John Malkovich has joined the cast of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s “The Fantastic Four” movie.

John Malkovich Joins ‘The Fantastic Four’

Malkovich has been cast in an undisclosed role. The “First Family” will be portrayed by Pedro Pascal (Mr. Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby (Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn (Human Torch), and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Thing).

The cast also includes Julia Garner as a version of the Silver Surfer and Paul Walter Hauser in an unknown role.

The film is set for release on July 25, 2025.

Marvel has been retooling MCU scripts, in part to minimize the role of Kang the Conquerer following the assault conviction of actor Jonathan Majors. Eric Pearson was hired to polish the script for “The Fantastic Four” before it starts production in London this summer. Marvel has considered making “Fantastic Four” villain Dr. Doom a more major antagonist in the MCU.

Source: Variety

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A Fantasy Springs album including various songs from the new Tokyo DisneySea land will be released in June, as will a CD version of the “Journey to Fantasy Springs” theme song.

Fantasy Springs Music Album

The regular edition of the Fantasy Springs album will feature the ride soundtracks of the land’s four attractions: Peter Pan’s Never Land, Fairy Tinker Bell’s Busy Buggies, Anna and Elsa’s Frozen Journey, and Rapunzel’s Lantern Festival. Another track is the “Fantasy Springs Suite,” which guests will hear when they enter the land through the magic spring. It will also have instrumental versions of “Frozen” and “Frozen II” songs from the Frozen Kingdom area. The digital edition and CD will be released on June 19.

A deluxe edition of the Fantasy Springs album will be released in the fall of 2024. More details will be announced later.

“Journey to Fantasy Springs” will be released on CD on June 19. The CD includes the vocal track and an instrumental version.

Participating stores will offer shoppers a Fantasy Springs album sticker.

Read more about Fantasy Springs, which opens on June 6, 2024.

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Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln at Disneyland will receive a $5 million refurbishment, according to the Orange County Register.

Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln Refurbishment

OCR reported on building permits filed by Disney for the Main Street Opera House attraction. The permits indicate Disney will replace show elements, lighting, audio, and show systems. They will replace an existing platform and install a new turntable. They will also work on the building’s mechanical, electrical, and plumbing elements.

Disneyland officials told OCR they are excited to invest in the classic attraction to keep it looking great. The President Lincoln audio-animatronic “isn’t going anywhere.”

Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln closed for refurbishment on April 16. A reopening date has not been announced. The calendar on the Disneyland website is currently available through June 20 and the show is listed as closed through that date.

The attraction originally debuted at the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair. After the fair, it moved to Disneyland Park.

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If you’re always on the lookout for great Disney World deals, you’ve come to the right place!

We’ve got you covered on all kinds of Disney World deals from airfare to lodging — and now there’s a BRAND-NEW deal that was just announced that could save you a bunch of money during an upcoming Disney World summer vacation!

If you are a teacher or educator, YOU qualify for 20% off Disney Springs Resort Area hotels this summer!

The Disney Springs deal extends to teachers and school support staff and includes B Resort & Spa, DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Orlando, Drury Plaza Hotel Orlando, Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace, Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista, Holiday Inn Orlando Disney Springs, and Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista.

Each of these hotels includes the Disney 30-minute Early Theme Park Entry benefit with a valid Disney Theme Park ticket and theme park reservation (as applicable). Multi-day ticket special offers are available, as well.

They also offer complimentary transportation to and from the parks and a Passport to Savings booklet with Disney Springs discounts.

The deal is available between May 3rd and August 15th, 2024 for travel between May 27th and September 2nd, 2024.

Important to note, some blackout days could apply and rates do not include Resort Service Fees, any daily parking fees, taxes, or gratuities. You can find booking information here.

The proximity to Disney Springs is a major plus (each hotel is within walking distance via a pedestrian sky bridge) and this summer is shaping up to be a big one for Disney World, so we recommend taking advantage of this deal if you can! In the meantime, stay tuned here at DFB for all the latest Disney World news, tips, and more!

Disney Announced 3 NEW Discounts!

Are you a teacher or educator planning on visiting Disney World this summer? Let us know what you’re looking forward to most in the comments below!

The post NEW Disney Springs Hotel Discount Announced first appeared on the disney food blog.

Downtown Disney has been getting quite a bit of an overhaul, including getting MANY new restaurants (oh, yeah, you know we’re excited).

Most recently, three of those new restaurants opened: Paseo, Centrico, and Tiendita, with all three restaurants having menus created by Michelin-starred Chef Carlos Gaytán. Okay, so that has us even MORE stoked. Well, we’ve had a chance to eat at Centrico and Tiendita, but we’re now getting a chance to dine at Paseo.

Atmosphere

Paseo is an authentic Mexican restaurant, so the look inside reflects that, but it also has a modern Californian flare.

You’ll find the space filled with wood textures, leather, greenery, and native Mexican accents.

It’s also filled with light thanks to all the windows, and very spacious. This is not one of those restaurants where you have to worry about bumping elbows with strangers. The restaurant’s colors range from neutrals to cool oranges and blues.

You’ll find booth seating, as well as tables and chairs available.

There is also seating available outside.

We ate outdoors. Note the rattan straw chairs. You’ll also get cloth napkins and utensils at each place setting.

Our table overlooked the related Centrico Bar. Outdoor seating provides a pretty nice view of Downtown Disney.

So let’s talk about the food!

Eats

Although the food here is decidedly Mexican, the menu is inspired by Mexican food but done with a French culinary style. You’ll find ceviches on the menu, along with seafood, as well as Mexican staples like chile relleno, carne asada, and more.

The drinks menu includes a variety of cocktails, margaritas, beer, and wine. You can also order non-alcoholic beverages like horchata, sodas, a sweet Hibiscus tea, and more.

We started with a drink called the Maya-tai, which our server recommended. It’s made with dos hombres mezcal, mandarin syrup, avocado pit orgeat, lime juice, angostura orange bitters, salted guava foam for $18.  Our reporter doesn’t normally like mezcal, but the server said the same, but thought the drink would be a hit with us — and it was. It almost tastes like a margarita, especially with the sweet guava and salt from the foam. The mezcal is barely noticeable — it just offers a smoky taste at the end. The citrus makes this very refreshing and we like the combo of sweet and salty.

For appetizers, we started with the Queso Fundido, made with chorizo & gruyère cheese fondue, wild mushrooms, shallots, garlic, and rosemary and served with roasted masa madre bread for $15. Warning: the madre bread is basically a fancy corn chip. But the dip itself has a light and creamy texture. Plus the flavors blend well, especially when dipping the madre bread into the dip.

The chorizo has a slight kick to it, but it’s not super spicy. We also got hints of the garlic and rosemary flavors, but they were never overpowering. Same goes for the mushrooms and shallots. This just mostly tasted cheesy and a little spicy, and yes, we love that combo.

We also ordered the Yucatán ceviche, made with hamachi, baby cucumbers, fried plantains, mango habanero geleé, and achiote aguachil for $24. Our reporter is not fond of fish, so was a little worried about the hamachi flavors. However, it didn’t taste too fishy plus the other parts of this added some interesting flavors.

The mango habanero geleé adds a nice, sweet, and refreshing, yet slightly spicy, kick to the dish. The dragon fruit under the fish was a nice surprise and added a hint of sweetness to every bite with the fish. The cucumbers had a nice crunch and a nice saltiness that balanced out everything.

For our main entree, we picked the Mama’s Cochinita Pibil made with guerrero-style pork shank, black bean pureé, pickled red onion, habanero salsa, and corn tortillas for $38. This pork was so tender, juicy, and full of flavor. Although it’s served with a steak knife, we didn’t need it — it just fell right off the bone. It was slow-cooked with orange and chili, so you got those hints of sweet and spicy flavors.

The habanero salsa was fresh with just the right amount of mild heat. The black beans in the paste were cooked in fat from the pork, so their flavor blended in with the pork because of that.

However, our favorite part of this entree was the corn tortillas. They were warm and fresh and thicker than the kind of tortillas you get in the store. So basically, the tortillas were sort of like corn tortilla bread. We have ZERO complaints.

Overall, we enjoyed this meal.

Nosh or Not?

You might want to stop by Paseo if…

• You love authentic Mexican-inspired food. Chef Carlos Gaytan created the menu and it certainly features a lot of Mexican staples with great combinations of flavors. If you love Mexican food, you’ll want to eat here.
• You want to enjoy a table service restaurant experience. This restaurant is so chill and we love the vibe. So if you’re wanting to stop for a while and enjoy a meal, here’s your chance. Plus you can sit indoors or outdoors.
• You’re not on a budget. Although this menu is about mid-priced for Downtown Disney, once you add drinks, it could still add up.

Skip Paseo if…

• You don’t like Mexican food or are averse to Mexican spices. The flavors you’ll find here are all inspired by Mexican food and yes, that means that some of the food could be spicier than you would like.
• You want something quick. If you’re just wanting a meal to go, you would probably be better off just picking up some food from Tiendita, which is a counter service spot with a menu also created by Chef Carlos Gaytan.
• You’re on a budget. If you’re looking for cheap, this might not fit into your budget. Fortunately, there are plenty of places in Downtown Disney to eat that cost less.

Overall

Honestly, we can’t fault anything about the meal we had at Paseo. We will warn you that things are a little spicy, but we didn’t think the items we ordered were TOO hot, but we also understand that spiciness is a very subjective thing. However, being able to get authentic Mexican food at a Disney resort is an idea that we love, but we also love that there are now three options, with menus all created by the same chef, that should appeal to just about anyone who’s craving Mexican food.

We’re excited to return to this restaurant to try more at some point, too, so this is not a one-and-done kind of dining experience for us.

Stay tuned to DFB for more.

REVIEW: Can a Michelin-Starred Chef Make GOOD Disney Fast Food? We Found Out!

Have you tried Paseo yet? What did you think? Let us know in the comments!

The post REVIEW: We Have ZERO Complaints About This NEW Disney Restaurant first appeared on the disney food blog.

More scaffolding has come down since our last Tiana’s Bayou Adventure construction update at Disneyland Park.

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure Construction

Last time we checked on the attraction, scaffolding surrounded the Tiana’s Foods water tower. Crews were working on the base of the tower’s barrel.

That scaffolding is now all gone. The water tower features the Tiana’s Foods logo and a topper resembling Tiana’s lily flower tiara. The company is a fictional co-op founded by Tiana after the events of “The Princess and the Frog.”

There’s still scaffolding around some of the fake trees and millhouse. The mill’s roofing was removed, revealing black sheathing. There seem to have not been any major changes to the building in the past week.

White and pink flowers cover the dome of the former mountain. In the story of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, it’s an old salt mine that Tiana’s Foods has taken over. The opening of the ride’s drop doesn’t feature any props, but the Florida version of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure — which is a few months ahead in construction — has colorful bottle lanterns visible.

Crews are still adding more foliage to the cliffs of the facade, making it more and more green.

Vines wind up the legs of the water tower and the supports of the elevated track.

While significant testing of the attraction hasn’t begun, we could see signs that crews have run water through the flume.

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will open this summer at Magic Kingdom but “later” in the year at Disneyland.

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