Do you think Disney is still going to do D23 Expo next year?

[Magic Crush Drop]

I found out that D23 is delaying Destination D because of COVID. Since Corona doesn't seem to be ending so soon in the US, it would seem smart to move it to somewhere in 2021. With that move, Destination D would be close to the expo in Anaheim. Do you think they would do one of them, both, or none?


Source: Destination D announcement

 

[Disney Irish]

I found out that D23 is delaying Destination D because of COVID. Since Corona doesn't seem to be ending so soon in the US, it would seem smart to move it to somewhere in 2021. With that move, Destination D would be close to the expo in Anaheim. Do you think they would do one of them, both, or none?


Source: Destination D announcement

They haven't even announced dates yet for D23 Expo that I'm aware of. We're still 14 months away from when it would normally be held. I have doubt that they would move or cancel it this far in advance. Disney is planning week-to-week and month-to-month at this point. They aren't thinking that far in advance of the potential of no Expo.

As for Destination-D, I don't think it would be weird to have D23 in August and Destination-D in October/November (or earlier in the year).

Plus look at it this way. If something 14 months from now gets cancelled I hate to think how bad it would have gotten due to COVID19. So lets hope for the best that Disney doesn't have to make that decision.

 

[Robbiem]

I agree a lot can happen over the next 14 months. We have some major international events like the Tokyo olympics and Dubai expo planned for the same timescales as well so if we are still Covid restrictive then, which is very possible a lot will have changed.
maybe there could be a virtual D23 with talks etc online for fans to watch, streamed vis disney plus?

 

[dmeets]

I'm leaning towards no

I'm not sure how long the planning takes but I'd think Disney would need to know well in advance, like sometime this year, whether California will allow conventions by that time. If the state sticks the original 4-phase plan, conventions wouldn't be allowed until there's a therapeutic, vaccine, or herd immunity for COVID19. Nobody has much of a clue when that'd be. I doubt Disney would want to risk it and move forward with the planning and then have to cancel if the situation in 2021 doesn't improve (though if that's the case we'll have much much bigger problems to deal with). And given how much grief they're getting over re-opening WDW (grief that the other theme park operators like Uni seem to gotten past unscathed but I digress), I can't see them announcing a move to WDW for the next expo, much as the state of Florida would love it. Actually, due to lack of media goodwill at the moment I can't see them announcing anything on the scale of D23 anytime soon.

The other factor is: while I don't know how much it costs to put on the expo, I'm guessing it isn't cheap, and I don't know if the company's going to be willing to spend the money. Especially with Chapek now making the call.

I'm worried that if they decide to cancel/postpone, they'll use it as a way to quietly end the expo outright. Chapek didn't really seem to be thrilled to be there last year, at least not until he got to announce the dedicated Disney Store shelves in Target, so I doubt he'd miss it.

I do like the idea of a virtual event - Comic Con is doing something like that this year, right? I would think they could at the very least put the non-Hall D23 panels from previous expos on Disney+. Not many would feel dated other than some of the panels that were dedicated to previewing TV/movies/games.

 

[DoleWhipDrea]

I’m sure DeSantis would love nothing more than Disney moving the D23 Expo to Florida (there’s talk of him trying to get Wrestlemania to happen in FL next year if CA continues with lockdown measures.) I don’t see why D23 and Destination D couldn’t be merged if Disney doesn’t have any contractual obligations with the Anaheim Convention Center.

That being said, I don’t think any conventions will be happening until a vaccine or the virus is considered contained.

 

[WEDway Inc & Company LLC]

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