“The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers”, a series follow-up to the famous 90s films, is debuting on Disney+ on March 26, 2021.
The series features the return of Emilio Estevez as Coach Gordon Bombay and stars Brady Noon as 12-year-old Evan Morrow and Lauren Graham as Evan’s mom Alex. When Evan is cut from the Mighty Ducks team, his mom encourages him to start his own. Evan and Alex, with the help of Gordon Bombay, set out to “rediscover the joy of playing just for love of the game.”
The series will be ten episodes and also stars Maxwell Simkins, Swayam Bhatia, Luke Islam, Kiefer O’Reilly, Taegen Burns, Bella Higginbotham, and DJ Watts. Steve Brill, the original creator, writer, and executive producer of “The Mighty Ducks”, is executive producer of the series alongside showrunners Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa. Michael Spiller, Emilio Estevez, Jon Avnet, Jordan Kerner, George Heller, and Brad Petrigala also executive produce. Lauren Graham serves as a co-executive producer, and James Griffiths serves as executive producer and director of the pilot.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Disneyland Resort has been closed since March 2020. With no definite schedule to reopen, Disney Parks announced the suspension of its Annual Pass program earlier this month. A new Annual Pass “membership” program is expected to launch upon the reopening of the resort. However, as the global pandemic is unpredictable and complex, so is the answer to the question of when Disneyland will roll out its new Annual Pass program.
The four factors that will determine the timeline for the program are:
When Disneyland reopens
When COVID-19 vaccines are widely distributed
How quickly the state loosens theme park attendance capacity limits
How long pent-up visitor demand lasts
Disneyland and Disney California Adventure are unlikely to fully operate until the spring or summer under COVID-19 health and safety reopening guidelines issued by the state.
Disneyland and DCA can’t reopen until Orange County reaches the most-restrictive yellow/minimal tier 4 of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s four-tier Blueprint for a Safer Economy— which isn’t expected to happen until spring at the earliest. That makes a reopening date for Disneyland uncertain — and the launch of the new Disneyland membership program even more uncertain.
Disneyland Resort president Ken Potrock hopes to launch the new membership program when Disneyland reopens.
“Our hope is to be ready for this whenever we’re allowed to open. That is our hope,” Potrock said. “It’s hard to pinpoint that because I don’t know what the direction from the state will be. But we are working all hands on deck to develop this as rapidly as we possibly can… The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine offers a light at the end of the tunnel…That will allow us to pick those capacity limitations up faster and faster and fulfill the desire of our fan base to come back to the park.”
The Disneyland Resort is currently being used as a COVID-19 vaccination “Super POD Site” to assist in the large-scale vaccination of Orange County’s residents.
Dennis Speigel, an industry expert with International Theme Park Services, expects there to be tremendous pent-up demand once California theme parks reopen:
“When we return and things reopen it’s going to be like the Roaring ‘20s. The dam is going to break…Everybody is going to be at capacity — Disney, Universal, SeaWorld, Magic Mountain, and Knott’s Berry Farm. They’re all going to be at capacity because we certainly know there are enough people to fill them up.”
Speigel added that ending the old Passholder program will allow Disneyland to add reservation requirements to the new membership program.
Disney has yet to make any follow-up announcements as to when the new Passholder program will launch. However, it was announced today that Disneyland Passholders who had an active pass upon park closure will now be known as “Legacy Passholders.”
In 2019, we learned about “Monsters at Work”, a Monsters, Inc. spinoff series coming to Disney+. The series was originally scheduled to debut in 2020, but like many other projects, was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In an interview with Collider, Billy Crystal gave an update about the series, revealing that he has already recorded several episodes.
“Yeah, we’ve done a bunch [of episodes],” Crystal said. “We’ve been on a break because of the pandemic. But some I was able to do at home and some I was able to do in a very deserted studio out in Burbank. To be the only one on the lot was a little weird. But yeah, we’re progressing. I don’t know when they’re gonna start [being released] but I promise you they’re really good.”
Crystal also shared more details about the show and his experience working on it, saying, “It’s a series. John Goodman and I are Sully and Mike. The show, time-wise, starts six months after ‘Monsters, Inc.’ ended. So now, we’re on the Laugh Floor. We’ve created all of the new, young, great characters with some great voice actors, and John and I are reprising our parts. I tell ya, it’s [been] 20 years [since the release of Monsters, Inc.] and that movie looked amazing 20 years ago. It’s coming up to the 20th anniversary, I believe in September [Editor’s note: Monsters, Inc. will celebrate its 20th anniversary in November]. It’s fantastic looking, it’s hilarious, and we’re having a lot of fun doing it.”
As we learned soon after “Monsters at Work” was announced in 2019, the series will revolve around Tylor Tuskmon voiced by Ben Feldman, a young mechanic with the Monsters, Inc. Facilities Team (MIFT) who dreams of working his way up to the Laugh Floor.
In addition to Crystal, Goodman, and Feldman, the series will star Bob Peterson as Roz, John Ratzenberger as the Yeti, Jennifer Tilly as Celia Mae, Stephen Stanton as Needleman, and Kelly Marie Tran as Val Little.
Collider asked Crystal how long the episodes would be and he said, “Some are full length. Some are half-hour. It’s hard to tell when you’re just reading. But they’re full scripts and it’s a continuing story, so I think it’s really gonna be fun.”
The series is expected to debut on Disney+ this year.
Looking for some Disney magic at your next family breakfast? Why not try this Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Banana French Toast from Disney’s PCH Grill!
If you’re looking for a fun recipe for the whole family to make together, then this yummy breakfast dish might just be the one for you! This Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Banana French Toast is a perfectly sweet way to start your morning and is one of the many dishes that rotate seasonally on the menu at Disney’s PCH Grill at Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel.
This fun French toast will definitely taste like paradise and is one more way for you to create #DisneyMagicMoments with the whole family.
Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Banana, French Toast from Disney’s PCH Grill at Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel
Click here for a print-at-home version of this recipe!
Serves 4
Ingredients:
8 thick slices day-old challah bread
2 ripe bananas
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
6 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup low-fat chocolate milk
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
Chocolate syrup and powdered sugar, optional
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat a 9x13x2-inch baking pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.
Cut bread into 1-inch cubes and place in a large bowl. Slice bananas into 1/2-inch slices, and add to bowl. Stir in chocolate chips.
Combine peanut butter, eggs, chocolate milk, cinnamon, and salt in a blender. Process until smooth.
Pour egg mixture over bread mixture. Stir gently until bread cubes have absorbed egg mixture.
Pour mixture into prepared baking pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until top is golden brown.
Before serving, drizzle with chocolate syrup and dust with powdered sugar, if desired.
Chef’s Note: Challah is traditional Jewish yeast bread, rich with eggs, sweetened with honey that makes the best French toast.
