DISNEY PLUS The Disney+ streaming service has launched, so how can you get it? How much does it cost? And what can you watch?
All aboard the Disney+ video streaming service
Disney’s new streaming service, Disney Plus (or Disney+) was launched to much fanfare in the US, Canada and the Netherlands last November, and is now available in several markets, including the UK.
Disney Plus offers both 4K and HD films and TV shows from Disney and its subsidiaries Lucasfilm, Marvel, Pixar and National Geographic. In the UK, the service has launched with 500 films, 350 TV series, 26 Disney+ Originals and more than 600 episodes of The Simpsons.
The service’s competitive pricing (£5.99/$8.99 per month) might have you wondering whether Disney Plus can better its rivals, including Amazon Prime Video and Netflix, so we dig into everything Disney Plus has to offer... What is Disney Plus?
Disney’s new streaming service was originally announced in 2017 and is now available in the US, Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, the UK, Austria, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain and Switzerland.
The launch in France was delayed, but Disney says it wants to enter “most major markets within two years” and have 90 million subscribers by the end of 2020. Given the volume of content it has, would you bet against it?
The Hollywood giant has already fired shots by pulling its Star Wars and Marvel franchises from its rival services – Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV Plus have all built their streaming businesses on offering original content that you can’t see anywhere else. Disney’s enormous back catalogue, plus its lucrative subsidiaries, means there’s plenty to tempt viewers from the start. In the streaming business, that’s a huge advantage. How much does it cost?
The big news is that the Disney Plus streaming service is cheaper than both Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. It costs $6.99 per month in the US, where Netflix starts at $9 a month and Amazon’s monthly price is $8.99.
If you’d rather pay annually, it will cost you $70 a year – a saving of around $14 on the monthly price. If you’re happy to sign up to three years of Disney Plus now, you could save even more. The discounted pre-orders for the service, offer a three-year-deal for $23 off the regular price – that works out at just $3.92 per month. There’s also a special Disney bundle in the US that costs $12.99 per month and gives you access to Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu.
The $6.99 price gets you four simultaneous streams, as well as 4K – that’s something Netflix offers only on its Premium tier, that costs $15.99 per month. Disney Plus customers can create and manage up to seven profiles on a single account, too.
In the UK and Europe, Disney costs £5.99 (€6.99) per month, or £59.99 (€69.99) for an annual subscription – which works out as just under £5 (€6) per month, undercutting Netflix’s cheapest offering (£5.99/€7.99 per month) on an annual basis.
Elsewhere, Disney Plus is priced at $8.99CAD per month (or $89.99 per year) in Canada, while in Australia it will be priced at AU$8.99 per month (or AU$89.99 per year) and in New Zealand it’s $9.99NZD per month (or $99.99 per year), respectively.
Disney hasn’t announced any other tiers of subscriptions. At the moment, it seems it’s going all in on the basic package, which should give it a real advantage over Netflix. What can you watch on Disney Plus?
Lots. At launch, it offers “over 500 films, 350 series and 26 Disney+ Originals”. These include Toy Story 4, the live-action version of The Lion King and the highly anticipated sequel to Frozen. TV series based on Monsters Inc. and High School Musical are also included.
Disney classics such as Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, Beauty And The Beast, Pinocchio, Bambi, Lady And The Tramp, Peter Pan, The Little Mermaid and Cinderella are all there, as well as three of the four most profitable films ever made: Avatar, Avengers: Endgame and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
This means Disney Plus is the only place to see Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker, Captain Marvel and all future releases from both Lucasfilm and Marvel. Disney Plus serves up 30 films and 50 series from the Marvel universe, including the Oscar-nominated Black Panther, Avengers: Endgame, Captain Marvel, Guardians Of The Galaxy and Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Disney also owns Pixar, so you’ll find 20 Pixar movies, including Toy Story 4 and Finding Dory. They are available to stream along with new shorts Lamp Life and Pixar In Real Life, a live-action series that brings Pixar characters to life.