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Good afternoon, everyone! Today I want to discuss some Disney news that came out to be pretty interesting. So, let’s get started, shall we?! So, Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort announced on Aug. 2 that the parks will be rolling out dining reservation enhancements to “simplify planning and make the guest experience more convenient so guests can spend more time enjoying their visits.” The Disney dining experience is about to become more pleasant for theme park attendees. In the coming weeks, the Walt Disney World and Disneyland websites and mobile apps will show guests all reservations slots that are available to them for their selected restaurant or dining location. Currently, people can only see a few available slots that fit their selected timeframe. Additionally, reservations will be sorted by meal period so that guests can see which menu is being served during the time of their reservation. Once on the updated version, when they pick a time like 4 p.m. they will see if either lunch or dinner is being provided. And that’s not all. Made reservation but need to cancel last minute? Disneyland and Disney World recently expanded the window to cancel dining reservations from 24 hours before the scheduled reservation to two hours before the reserved time at most locations for greater flexibility. They also improved mobile ordering service to “to make it easier to find available and nearby dining options.” This latest news comes months after Disney World resort in Florida was bringing back the Disney Quick Service Dining Plan and the Disney Dining Plan on Jan. 9, 2024. The blog also outlined four other updates that would be happening in 2024, including theme park reservation requirements for date-based tickets be a thing of the past and a simpler Genie+ experience. Well, I’m sure that Disney fans are really happy to see this change coming as some of them have been frustrated about trying to book dining reservations at the restaurants. I think that Walt Disney World and Disneyland are trying to get more people to come visit the parks and keep them happy. So, it should make people feel better about the dining reservations.

Onto the news of Steakhouse 55… We all know that the restaurant has been closed for a long time since the pandemic came into play. Now, the restaurant sign has been officially removed. Only a small hallway to the right of the curtain remains open, and serves as a path to backstage for Cast Members. The Disneyland Resort has announced that they are going to be turning the restaurant into a flexible lounge space. The sign, which was once located where this curtain stands now, has also been removed. This marks the beginning of construction on what will become a flexible lounge space. Disney had recently announced the former restaurant’s transition into lounge space, which will sometimes operate as an extension of a seasonal bar. Steakhouse 55 has been closed since 2020, when it was initially shuttered due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Disney announced the restaurant’s permanent closure with a statement in the summer of 2021, stating: “At this time, there are no plans to reopen Steakhouse 55 at the Disneyland Hotel. We are exploring options for this location and will update you when we have news to share.” Construction curtains went up in front of the restaurant in January of this year. I’m a bit bummed to see it go because I loved the restaurant. I loved their medium well steak, French fries, and the Mac & Cheese. These things tasted so good! So, I hope the flexible lounge space is just as good as the restaurant. I think the lounge space can become a restaurant eventually and they want people to get some great experience. Nevertheless, I think that it will be great when it opens up to the public.

So, what do you guys think about the dining reservation changes and the Steakhouse 55 change?! I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions down below!

Stay tuned for Disney updates.

The post Disney Dining Reservation Updates and Steakhouse 55 News appeared first on The Nerd Element.

BGN interviews filmmaker Amy Redford about her latest feature What Comes Around.

A young love affair becomes a menacing game of cat and mouse where nothing is what it seems in this immersive thriller.

Interviewer: Jamie Broadnax

Video Editor: Jamie Broadnax

What Comes Around arrives in theaters this Friday August 4th.

A television network competition offer was needed to help revitalize an entrepreneur’s fledging business.

According to Scripps News, AJ Sankofa, a New Jersey chef, was notified via his Instagram account about The Great Food Truck Race competition. The Food Network asked him if he and his company ESO Artisanal Pasta would like to audition for a spot on the show. The rest, as they say, is history.

That opportunity helped the business in a way that can only be measured by including Sankofa and his company in the competition. He and his wife, Kristin Gambarian, appeared on the 15th season of the show in 2022, and it was the spark they needed to stay on level ground.

After being invited to audition and surviving through several rounds, their team, which included their friend Matt McFadden, was accepted into the competition. The trio was given their own food truck to go up against other teams of chefs in the competition. None of them had experienced working within the confines of a food truck, so they learned as they went about the competition. Until then, they didn’t realize that it isn’t as easy to fix artisanal pasta in a tight space. ESO was the first team to serve pasta on The Great Food Truck Race.

After being flown to California and competing between February 2022 and April 2022, the team came in third place in the competition, and from there, business took off!

ESO Artisanal Pasta can be found on a side street in Morristown, New Jersey. The shop is only open two days a week, on Fridays and Saturdays. This is due to the couple cooking and hosting parties throughout the week. They rent out a commercial kitchen at a restaurant 45 minutes away to make their products. They also make their money doing private parties as well.

Appearing on The Great Food Truck Race has helped their online business. Their customers and fans of the show can order home kit pasta that sells in the $150 range so they can serve an artisanal meal at home.

Now that business has picked up, and they are doing well, Sankofa and Gambarian plan to save to buy a home and open their own restaurant business.

On the heels of Barbie and the impending Mattel Cinematic Universe, another major company is getting into the entertainment business. Crayola, known for producing top-tier art and school supplies, is launching Crayola Studios to make content for kids and families. Once again, this is news that wasn’t on our BINGO card. As Deadline reports, Crayola is teaming with MIMO Studios to develop its first project, The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian.

The series will be based on a Gen-Z Media podcast by Jonathan Messinger about an 8-year-old boy on a space station. He goes with his friends to explore new planets and help aliens. So, unlike Barbie, Crayola Studios content will actually be for kids of all ages. But, as we all know, a lot of kid content usually has some nuggets thrown in there for adults. Crayola Studios will partner with IP owners, animation studios, and other production companies for future offerings. 

“Crayola is synonymous with kids and color and we are so excited to collaborate with them to bring these beloved journeys to life through world-class animation and artistry” said Zarghami, MIMO Studios leader and former Nickelodeon chief. “We have been cultivating The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian since we first identified it and immediately saw the great potential and opportunity to tell rich stories in video the way Gen-Z Media did in the podcast. The combination of great characters, creativity, adventure, and information is something we can’t wait to bring to audiences worldwide.”

So there you have it. There will be a Mattel Cinematic Universe and maybe a Crayola TV series and film empire too. The crayon makers may not have Wishbone and other cool icons, but maybe we can get a box of crayons on an adventure. I’d watch it. The 2020s continues to be a wild decade.

The post Crayola Is Making TV Shows and Films appeared first on Nerdist.