Disney

The Disney theme parks in the US will re-open in July, with several caveats however. Click through for more details!

A sight you will not see for some time

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In a disconcerting and troubling move, Disney’s Galaxy Of Adventures’ latest installment recreating the Battle of Hoth removes General Rieekan from the story and promotes Princess Leia to a general without explanation. (Well, unless this is explained in a Disney Star Wars source I don’t know about.) What is going on over there? It seems that everything from The Empire Strikes Back would be preserved to celebrate its 40th Anniversary accurately. Is this the new canon for The Empire Strikes Back now? No General Rieekan? Determining what is canon and what isn’t when stories are conflicting with one another is creating a complete mess.

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shopDisney was having some site issues earlier, but (so far) it seems to be up and running now. Make sure to stop by and check out their newly added items, including their Imperial Probe Droid The Empire Strikes Back 40th Anniversary Die Cast figure. And, if you are into their special edition Disney items, they also have their exclusive Star Wars Day Key available.

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Stop by shopDisney.com to check out the new listings they have for Star Wars Day, including their The Empire Strikes Back 40th Anniversary line.

We talked about the original plans for Galaxy’s Edge a few months ago. Back then it was reported that the Star Wars theme park was to be about the Original Trilogy, and that Bob Iger changed his mind when The Force Awakens was released, when he saw first footage. Now it turns out that this is not the whole story. Former Walt Disney World Vice President Dan Cockerell was a guest on the WDW Radio podcast and there he talked about how events unfolded. And it turns out that the reports from a few months back left out one important detail: a meeting Bob Iger had with Kathleen Kennedy. Click through for more!

Galaxy’s Edge with the Millennium Falcon

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Perhaps you already know that Bob Iger announced his (most likely temporary) return as quasi CEO of Disney last Sunday, he’s taking over again from Bob Chapek so he can steer Disney through very stormy waters. But Bob Iger’s return is not what I want to focus on. I want to talk about Disney’s current situation and how and if it might affect their future. So please click through for a discussion! 

Hello there, I’m back!

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Several European governments have asked Disney to reduce the video quality for Disney+. The service will launch tomorrow in several major European countries, however, because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, several governments are afraid that above average usage of streaming services by people told to stay at home may congest the internet. Even though German internet providers reassured that there’s more than enough capacity, at least in Germany, Disney complied and the service will reduce the bitrate in Europe for the next few weeks. Furthermore, France asked Disney to postpone the launch of the streaming service. So now Disney+ will launch two weeks later in France.
Disney is not the only company to reduce the video bitrate in Europe, YouTube, Amazon Prime and Netflix also reduce bitrates. So you may get somewhat less than optimal video quality in Europe for the time being. Maybe some European countries need to upgrade their internet infrastructure. According to reports Switzerland is even considering to disable video streaming services in the country until further notice. At least that is not an option in the other European countries. If you watch videos on various streaming platforms in Europe you may see some artifacts here and there. It’s not you then, it’s the streaming service!

Covid-19, better known as the coronavirus, has the world firmly in its grip. And the Walt Disney Corporation is no exception here. Like all other entertainment companies Disney is facing stiff challenges, challenges that may, to a certain degree, also affect Star Wars. Movie releases get postponed, most theaters in the US are closed anyway, worldwide most countries have shut down all movie theaters, tv and streaming series productions are on hold, theme parks are closed, Disney cruises are shut down at least for another two weeks. But chances are the crisis won’t be over in two weeks and that whatever counter measures are in effect now will still be in effect in April and maybe even May and June. First analysts theorize that now may be the perfect time for Apple to buy Disney, Disney’s stock price is falling and it will most likely continue to fall. So what exactly is going on right now and what does it mean for us, the consumers? Click through for more details!

Mickey Mouse has seen happier days

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On March 24th Disney+ will launch in the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria and Switzerland. Other European countries will follow later in summer. Click through for more details, including infos about a six month free trial period in Germany for Deutsche Telekom customers!

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The ongoing coronavirus crisis has now reached the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. Today it was announced that the park will close its gates on March 14th and that it will not reopen for the remainder of the month. The hotels will be open until March 16th (Monday) to allow guests to plan for their departure. It is unknown if Disneyland Anaheim will actually reopen in April or not. Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida remains open for the time being. Nevertheless the coronavirus will certainly hit Disney’s theme parks division very hard and 2020 may turn out to be a horrible year for the company. Because not only theme parks are affected, but movies as well. Pixar’s latest movie “Onward” had the worst opening of a Pixar movie ever. Other studios postpone the release of their movies. Perhaps Marvel Studios will be affected too. Black Widow will be released in late April / early May, but if things have not improved by then its release may be postponed as well. Bob Chapek certainly has his hands full now managing the crisis. Let’s hope Disneyland will actually reopen in April and that things will improve. However, in all likelihood, the epidemic will get worse, we have not reached its peak yet according to several experts. Stay safe!

UPDATE: Disney World in Orlando and Disneyland Paris in France will also shut down now!

Disneyland will shut down on March 14th until the end of the month

Bob Iger steps down as CEO effective immediately, he will be an executive chairmain through 2021. Bob Chapek, who used to oversee the Disney parks, will be the new CEO of Disney.

Not much else is known at the moment, we will update this article once more details emerge.

No longer CEO of Disney, Bob Iger

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If you have been waiting for Disney+ and you are from the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, or Switzerland, you can now pre-sale Disney+ at a discounted rate. Click here to check your rates! Disney+ Will go live on March 24 for Western Europe!

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Disney presented their Q1/2020 earnings yesterday (their Q1 is the fourth quarter of 2019). I will not dwell on the numbers, instead I want to talk about what Disney had to say about Star Wars. Bob Iger didn’t reveal all that much, but a few interesting details were mentioned in their report and earnings call, including plans for The Mandalorian. Click through for more!

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It’s official (and not unexpected), there will be a special Disneyland After Dark: Star Wars Nite during this year’s Star Wars Celebration. It’s not clear if this will be reserved for Star Wars Celebration attendees, or open to the public. From what I can tell, this will be open to the public, but might possibly have a limited number of tickets reserved to purchase by Celebration attendees. Read all about it right here. Are you attending SW Celebration this year? And if so, do you plan on also buying a separate ticket to this event? Let us know in the comments!

That’s right! For a measly 12,200 points on DisneyMovieInsiders.com you can get a pair of tickets to The Rise of Skywalker world premiere in Hollywood on December 16th as week as attendance to the After Party! This is actually an INCREDIBLE deal and it’s pretty easy to come up with that many points if you know where to look. Not sure how many of these are available, but I’m sure they’ll go fast. Still can’t get our movie posters from them though 🙁

Disney invited a few people to check out the brand new “Rise of the Resistance” ride at Galaxy’s Edge (Walt Disney World). YouTube Channel Ordinary Adventures captured their tour on video. And while not the whole ride could be filmed, the 20 minute video will show you most of the ride, including highlights from the part that is set on the First Order Star Destroyer. Click through for the video and a few more details!

Rise of the Resistance Star Destroyer Hangar Bay

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Disney+ is running a Cyber Monday special: Save $10 off of an annual subscription. Pick up the full year for $59.99. If you’ve been holding out, this might be a good time to save a little off of your first year. 

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If any of our readers hail from Down Under, it looks like Australia and New Zealand can now sign up for Disney+. Click here to start your free trial!

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Whether you plan on signing up long term or not, don’t forget you can try for free for 7 days. If you time it right, that can get you 3 episodes of The Mandalorian, and a look at the Star Wars movies in 4K. Also, make sure to stop by and check out our full review of the first episode right here and leave your thoughts on the new series in the comments section of the review. 

There’s certainly enough content live right now worthy of a free trial!

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Still on the fence about signing up for the new streaming service? Take advantage of the 7-day trial and watch the first 2 episodes of The Mandalorian for free. Click here for their welcome page and get started!

That’s right! After all the rumors of 4k versions of the entire saga coming for quite some time now, Disney+ shows up and says “SURPRISE!” The entire Star Wars saga (minus Solo and The Last Jedi which are licensed out currently) are available in 4k and also apparently with Dolby Atmos. I know where I’ll be for the next 24 hours, how about you? Now, we can only hold out hope that when they come to Blu-Ray we get our fabled theatrical releases as well. You can sign up for a free trial and see the first two episodes of The Mandalorian if you are still on the fence. 

You can sign up for a free trial of Disney+ right here!

P.S. Despite being scheduled for a 9 am EST release, The Mandalorian is live and we’ll have reviews coming!

The Droid Factory BB-H19 figure is IN STOCK if you need it. Special thanks to Mark for the alert!

Our friends at Jedi Business have revealed the new Disney Parks exclusive Droid Factory BB-19H figure. Check it out!

Check out these new character posters for The Mandalorian that was shared on the Star Wars official facebook. We can see The Mandalorian, Cara Dune, Greef Carga, IG-11 and Kuiil. We’re getting so close and if you’re not quite sold, we’ll be doing reviews of each episode so you can check it out and those who watched can have a discussion. Disney+ begins streaming The Mandalorian on November 12th! Click each one to get a closer look.

We’ve come across information about the Disney Droid Factory Build A Droid attraction. Apparently, protocol droids may have not gone over as well as the astromech droids, and at the moment, there are no plans to add more protocol droids into the line. In fact, the Droid Factory protocol droids will be going away soon. The estimate is that the theme parks have a couple of months yet before the stock sells through. Rumored but not wholly confirmed is the idea that Disney Parks will return the popular astromech droids with a whole new collection shortly. It also unconfirmed if future collections will fall under the Droid Depot banner moving forward, but I imagine that’s a given at this point. If we learn more, we’ll be sure to share it with you. Check out the entire collection RIGHT HERE in our Research Droids Reviews.