Hidden Things and Muppet History at PizzeRizzo in Hollywood Studios

/ themeparkstop We explore hidden references and Muppet homages around the PizzeRizzo restaurant at Disney's Hollywood Studios, plus some of the history of this quick service location and what it was originally designed to be!
While it has gotten a bad rap for its less-than-stellar food offerings, (although I find it to be quite good,) PizzeRizzo in Disney's Hollywood Studios is filled with plenty of fun Muppet references, if you know where to look. It also features nods to what came before it, and what was recently lost nearby.
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Sources and References
Cancelled Muppets Restaurants: www.mainstinsi...
Muppet Studios Concept Art: reimaginingdisn...
Gonzo's Pandemonium Pizza Parlor: muppet.fandom....
Swedish Chef Cooking Footage: • Pöpcørn | Recipes with...
Studio Showcase Props Footage: • Disney MGM Studios lat...
Pizza Planet Footage: • Pizza Planet Arcade at...
Pizza Planet Photo: www.yesterland...
Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas: • Brothers | Emmet Otter...
Streets of America Footage: • Streets of America det...
Big Mean Carl Eats Stuff: • Muppets Tonight Big Me...
Music from KZbin Music Library:
"Morning Stroll" by Josh Kirsch/Media Right Productions
"Swing Theory" by Freedom Trail Studio
"Robot Boogie" by Quincas Moreira
"Trieste" and "Grant & Green" by Josh Lippi & The Overtimers
"Ponies and Balloons" by The Green Orbs
"St. Anne's Reel" by Nat Keefe & Hot Buttered Rum
"How it Began" by Silent Partner
"Arabian Sand" and "Midnight Special" by E's Jammy Jams
#TheMuppets #HollywoodStudios #WaltDisneyWorld

[@ThemeParkStop]

"It's Rat Pizza"

[@AmusementLabs]

Oh no, I must've hit that tRaAaAaAck switch!

[@ThemeParkStop]

@@AmusementLabs WHAAT!? NO!

[@legoagent95]

hmm yes this was clearly a passion project

[@ThemeParkStop]

Yesss!

[@MikeJehmszClassic]

6:40 - The yellow bumper sticker that reads “The Rat Rocks! WRAT” is actually from a real-world radio station in New Jersey. Fits perfectly with the theme!

[@ThemeParkStop]

That’s so perfect! I had no idea.

[@BlueRaz21]

I eat there for breakfast lunch and dinner. I’m heartbroken that the parks are closed. Once they reopen, I’m only going to eat PizzeRizzo for the rest of my life

[@thedevilgoose2482]

Wait are you telling me that this small rat-themed pizza establishment *has lore?*

[@MrAppL-tm5ud]

Yes.

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

The Swedish Chef is my favorite Muppet, it would’ve been cool if they kept his school for the final product

[@JustOutnAbout]

The pizza really isn’t that bad. I have had a lot worse. I agree, a great place on a hot Florida day! ~ Cathy

[@emishiba]

The most Alicia Stella video in existence. Love it.

[@ThemeParkStop]

It was bound to happen eventually... (I will attempt to space out my upcoming DinoLand USA video to be a little later.)

[@johngosbee5574]

This PizzaRizzo "love" is a great example of surprising feelings about the not-so-hidden cool/wondrous stuff about theme parks. Not just Easter Eggs, but finding cool where cool always lived. Due to med condition I had to slow down 5 years ago on my Universal trips with my kids - it forced me to change my speed and how often I had to sit and just "look". Not being too sappy, because in some areas I still can't "see" the hidden cool/wonder.

[@benmalsky9834]

It's so great seeing The Muppets Take Manhattan and Muppets from Space get little references at this restaurant despite Disney not having ownership of those films.

[@SkipperBobsBreakDowns]

That's why I love these videos. I never once noticed the Pa Otter shadows before.

[@dompne33]

Any muppets in the parks is a good thing. I really like pizzarizzo too but am definitely biased

[@nickellfrancis1128]

Alica thanks again for the video i love the rat pizza shop so cool

[@AmusementLabs]

"while it's gotten a bad *_RAT_* ..." rEALLY ALICIA? 🙄

[@ThemeParkStop]

“Gotten a bad *rap*.”

[@AmusementLabs]

@@ThemeParkStop I know I know, but missed pun opportunity...

[@ThemeParkStop]

@@AmusementLabs Facepalm lol so close!

[@Pandahluvr]

My favorite theme: lightly Muppet themed

[@ropedropdisney1700]

This is actually a favorite QS of mine. I love the muppets and the balcony seating on the second floor is nice. Also the meatball sub is actually good. Thank you for this

[@eddunaway6325]

Great video I remember pizza planet they had good pizza

[@colocales5535]

Excellent video! We stopped by there a couple of months ago and I love that area!

[@theboyscout0156]

The one with the rats in the ceiling was actually built. In one of the buildings there’s a seating area with low hanging rafters.

[@ThemeParkStop]

Both of the buildings were built, but they never finished the Muppet elements as the deal fell through. The rafters one opened as Mama Melrose Italian Restaurant instead. Rafters are there, but sadly, no animatronic rats.

[@-Unidentified_Comment-]

It’s pretty sad to see the Muppets side of Hollywood studios and the whole Muppets franchise for that matter slowly dying as a whole. I’m not one to preserve or emotionally attach to big franchises or massive companies but The Muppets has always had a big, strange, felt covered place in my heart and I hate to see interest in this really insane, engaging and heartfelt piece of history slowly disappear. Although things like Muppets Now are being much better received and written then some mess ups in the past ( **cough** **cough** whatever the hell the ABC Muppets show was trying to do) you can notice that it’s still so far out of the social zeitgeist and is beginning to kick the bucket. Attendance rates for Muppets courtyard have been significantly going down, being pretty empty most of the time because...well, there’s nothing really over there besides Muppet vison 3D, imagine if they revive the scrapped idea of The Great Muppet movie Ride where it would be a parody of the great movie ride that stars all of the muppets ruining new and classic movie scenes, it would be a great substitute for all of the people who still miss the great movie ride but still be a new and fit the muppets feel, perfectly emulating that fresh and familiar balance. Things like that I feel would be a great addition to the park and bring a spark to the Muppets property

[@davidleavitt835]

One fact about Al Hirschfeld was how he would put his daughter Nina's name in his drawings, as a nod to her along with how many times her name appears. I didn't get a chance to really see if "Nina" is in any of the Hirschfeld style drawings, but one kinda looked like it did. ♥️♥️♥️

[@nicholash.a.s9495]

Delete all of KZbin except this video. Nothing else matters

[@ThemeParkStop]

Couldn’t agree more. 👍

[@ethanmiller1808]

OH MY GOD I lOVE EMMET OTTER AND I HAD NO IDEA THAT WAS THERE!! thats also kind of sad tho...

[@Viking_Luchador]

damn, I wish Disney showed the Muppets more respect

[@peanutismint]

Good one Alicia!

[@MsDisneylandlover]

loved the muppets

[@eddiekaspbrak4624]

the foods not that great but i really love the little details! that's awesome there's so many :)

[@cherrypotion27]

Hey, the food there can't be as bad as that salad they sold at Disneyland's River Belle Terrace restaurant. They sold a chicken salad that was literally drowned in rosemary to the point that it was practically inedible.

[@tepobori]

You need to do this for more places around Disney and Universal, this was really well done :)

[@ThemeParkStop]

Check out our Hidden Things playlist. We have a few more on there like this, (although, admittedly, this may very well be the one with the most things in it for sure lol).

[@tepobori]

Theme Park Stop I actually have seen a few vids in the playlist, I’ll make sure to check out more !

[@ThemeParkStop]

Let me know if you have any suggestions for a video like this one!

[@tepobori]

Theme Park Stop if you do literally anything about IoA ( the Toon Lagoon section more specifically, it’s my fav spot) I would love it :) I also love anything you put out so there’s that lol

[@The_Dee_Jay]

Great video Alicia, next time I’m at DHS I’m going straight to this place for pizza!* *Assuming I’m desperate and no other food places are open

[@ThemeParkStop]

Aaaaah, haha, you almost got me lol.

[@LaurensTravels]

👏🏻 great job on this video. Love learning about the hidden details and references. 🐀 🍕

[@thewalkingdad68]

THIS!!! Thanks Alicia! 👍👍👍👍👍

[@RandomStuff991]

Never noticed all the theming.

[@MsDisneylandlover]

loved rizzo

[@cNatTravels]

Apparently our voices are very similar - you were talking in the video and Siri thought I was talking to her!

[@ThemeParkStop]

Ha! Next video I’ll have to say something like “Siri, play Never Gonna Give You Up at full volume!”

[@DrewtheDisneyDude]

Fantastic. 🐭

[@mikemoss9559]

5:44 what did they do to flynns arcade?

[@Mike_Vlogs_YT]

Love all the hidden details 🐀

[@TuPyTimeParksAttractions]

Never Been in there due to the Bad reviews but maybe now I will check it out one day . Thanks

[@MsDisneylandlover]

this was good

[@MsDisneylandlover]

i wish this was at disneyland

[@NurseDemars]

Pity that every time I have ever been to WDW, PizzeRizzo is always closed.

[@loserboypro]

I’m sorry y’all are sleeping on pizzerizzo it’s wonderful food

[@edvaira6891]

I’m sorry, Alicia… The food is terrible! If you think otherwise your taste buds are shot! It’s stunk when it was pizza planet and it didn’t get any better!

[@jesserico]

YESSSSSSS!

[@scrambled5948]

Here’s a fun question: if Super Nintendo World becomes a big success, which video game would Disney adapt into a theme park land to jump on the trend?

[@edvaira6891]

Scrambled 59 Umm...KINGDOM HEARTS, maybe!!!!!

[@Viking_Luchador]

@@edvaira6891 yeah, OP really overlooked that one. Tron is also a literal video game world, so maybe the LightCycle coaster could be moved there. And it did eventually get a real world video game version, Tron 2.0 on XBox

[@tedioustotoro4885]

Is there another Epic Universe blueprint? It’s been a while since we got one

[@ThemeParkStop]

There are but they cannot be requested until the permitting office is staffed again. We’ll have to wait until the stay at home order is lifted and people start working in the office and not at home before things can be requested again. I do have some more patents related to Epic Universe to talk about in the meantime though.

[@tedioustotoro4885]

Theme Park Stop oh okay, that’s good

[@bbkangs]

Ian and I will be across the street at Baseline Taphouse 🍺

[@ThemeParkStop]

Bring me back a pretzel!

[@JakeCoasters]

I know this video needed to happen....but....why

[@edvaira6891]

Jake Coasters thank you! The FOOD IS C-R-A-P!!!!!

[@urAnusFighter1]

This will be gone soon... sad disney has disowned the muppets

[@MsDisneylandlover]

i missed disneyland my bday was march 31st n i was suppose to be on vacation there in fact today was my last day to check out of my hotel 4/3. n Disneyland quick serv food is not good like there restaurant food.

[@jayni2088]

😁🍕🍕🍕🍕🍕

[@lucasg1516]

And now imma unsub

[@ThemeParkStop]

Why for?

[@edvaira6891]

Lucas G Seriously?!! She hasn’t earned more love than this?!! Dumping her for ONE LITTLE LAPSE IN JUDGMENT?!! Geez you’re harsh!

[@JeffreyPiatt]

The smart decision Disney made was to move the Muppet studios to the Parks and Experiences group from Studios. The Parks arm has always had better luck with the Muppets then the Studios division.