that they’re pulling back the curtain one track at a time. Here’s the announcement:
Today’s Track
- Song 2 – The Electric Mayhem
This song is one of the tracks guests will hear as they blast through the attraction when it opens, helping shape the rock-charged concert experience from launch to finish.
Stay tuned! More songs will be revealed soon, all leading up to a major announcement on April 16, 2026.
Walt Disney World previously announced (and reiterated again in this release) that throughout the ride, you’ll hear the Electric Mayhem playing some of the most iconic, rockin’ hits in your ears to keep the music and adrenaline pumping.
Note that it says “the” rockin’ hits as opposed to “their” rockin’ hits, suggesting Electric Mayhem will play covers of hits.
This is seemingly reinforced by today’s announcement, although there’s a bit of ambiguity. It’s possible that one of Electric Mayhem’s hits is going to be the second song (“Song 2”) on the playlist.
More likely is that this is meant to mean an Electric Mayhem cover of Blur’s “Song 2.” This is the second song on the eponymous fifth studio album by the English rock band Blur.
“Song 2” was released by Blur in April 1997, and was intended to be a parody of the grunge genre or of radio hits and the music industry with a punk rock chorus. It features “woo-hoo” and “yeah, yeah” lyrics, and it’s ~2 minute duration makes it a good fit for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.
Some fans have been expecting “Rainbow Connection” and a bunch of other Muppets music on Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, but my expectation was always that the on-ride portion was going to offer a “story excuse” to play a variety of covers of popular or catchy songs. One of the great strengths of Cosmic Rewind is its crowd-pleasing music, and we fully expect Disney to replicate that recipe with Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets.
As far as predictions for future songs on the setlist, I haven’t the slightest idea. Going with a song from 1997 was an interesting choice, as that’s newer than any of the classic rock featured in Cosmic Rewind. Although it breaks my millennial heart to say this, 1997 is also classic rock at this point. All of the songs I think of as “contemporary” music from my younger years are now oldies.
Since Cosmic Rewind already occupies the real classic rock role, it might make sense to feature music from the mid-to-late 1990s and 2000s on Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. This isn’t really the era that I associate with the Muppets, but it nevertheless makes sense–especially as millennials are now a dominant demographic–to focus on those bands instead of ones from the 1970s or 80s.
So perhaps we get Dave Matthews Band, Blink 182, No Doubt, Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, Metallica, Offspring, Barenaked Ladies, Sublime, Rage Against the Machine, Everclear, even perhaps a nod to the past with Aerosmith?!
I’m not averse to covers from any of those bands. I’m also not against Disney casting a wider net, digging deeper into the past and up to the present.
I’d love to hear Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” in Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster (that tops my personal wishlist), with the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, and Queen (long-rumored as a potential Aerosmith replacement) also being obvious picks. My all-time favorite musician is Bob Dylan, but I’m not sure how his music, even as a cover, would translate to RnRC. Ditto Fleetwood Mac, which is enjoying a resurgence in popularity right now as old music has been climbing the charts.
I also wouldn’t mind something to appease and attract younger generations. A cover of Sabrina Carpenter would seem to make sense given her association with the Muppets, and music like hers or Taylor Swift would help the ride with a younger demo (although I’m not sure how much they’d appreciate covers).
I can’t give other examples of what’s currently popular; those are pretty much the only two I know who could conceivably work. (Honorable mention to Noah Kahan; it’d be amusing to hear Electric Mayhem jamming about how much they love Vermont.)
Ultimately, we’re cautiously optimistic about Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets–as evidenced by that #1 ranking on our hype list. There are hardcore Muppets fans in Walt Disney Imagineering who fought for this project in the first place, and will likewise work tirelessly to ensure the reimagining is well-done, reusing elements from MuppetVision that would otherwise be discarded, and having as much unique Muppets humor as possible.
I can’t wait to see how Imagineers pull off this ride reimagining, even if it’ll never fully replace MuppetVision. Then again, maybe it won’t have to…if they do such a good job that this leads to a future Muppets Courtyard in this area, we could end up with a windfall and the start of a bona fide Muppet renaissance!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What’s your predicted Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets debut date? Predictions for the playlist? Think we’ll get mostly 1990s and 2000s music, or a wider variety of tracks from the 1970s to today? Are you excited for Muppets makeover? Do you agree or disagree with our assessments? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!