Disney Store forced into emergency closure as huge crowds swarm flagship London shop

Disney Store forced into emergency closure as huge crowds swarm flagship London shopMore than 100 people stormed the queue of people waiting to purchase limited edition trading cards

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The Disney Store on London’s Oxford Street was forced to open later than planned after massive crowds swarmed the flagship store.

Images on social media showed some 600 people queuing and camping outside the store from as early as 5pm on Thursday evening.

They are understood to have been in line for the latest release of Disney’s limited edition Lorcana trading cards and a limited edition foil playmat.

At its peak, the queue is understood to have snaked for almost half a mile between Marylebone Lane and Vere Street to Chapel Place.

The situation escalated early on Friday morning when large groups of “scalpers” reportedly stormed the queue, pushing and shoving to get to the front.

The store was forced to shut and the drop was cancelled@ItsaMeCooperSome 100 people stormed the queue in the early hours of Friday morningAmber Parslow

Scalpers are people who buy high-profit items for resale and are not genuine fans of the merchandise.

Disney’s Heroine Edition of Lorcana cards retail for £100 in store, but are already being sold on ebay for £650.

Ms Parslow said people were playing Lorcana in the queue before it was stormed on Friday morningAmber Parslow

Amber Parslow travelled from Poole to purchase the trading cards as a keen player and collector.

She told The Standard that groups of scalpers “were being passively intimidating in the lead up,” while reassuring others in line that they wouldn’t push in.

But, at around 6:30am, Ms Parslow claimed at least 100 people “descended” on the queue, reportedly coming in from all sides as they pushed to get to the front.

“They were obviously fighting between themselves. One was trying to get in through the front of the Disney Store. Another had stolen the tickets [from Disney Store staff] and was handing them out to his friends,” she said.

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“It was quite frightening. It was chaos. Any order was completely gone. They ruined what could have been an amazing experience.

She added that before the scalpers joined the queue, “the vibes were honestly amazing”, explaining that people were playing games together as they waited for the store to open.

The Disney Store was expected to open at 9am for the limited edition drop, with tickets set to be handed out at 7am. But the company announced the drop would be cancelled via a Facebook post.

The Met Police are understood to have attended, though security at the scene ultimately dispersed the crowds.

Many on social media have called on the Disney Store to introduce tougher crowd control measures such as barriers and ticketing.

A spokesperson from the Disney Store said: “The safety of our Guests, Cast Members and the local community is always our highest priority and following the disruption outside the Oxford Street store overnight, we made the decision, alongside local authorities, to open later than usual this morning.

“As a result, today’s planned in-store release of the Disney Lorcana Curator's Collection: Heroines Edition will no longer take place.

“We know how disappointing this is for our fans and we sincerely apologise to those affected. We are working internally to review the process for future in-store launches.”