A fan’s guide to the best Easter eggs and details in Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets
Inside of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets at Disney’s Hollywood Studios you’ll find countless jokes, details and tributes. There are a LOT of references to Muppet*Vision 3D , the previous Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster with Aerosmith, and Muppet history in general. Wocka Wocka this way to see them all.
Would it really be a Muppets attraction without jokes and hidden gags packed into nearly every corner? ‘Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster starring The Muppets’ is no different. We’re sure there are still a few Easter eggs we haven’t spotted yet, but here’s what we’ve found so far.
These details are one of the things we love about Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster starring The Muppets.
Muppets references in the queue
When you first enter the indoor queue, in the G-Force Records rotunda, you’ll see a “livestream” of The Muppets backstage at the Electric Mayhem concert. The video loop is filled with celebrity cameos, but the coolest one in terms of attraction history is Illeana Douglas helping a stressed-out Kermit the Frog with a “super stretch” to ease his tension. This is a callback to her ordering a limo for the VIPs in the Aerosmith pre-show.
For more celebrity cameos and Muppet antics, you can watch the whole 30 minute loop in the video below:
You’ll then pass by the gallery cases room and be face-to-face with pieces of Muppet history. A tribute to Miss Piggy, a recreation of Kermit’s original banjo from “The Muppet Movie”, and the Electric Mayhem’s instruments. Floyd and Janice’s guitars are originals from “The Muppet Show!”
Leading up to the pre-show, the walls are home to albums and musical projects featuring some of your favorite Muppets.
‘Here Come The Muppets’ was a live stage show at the park starring walk-around iterations of The Muppets running from 1990-1991. It was then replaced by ‘Voyage of the Little Mermaid,’ but it’s really cool to see such a deep cut displayed for the public to appreciate
Photo by Mateo Osorio
Under the G-Force Records logo on the “Here Come The Muppets” album reads GK0624, a reference to the birthday of Geoff Keighley, a longtime collaborator with The Muppets.
Another standout album is by Sam Eagle titled “A Tribute to National Anthems But Mostly America”. This in itself is a tribute to a similar line from Muppet*Vision 3D.
Photo by Mateo Osorio
Details inside the pre-show room
In the pre-show, you might see a different Muppet cameo onscreen each time. So far, I’ve seen Sam Eagle, Gonzo, and Miss Piggy, but I know there’s more!
There are lots of easter eggs surrounding Scooter’s desk. Starting with my favorite, a mug that reads, “Hey! Hey! Hey! #1 Studio Manager”, a reference to the previous pre-show when Aerosmith’s manager walked in on the band late for their show.
Photo by Mateo Osorio
Behind the desk is a Black Les Paul, the same guitar one of the members of Aerosmith asks “Chris” to grab in the previous pre-show.
Photo by Mateo Osorio
“They probably took the job for the halibut”! A wisecrack about the orchestra of penguins that Statler and Waldorf used to laugh about back at Muppet*Vision 3D, but rings true this time around as well. A bucket of ice with fish sits between the penguin audio engineers, referencing their preferred method of payment.
Photo by Mateo Osorio
Not a Muppet easter egg, but there’s a neat Hidden Mickey made out of audio cables to the left of Scooter’s Desk. It’s a bit abstract, but worth a look.
Photo by Mateo Osorio
When Dr. Bunsen Honeydew is factoring traffic conditions before sending the band and the VIPs off to the concert in the L.I.M.O. , Kermit interrupts with, “You’ve got a minute and a half!” This is yet another reference to the same line Kermit yells in Muppet*Vision 3D.
Photo by Mateo Osorio
As you leave the pre-show room, look for a framed picture of Ken Marino who played the sound engineer from the Aerosmith iteration’s pre-show. The plaque below commemorates an “Outstanding Lifetime Achievement”. Ken also appears in one of the queue videos alongside Kermit the Frog.
Photo courtesy of Matt Roseboom
What to look for before you board the ride vehicle
In the alley where the ride launches from is where you’ll find the most Easter eggs. A lot of them have been moved from the Muppet*Vision 3D pre-show, like The Great Gonzo’s crates, plane and banner. The canon the penguins used to fire at the Swedish Chef at the end of Muppet*Vision is also here, along with the Mona Lisa painting for Mama Melrose Restaurante.
Photo courtesy of Disney Parks Blog
Photo courtesy of Matt Roseboom
This billboard, as seen in the background of the photo below, references where Fozzie Bear hides his Studebaker from Doc Hopper in “The Muppet Movie.”
Across the track is a tiny bar for the rats known as “The Squeakeasy”. The club was established in 1936, Jim Henson’s birth year.
Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Imagineering on YouTube
Flyers for Fozzie Bear at the LA Down Under Comedy Club read “Wocka Wocka This Way”. Probably the silliest of the Muppets x Aerosmith references!
Photo courtesy of Matt Roseboom
Pizzerizzo has sent out flyers saying that they are now hiring. This ride must exist in some sort of ideal reality where it’s still open. Next to it are flyers for a missing Muppaphone and an advert for marble doors. The marble doors were staples in the Aerosmith queue, as well as ground zero for all of mankind’s diseases. They have been removed for the Muppet overlay, but live on in spirit in a more sanitary fashion this way!
Photo courtesy of Matt Roseboom
Above those flyers is a missing poster for Bean Bunny. This is a reference to Muppet*Vision 3D when the character Bean Bunny runs away, and the show’s cast along with the audience would search for Bean Bunny. Sweatums would physically come out into the theater to help look, a rare and special moment for a 3-D film.
Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Imagineering on YouTube
On this hot dog cart is a parking violation for a Frank O. Frank Oz is the voice and puppeteer behind Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, and even Yoda! Next to Frank is Jim H. obviously alluding to the genius behind The Muppets, Jim Henson. The other violation slip is for B. Conway, Ben Conway, an Imagineer who worked on the project.
|Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Imagineering on YouTube
On the fire escape above the launch is the missing Muppaphone. Time to claim that reward!
Photo courtesy of Matt Roseboom
The keys under the mat at Gonzo’s Stunt School are a reference to the key under the mat inside of Muppet*Vision 3D. Turning a previous easter egg into a tribute and changing it to be a pun? Genius.
Photo courtesy of Matt Roseboom
At the station where guests load into the L.I.M.O. is a chalkboard with music notes. Those who are musically inclined should play these notes at home. You’ll hear the motif of a “muppetational” tune!
Photo courtesy of Matt Roseboom
Keen-eyed Muppet fans might recognize the shape of this vehicle, but be thrown off by the color. This is the Interpol car from “Muppets Most Wanted”. The test number of 032114 is for the movie’s release date of March 21, 2014.
Photo courtesy of Disney Parks Blog
Seeing The Muppet Mobile Lab here is sad, because it probably means we’ll not see driving around in the parks ever again. Nevertheless, it has found a home at the load station where thousands of guests will be able to appreciate it each day. That’s better than being left in storage!
Photo courtesy of Disney Parks Blog
Right before you board the coaster, there’s a bulletin board of flyers, with the one in the top right making a reference to the “super stretch” from the Aerosmith era.
Photo courtesy of Matt Roseboom
On the ride itself there are lots of blink and you’ll miss it references to all sorts of Muppet history. A World Wide Studios sign, where Kermit goes to get started in Hollywood during the 1979 film, “The Muppet Movie”.
You’ll also whiz past a Pizzerizzo sign and an “obligatory Easter egg” with a silhouette of Waldo C. Graphic from Muppet*Vision 3D.
Details as you exit
After your ride comes to an end, you’ll cruise past Statler and Waldorf who have been unbolted from the seats at Muppet*Vision 3D and installed at the end of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster to hurl one last insult before you get off the ride.
Photo courtesy of Disney Parks Blog
When you unload the L.I.M.O and go to see your ride photo, look back and you’ll see the Muppet portrait of Jim Henson from Muppet*Vision 3D. After closing the last project he ever worked on, I’m glad Walt Disney Imagineering found a home for his legacy to live on
Photo courtesy of Matt Roseboom
To the right of the area where you can view on-ride photos, there are some pretty familiar-looking mops. These mops resemble the members of the Electric Mayhem, circling back on a joke from one of the videos in the queue.
Exiting the ride, look down underneath one of the posters for The Electric Mayhem. You will also see a spotlight that reads “MGM” the previous name of Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
In the gift shop, you can find crates pushed together that read “MV 3 D” referencing Muppet*Vision 3D and a hard hat with “Chuck” written on it. “Chuck” is one of the Muppets who helped raise the logo for Muppet*Vision in the beginning of the pre-show for that attraction (upchuck, hahaha)!
Photo courtesy of Matt Roseboom
Those are some of the most notable Easter eggs in the new Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets! We hope to uncover even more in the coming months, but if you’ve spotted any that we missed, let us know in the comments below!
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