Why Harryhausen’s could become Disney World’s most talked-about new restaurant
One of the most memorable locations in “Monsters, Inc.” is becoming real for us humans. Harryhausen’s, the upscale sushi restaurant where Mike Wazowski takes Celia for her birthday, will become a restaurant inside Monstropolis at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Disney says it will offer a menu unlike anything else at Walt Disney World, accompanied by an impressive sushi chef Audio-Animatronic figure.
As humans enter Monstropolis for H.U.M.A.N. Day, they will encounter multiple moments from the “Mosnters Inc.” movie that have felt like the perfect places to put in a theme park. First, the highly anticipated Monsters, Inc. roller coaster is the landmark attraction, and second is Harryhausen’s, an upscale Japanese-influenced restaurant that erupts in chaos thanks to Boo.
Here is why Harryhausen’s could become an attraction of its own when humans enter Monstropolis beginning in 2027. Harryhausen’s will open before the E-ticket coaster. Disney says parts of Monstropolis will open in 2027 while work continues on the doors coaster. Harryhausen’s, Archie’s Scare Pig Pizza, the Glob Theater show and Scareporium are all part of that initial opening.
Harryhausen’s brings a ‘Monsters, Inc.’ landmark to life
Harryhausen’s appears during Mike and Celia’s romantic dinner in the 2001 Pixar film “Monsters, Inc.” The restaurant is an elegant Monstropolis dining destination filled with aquatic details and unusual dishes prepared for the city’s many varieties of monsters. Mike’s carefully planned evening is interrupted when Sulley arrives with Boo hidden inside a bag.
After Boo escapes, the Child Detection Agency storms the restaurant, places it beneath a containment dome and decontaminates everyone inside. Harryhausen’s becomes the setting for one of the movie’s funniest and most memorable sequences.
It seems like guests will be stepping inside an established location from the story, much like entering the Mos Eisley cantina, which is somewhat represented by Oga’s Cantina at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
Disney may have been teasing Harryhausen’s long before formally announcing it. Concept art released with the original Monstropolis announcement in 2024 included what appeared to be the restaurant’s distinctive eyeball-and-chopsticks exterior decoration.
Disney did not confirm Harryhausen’s at the time, leaving observers to speculate if the recognizable movie location would be an actual restaurant, especially as construction of Monstropolis progressed.
Photo by @bioreconstruct
Harryhausen’s replaces Mama Melrose’s. Disney is transforming the former Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano building. The interior was substantially gutted during construction, although some existing restaurant and kitchen infrastructure may remain.
Harryhausen’s has already influenced one Disney dining experience. Mike & Sulley’s Flavors of Asia aboard the Disney Adventure is a premium restaurant inspired by the movie location, offering four distinct Japanese dining experiences. The Hollywood Studios restaurant goes a step further by carrying the Harryhausen’s name and bringing its multi-tentacled sushi chef to life as an Audio-Animatronics figure.
An Audio-Animatronics sushi chef could steal the show
The restaurant’s most attention-grabbing feature may be its sushi chef. Disney has shared a look inside Harryhausen’s to see a test of an Audio-Animatronics figure working inside the restaurant. Concept art depicts a multi-tentacled chef preparing food at the sushi counter, with several arms reaching across the workspace.
Courtesy of Disney
Animated figures appear inside several Disney World restaurants, but a prominent monster chef preparing sushi could give Harryhausen’s the kind of spectacle normally associated with an attraction.
A menu unlike anything else at Disney World
Disney has not announced any dishes for Harryhausen’s, but its early description from D23 creates substantial expectations.
The company says the restaurant will offer “a menu unlike anything else at Walt Disney World.” It has not confirmed whether the menu will focus entirely on sushi or include a wider selection of seafood, Asian-inspired dishes and creations designed for Monstropolis.
Courtesy of Disney
The restaurant’s name honors a master of monsters
Harryhausen’s also contains a tribute extending beyond the world of Pixar.
The restaurant was named for Ray Harryhausen, the visual-effects pioneer known for bringing monsters and mythological creatures to the screen through stop-motion animation. His work included “Jason and the Argonauts” and the original “Clash of the Titans.”
Naming a Monstropolis restaurant after one of cinema’s great monster-makers was an appropriate tribute in the original movie. Turning that fictional restaurant into a physical Disney World location gives Walt Disney World’s movie-themed theme park another Hollywood tribute.
Archie’s Scare Pig Pizza adds a quick-service option
Harryhausen’s will not be the only place to eat in Monstropolis. Archie’s Scare Pig Pizza will offer quick-service dining inspired by the college culture of “Monsters University.” Disney says the location’s Alumni Club will celebrate top scarers, student clubs and familiar fraternities and sororities from the film.
Disney has not revealed the pizza menu, but the location should provide a faster and likely less expensive alternative to the experience at Harryhausen’s.
Photo by Matt Roseboom
Both restaurants are scheduled to open in 2027 alongside “Welcome to Monstropolis” at the Glob Theater and the Scareporium merchandise shop. Disney has not announced a specific opening date.
The land’s suspended doors coaster will likely draw the longest lines, but Harryhausen’s has several ingredients needed to become a destination of its own: a recognizable movie setting, an ambitious Audio-Animatronics figure and a menu Disney is already describing as unprecedented.
Just hope the evening ends before the CDA crashes dinner.
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