COVID-19 Fears Affect Scheduled Disney+ European Launch Event

Fears surrounding COVID-19 have forced Disney’s plans for a fabulous European press launch to be canceled. The launch was for its Disney+ streaming service and the event would have been set in London, according to Deadline.

Prior to the cancellation, the party was set at the Exhibition London event space on March 5. It would have been a “(celebration of) the European launch of Disney+” with presentations from key executives and creative heads the centerpiece of the event. A number of famous guests were also expected to have come.

Since then, the company has cancelled the event, joining numerous other industry gatherings which were axed over fears of the deadly virus. Instead, Disney plans to promote the Disney+ launch over social media and with the help of press notices. They will also be showing the streaming service to a select number of journalists over a demo in central London on Friday.

Disney, when pressed for a comment, had this reason: ”Due to a number of media attendee cancellations and increasing concerns at the prospect of travelling internationally at this time, we have decided to cancel our Disney+ launch events scheduled to take place on Thursday and Friday.”

It is worth noting that this concern is also prevalent among frequent visitors to Disney’s theme parks. Over a month ago, when the virus was just spreading from Wuhan and in different countries, concerns have been raised over whether people will truly be safe while visiting Disney theme parks.

The concerns reported at Mickey Blog cited a positive trend in facing the situation in theme parks and the coronavirus. According to the report, most of the cases reported worldwide had more recoveries than deaths—566 people dead compared to 1,428 people which had recovered. North American cases have also been reported at 17, and may have multiplied since then, but the situation is still manageable.

As for Disneyland theme parks, the problems concerning the disease are also easy to solve. However, the Disney+ event in London is a whole other story. Disney won’t stand to lose a lot from any cancellations and possible theme park closures, however. Given the number of other businesses under Disney’s name, it’s safe to say that this is a minor setback—one that could be easily solved just by managing costs.