Welcome to Monstropolis already exists, at least in virtual reality. Walt Disney Imagineering is using VR headsets and Epic Games’ Unreal Engine to build and test the Monsters, Inc. theater show coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, so the team can walk through the whole attraction long before the real one is finished.
NEW: Walt Disney Imagineering is utilizing VR and Epic Games’ Unreal Engine to develop the Welcome to Monstropolis theater show at Hollywood Studios!
— Drew Smith (@DrewDisneyDude) November 10, 2026
Unreal Engine allows Imagineers to previsualize the entire attraction throughout the development process.
Drew Smith shared the new Imagineering video Tuesday morning, and it gives a rare look at how a show gets built on a screen before it gets built in the park.
What The Video Shows
Francesca, a Media and Art Pipeline Developer at Walt Disney Imagineering, walks through the process in the video. At her desk, one screen shows a gray 3D model of the theater interior, and she holds up a VR headset as she talks about being able to step inside the world before it exists.
Show set designers and show mechanical engineers working on the project use the same tools. The video also cuts to concept art of the show’s stage, with Sulley and a crowd of monsters in front of a city skyline, and to the theater’s marquee, which reads “Welcome to Monstropolis” and “A Scarefree Theatrical Extravaganza” under a sign for the Glob Theater.
Walking Through A Theater That Isn’t Built Yet
With the attraction modeled in Unreal Engine, the team can put on a headset and step inside the theater as the work goes on, instead of waiting for the physical sets to go in.
That matters for a theater show, where everything from the stage to the seats has to come together for the audience. It also gives the different teams on the project, from set design to mechanical engineering, the same virtual space to work in.
Where Monstropolis Stands
Welcome to Monstropolis is part of the new Monsters, Inc. land taking over the old Muppets Courtyard area at Hollywood Studios. Work on the land is moving fast, and a fountain is already taking shape just inside the city’s entrance, as we reported when the Monstropolis fountain started taking shape.
The land is also getting a Monsters, Inc. coaster, and the whole land is now expected to open in 2027, with track for the coaster already going in on several levels inside its show building. Until then, the virtual version is the closest anyone can get to sitting in the Glob Theater, and this video is a rare peek inside it.
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