And so it starts… with the walls at least. Walls are now up around Pizza Planet, which is undergoing a lengthy refurbishment and will reopen on November 7th (as of this writing).
The walls are actually quite fun (as far as walls go) and have a tone much more in line with Muppets than Toy Story, but more on that in a bit.
We can also see that the second floor is behind tarps.
In addition to these walls, the former Meet and Greet areas for Phineas & Ferb as well as Cars characters are now walled off permanently. This area will become part of the new Star Wars Land or Toy Story Land, along with most of this part of the park.
The Premier Theater is also walled off as well.
Why this matters
Hollywood Studios, as we know it, is changing. April 2nd marks the last day for many of these areas, and the beginning of construction for Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land.
While the building Pizza Planet is in will eventually reopen, it could be to a completely different theme. According to the latest rumors, Toy Story Land will be located in what are now backstage areas behind Toy Story Midway Mania. Pizza Planet on this side of the park wouldn’t make much sense. Maybe it will reopen as a Muppet’s themed eatery?
2016 will be the year of the demolition at Hollywood Studios. It will be interesting to see what Disney does to try and rationalize current ticket prices while closing 1/6th of the park April 2nd.
So out of the roughly 61 acres of current guest areas, we're losing 10 acres (or 1/6) of the park size April 2nd pic.twitter.com/UFKzRC2Vnk
— BlogMickey.com (@Blog_Mickey) January 16, 2016