The Bear Serves Its Final Course and Disney's Week Gets Spicy

The Bear Gets Its Last Seating: Final Season Premieres June 25

FX's The Bear, the Emmy-winning series that turned kitchen chaos into prestige television, will premiere its fifth and final season on Thursday, June 25 at 9 p.m. ET on FX and Hulu, with all eight episodes available to stream at debut. The Walt Disney Company confirmed the news this week, adding that the season will also be available internationally on Disney+.

The announcement landed alongside a genuine surprise. A flashback episode titled "Gary," co-written by and starring Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Jon Bernthal, dropped without warning on Hulu and Disney+. According to The Walt Disney Company, the episode follows Richie and Mikey on a work trip to Gary, Indiana, and fans can find it now by searching for the title on either platform.

The final season picks up the morning after Sydney, Richie, and Natalie discover that Carmy has quit the food industry, leaving the restaurant to them. With no money, the threat of a sale, and a torrential storm bearing down, the new partners must band together with the rest of the team to pull off one last service, hoping to finally earn a Michelin star. The Walt Disney Company's synopsis frames the season's thesis plainly: "They learn that what makes a restaurant 'perfect' might be the people rather than the food."

The half-hour series also stars Lionel Boyce, Liza Colon-Zayas, and Matty Matheson, with Ricky Staffieri, Oliver Platt, Will Poulter, and Jamie Lee Curtis in recurring roles. The FX premiere will include the first two episodes followed by one new episode airing weekly. All previous seasons are streaming now on Hulu in the U.S. and Disney+ internationally.

For the millions who have followed Carmy Berzatto's journey from grief to ambition to something like grace, this is the farewell season. Eight episodes. One last service. The pass is hot.

The Parks

The Muppets are about to take Hollywood Studios. Attractions Magazine reports that the new Muppets coaster at Disney's Hollywood Studios is nearing completion, with updated exterior artwork, a colorful redesigned guitar, and hidden references for longtime fans now visible ahead of the attraction's opening later this month. Meanwhile, WDW News Today notes that an attraction poster and a Rock Around the Shop sign have been added to Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets, two finishing touches that signal just how close this thing is to welcoming its first guests. For anyone who loved the original coaster and anyone who loves the Muppets, a Venn diagram that is nearly a circle, the details trickling out suggest Imagineering has threaded the needle between honoring the attraction's legacy and giving it a distinctly Muppet sensibility.

Over at Magic Kingdom on Wednesday, the day was operationally turbulent. Lightning Brain's daily park report logged a crowd level of 6/10 (Average), but the numbers told a rougher story on the ground. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad went down three times, including a 167-minute closure from 5:17 to 8:04 PM that wiped out most of the evening for anyone planning to ride it. Mad Tea Party closed at 11:35 AM and never reopened, a 550-minute outage. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh added to the Fantasyland frustration with three separate closures. Hollywood Studios, by contrast, came in at a comfortable 4/10 (Moderate), and EPCOT held steady at 5/10 (Average). For guests who were flexible enough to pivot parks midday, the difference in experience was significant.

Planning your Disney trip? Download Lightning Brain from the App Store or visit lightningbrain.app to optimize every minute of your park day.

Autopia at Disneyland is going electric. MickeyBlog reports that Disneyland has reached an agreement with the California Air Resources Board to retire the current gas engines by 2027. Disney Tourist Blog confirms the timeline, noting that the opening day attraction will be electrified at some point in 2027. The Orange County Register, as cited by MickeyBlog, is the source of the regulatory agreement detail. Disneyland is currently working on designing, engineering, and testing a fully electric ride vehicle prototype. The move marks another step toward Disney's goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2030. MickeyBlog notes there is no indication that Disneyland's changes will affect the gas-powered vehicles at Tomorrowland Speedway at Magic Kingdom.

At Disney's Animal Kingdom, Disney Parks Blog published a full food expedition guide, spotlighting the park's increasingly ambitious culinary lineup. The guide highlights everything from the Coconut-flavored Iced Coffee at Kusafiri Coffee Shop and Bakery to the Ocean Moon Bowl at Satu'li Canteen to the Pulled Pork Cheese Arepa at The Smiling Crocodile. Disney Parks Blog also notes that Tiffins Restaurant and Nomad Lounge are celebrating their 10th anniversary this year. Separately, BlogMickey reviewed the revamped menu at Docking Bay 7 Food and Cargo in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, calling one of the new items their top quick-service dish at all of Walt Disney World. The new menu launched this month, and BlogMickey confirms the items are now part of the permanent menu with no end date. The verdict was mixed across all items, but the best of the bunch clearly landed.

At Disneyland Paris, Disney Experiences published a remarkable behind-the-scenes look at how Cast Members were trained to open World of Frozen. Nearly 15 months before opening day, Disneyland Paris launched a recruitment effort combining internal mobility, targeted recruitment, and a European casting tour to welcome more than 1,200 Cast Members into new roles. Thousands auditioned, and just 350 were selected to become Arendelle's villagers. Each received what became known as the "letter from the village," an invitation from Fredrik, royal emissary of Queens Anna and Elsa, welcoming them to a community rather than just a job. Cast Member Dorine Hermier described being chosen for the opening guest flow team as a "heart-stopping surprise." Three weeks after World of Frozen opened on March 29, 2026, the results of that preparation are unmistakable. When Imagineering builds a land, the physical environment gets all the attention. What Disneyland Paris did here is a reminder that the human architecture matters just as much.

WDW News Today also reports that Arribas Brothers has released a collection of Adventureland-themed collectible glass coins at Magic Kingdom, priced at $29 each. The set covers Jungle Cruise, The Magic Carpets of Aladdin, Swiss Family Treehouse, Enchanted Tiki Room, and Pirates of the Caribbean. Each coin is thick, clear glass with a bronze metallic overlay on both sides, and the designs feature iconic imagery from each attraction. WDW News Today notes that The Magic Carpets of Aladdin is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

The Screen

While The Bear prepares to close out its run, 20th Century Studios is celebrating one of its biggest theatrical launches of the year. The Devil Wears Prada 2 arrived exclusively in theaters on May 1, reuniting Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci with director David Frankel and screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna. D23's deep dive into the making of the sequel reveals a creative team that deliberately resisted a quick follow-up for years. "The film is more than just a love letter to the fans," Brosh McKenna told D23. "It had to be something, a story that we found meaty and something we could really talk about how the world has changed." The sequel finds Miranda facing a magazine industry in flux and a scandal that threatens Runway's legacy, while Andy Sachs returns as a seasoned journalist recruited back as features editor. "The project is driven by curiosity rather than nostalgia," Frankel added. The film also introduces Kenneth Branagh, Simone Ashley, Justin Theroux, Lucy Liu, B.J. Novak, Caleb Hearon, and Helen J. Shen to the ensemble.

In development news, Deadline exclusively reported that Hocus Pocus 3 is officially in development with Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy reprising their roles as the Sanderson Sisters, according to reports noted by The DisInsider. Details beyond the returning cast remain thin, but the Sanderson Sisters riding again is the kind of news that speaks for itself.

The Vault

Disney's Mother's Day spotlight this week quietly told one of the more compelling stories about what a career at the company can actually look like across generations. MickeyBlog highlighted Connie, who began working an after-school job at Walt Disney World when she was just 16 years old. Her career has now spanned over 35 years. She raised two children on her own while working in various positions across parks and resorts, eventually landing in Workforce Management, where she has supported Cast Members behind the scenes since 2005. Now both of her children work at Walt Disney World. Her son Matthew works in food and beverage at Disney's Port Orleans Resort while studying pastry and culinary arts at Valencia College through Disney Aspire. Her daughter Aiyana recently joined Walt Disney World while studying business administration through the same program. "One of my proudest moments has been seeing my kids find their own paths here," Connie told Disney. "Disney has supported me through every stage of my life, and now I get to see that same support extended to my children."

Over at Disneyland Resort, MickeyBlog spotlighted Jenny Sweetman, who joined Disneyland in 1983 as a hostess in New Orleans Square and has since gained experience across almost every area of the resort. Her daughter Kellie was the first to follow, joining Disneyland Resort in 2011 and eventually working in safety-focused roles while pursuing her education through Disney's educational programs. "I just wanted them to know they could do anything," Jenny said. "Disney gave me the space to grow, and I wanted them to feel that same kind of possibilities for themselves." These are stories about Cast Members whose families grew up inside the parks, whose children watched and then followed, rather than executive profiles or celebrity partnerships. The institutional knowledge that lives in those families is the kind of thing that does not show up on a balance sheet but shapes the guest experience every single day.

Sources

The Walt Disney Company · D23 · Attractions Magazine · WDW News Today · WDW News Today · Lightning Brain · MickeyBlog · MickeyBlog · Disney Tourist Blog · Disney Parks Blog · BlogMickey · Disney Experiences · The DisInsider