Disney fans wait eagerly for Tuesday after the brand announced the launch of its streaming service, Disney+.
People were so excited to re-watch their old favorites.
The service started at midnight, and fans start streaming everything from old-school Disney Channel shows to Star Wars.
The excitement of fans ended very early when many users reported they were getting error messages saying they were “unable to connect.”
Justo Ortega, 41, told BuzzFeed News he signed up for Disney+ in September so he could enjoy watching the new Star Wars series The Mandalorian. On Tuesday morning, he woke up at 5:30 a.m. so he could start watching his favorite shows as soon as the service launched in Albuquerque, where he lives.
When he tried to connect, he got the error message. He tried everything, like cleared his cache, rebooting his phone, reinstalling the app, but nothing worked.
“I mean, I get it. EVERYONE is trying to stream, so I was figuring there would be buffering issues,” Ortega said. “But for the app to not even work right the first day? Pathetic. Frustrating.”
Ortega said he’s “feeling pretty mad” and had hoped that Disney might have prepared for issues such as this one.
When he was still waiting for Disney+ to start working, there is only one thing he’s able to stream. Lady and the Tramp (the 2019 live-action remake, which is streaming exclusively on the platform) is still working.
“I think Disney sh*t the bed on this one,” Ortega said.
Kelsey Goodwin, a 27-year-old in Paris, Illinois, used several different Wi-Fi connections to try to load to Disney+. Then, she realized the problem is not with her own devices, which she said was “super frustrating.”
“Disney should have prepared better for these problems,” Goodwin said.
Not everyone complained to Disney, though. Jason Grier, a 29-year-old in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, said he wasn’t surprised about some technical difficulties.
“I’m not sure we’ve had a massive roll-out of a streaming service like this before,” Grier said. “Netflix, Hulu, etc., has been a gradual roll-out over the years to get to that customer base.”
“But obviously if the outage lasts an extended period into tomorrow and the next day, then obviously it may be a different story,” Grier added. Misti Martin, 37, said she “settled in for a long relaxing day of binging my favorite Disney movies” in her Walnut Cove, North Carolina, home. The app stopped responding right as she started Lady and the Tramp.
“I restarted Disney+ and have been getting the error that it’s unable to connect for about four hours now,” she said. “It’s frustrating, to say the least because I was looking forward to it.”
“But I’m trying to remind myself that with it being a new, wildly popular service with high demand, it’s inevitable some ‘issues’ are bound to happen,” she added.
On Tuesday morning, Disney+ acknowledged the issues users were facing and said they are working to fix them.
“The consumer demand for Disney+ has exceeded our high expectations,” the company tweeted.
While many users are angry at the issues, some people show support and said they understand that launch this big doesn’t always go smoothly.
Billy Pollina, a 57-year-old in Los Angeles, said he thinks the glitches are “understandable.”
“There’s not another media company that could elicit this level of anticipation and excitement, so any glitch or delay is going to get some very animated complaints,” Pollina said.
“Now you’ll have to excuse me,” he added. “I have a date with a Lady and a Tramp.”
Recommended Video
“A Man Tosses A Treat At An Orangutan. What Happens Next Has Everyone Laughing In Disbelief!”
[rumble video_id=vda1p domain_id=u7nb2]