NEW Permit Could Hint at Changes for a Hollywood Studios Attraction

Disney doesn’t share ALL of their secrets right away, but we may have just discovered some CLUES to future changes in one park.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Over at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, a reimagined Pixar Place will be reopening soon, construction is still ongoing in part of Toy Story Land, and Roundup Rodeo BBQ has opened. But 2 permits we spotted recently could clue us into further changes.

We’re constantly searching through the permits Disney has filed to see what they might indicate for the future. What we look at are technically called Notices of Commencement. These typically indicate that work on the designated projects could start soon.

A number of permits involving Disney have been filed over the past few days, but 2 stuck out to us. One is for “general construction,” which doesn’t tell us much in terms of what will be going on. But the address tied to this “general construction” is 775 Stage Lane.

Hollywood Studios

According to some mapping software, that lines up with a building termed “Post Production Little Mermaid” in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It seems to include the entire building that housed the (currently closed) Voyage of the Little Mermaid show as well as the Walt Disney Presents area.

©ArcGIS

Voyage of the Little Mermaid has been closed for YEARS now after never having reopened after the pandemic-related closures. The permit only lists the general address so it’s possible that the work being done here will be on the Little Mermaid show side OR the Walt Disney Presents side.

We do know that a live-action Little Mermaid meet-and-greet is coming to the Walt Disney Presents space this summer, so perhaps this permit is tied to that? Or it could be tied to changes being made in the Little Mermaid show that maybe, perhaps, possibly ONE DAY could lead to something finally being available in there.

Voyage of the Little Mermaid

What’s interesting is that the contractor listed on this permit is Bungalow Scenic Studios. According to their website, they are “capable of handling every aspect of design, project management, fabrication, delivery, and install necessary to bring your project to life.”

They indicate that their work has to deal mainly with scenic design, carpentry, metal fabrication, fiberglass, lighting, sculpting, CNC routing, 3D printing, and scenic painting. See anything in the images below that looks familiar? That’s the Donald’s Dino-Bash sign from Animal Kingdom!

©Bungalow Scenic Studios

They indicate that they can bring “branding and iconography to life in creative and vibrant fabrications.” And they’ve worked on a number of other projects for Disney.

Some of those appear to include “The Link” meet-and-greet area for Vanellope in EPCOT, along with other meet-and-greet spaces. So maybe their work will be more tied to the live-action Little Mermaid meet-and-greet after all and some of the set-up in that space.

©Bungalow Scenic Studios

Another permit was also filed for this same building. That one is again for “general construction” but is tied to MMR Constructors, Inc. as the contractor and specifically has an expiration date of May 1st, 2024 (the previous permit will automatically expire in 1 year from the date it was recorded — May 9th, 2023).

MMR Constructors appears to be a company focused on electrical services, as well as technical services, telecom, power engineering, and maintenance, among other things.

Walt Disney Presents

Ultimately, only time will tell what work these contractors are doing in front of or behind the scenes in this area. But considering the fact that Bungalow Scenic Studios has done some meet-and-greet area design work for Disney in the past, that could be a good indication of where this is headed. We’ll be sure to keep a close eye out for any updates and let you know what we find.