Like Netflix, this is a streaming service, but it's exclusively packed with content from the Disney stable, including movies and shows from the many production outfits (including Lucasfilm, Marvel and Pixar) it owns.
Disney Plus isn’t like other streaming services. While platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have vast quantities of content to offer their subscribers, no other streamer has the combined might of Star Wars and Marvel at their command.
Throw in classics from the extensive Pixar and Disney back catalogues – as well as the numerous movies and TV shows that came under the Disney Plus umbrella after the 2019 purchase of rival studio 20th Century Fox – and you’re looking at a library of quality content few rivals can match.
Whether you’re looking for water-cooler TV from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki) or Star Wars (The Mandalorian and The Bad Batch), or the chance to watch hot new movies like Black Widow and Jungle Cruise on Premier Access, Disney Plus has got you covered.
It’s no surprise, then, that since Disney Plus launched in the US in November 2019, it’s become a streaming powerhouse – with more than 100 million subscribers and counting.
The service is only improving, too, with IMAX Enhanced versions of movies starting to be added to the platform, and endless promise for TV show spin-offs of our favorite films and franchises.
Disney Plus is currently available in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Japan, Singapore and a selection of European countries. In this extensive guide to the service, we tell you everything you need to know about the Disney Plus price, which devices are compatible with the Disney Plus app, and the movie and TV highlights you can watch right now – and in the future.
How to sign up to Disney Plus
If you want to sign up for Disney Plus in the US, UK and Canada, you can sign up for Disney Plus here, or if you're in Australia or New Zealand, click here.
Disney Plus free trial: is there one?
Disney Plus offered a 7-day free trial when it launched, but discontinued it in 2020.
Disney Plus price and bundle explained
The Disney Plus price structure has monthly and yearly subscription tiers. Disney Plus now costs $7.99 per month in the US, or $79.99 for a year's subscription. In the US, there's a $13.99 per month Disney Plus bundle with Hulu and ESPN+, which we'll explain below.
This is a price hike from the original cost of $6.99 per month, or $69.99 per year.
In the UK, Disney Plus is now £7.99 per month, or £79.90 per year following a price hike in February 2021. In Australia, Disney Plus is now AU$11.99 per month or $119.99 per year.
In Canada, it's $11.99 CAD a month and $119.99 CAD for a year. In New Zealand, it's NZ$129.99 per year or NZ$12.99 a month.
Disney Plus, notably, is cheaper than Netflix, which is $13.99 per month for its Standard Plan, and $17.99 for its 4K-equipped Premium tier. With Disney Plus, the flat fee gets you 4K HDR streams, which is one of the best things about it.
In the US, there's a Disney Plus bundle. It includes Disney Plus itself, Hulu (with ads) and ESPN+ for just $13.99 a month.
What is Disney Plus Star?
Disney Plus Star launched outside the US in territories like Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Canada on February 23, 2021.
Whereas US subscribers have Hulu, Star provides a platform for viewers to enjoy a broader range of entertainment offerings from Disney's many production silos – including FX, 20th Century Fox and ABC. That means that Disney Plus’s family-friendly core content (Star Wars, Marvel, Disney, Pixar, National Geographic) is now bolstered by more grown-up fare such as 24, Lost, Atlanta, Desperate Housewives, some of the Die Hard movies, and – in the UK – The Walking Dead.
In the UK, this addition has doubled the amount of content available to stream.
Disney Plus Premier Access: what is it and how much does it cost?
While most movies and TV shows on the Disney Plus platform are included in your monthly/yearly subscription fee, some major movie releases will cost you extra. At a cost of $29.99 (US) per movie, Disney Plus Premier Access gives you the opportunity to watch big new releases around three months before they’re available to regular subscribers.
This premium option launched in September 2020 with the live-action remake of Mulan, and was designed to give subscribers the option to see Disney’s biggest releases while theaters were closed during the coronavirus pandemic. Raya and the Last Dragon (released in March) and Cruella (released in May) both made their debuts on Premier Access. And, as theaters have reopened around the world, Black Widow and Jungle Cruise landed on the premium service on the same days they debuted on the big screen.
While the $29.99-per-movie cost of Disney Plus Premier Access may seem steep – especially in addition to your regular Disney Plus subscription – in most cases it will be cheaper than taking an entire family to the theater. As an added bonus, you can then watch the movie as many times as you want – just so long as you keep your Disney Plus subscription access active.
There’s also no need to worry about missing out on the biggest movies if you’d rather not shell out $30 for Premier Access. Mulan, Raya and the Last Dragon and Cruella all became available to regular Disney Plus subscribers around 90 days after their initial release. Disney have already confirmed that Black Widow will be available on the standard Disney Plus package from October 6, with Jungle Cruise landing on November 12.
Disney Plus FAQ
What is Disney Plus?
When did Disney Plus launch?
Disney Plus originally launched in November 2019 in the US.
What does Disney Plus cost?
$7.99 per month in the US (or $79.99 per year), $11.99 per month in Australia ($119.99 per year), $11.99 per month in Canada ($119.99 per year), and £7.99 per month in the UK (£79.90 per year).
Are there parental controls?
Yes. If you don't want your littlest ones watching something more mature like Black Widow or Pirates of the Caribbean, you can set an age restriction lock on certain accounts that will require a PIN to access those movies. The main account holder is in control of which accounts are age-restricted andup to seven profiles per account which can be modified this way.
Does Disney Plus have 4K streams?
Yes. Disney Plus supports 4K resolution, HDR, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. You'll see whether movies on Disney Plus support it under the 'details' tab on the listing pages in the app.
Where can I find it?
Disney Plus is available on iOS, Android, Apple TV, PS4, Xbox One, Amazon's devices, Roku devices, browsers, Android TV and the UK's Sky Q and Now TV.
Which Disney Plus channels are there?
There are no channels, as such, but there are five separate content hubs for Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel and National Geographic – as well as Star in many territories outside the US. It also features content from the 20th Century Fox stable, including 31 seasons of The Simpsons.
Disney Plus app and devices
These are the devices that are compatible with the Disney Plus app:
The Disney Plus app can be downloaded on almost any device, and you can watch it in web browsers on desktop, too. The Disney Plus app supports up to four simultaneous streams, ten registered devices and you can create seven profiles. Each profile can create its own Watch List.
You can download as much Disney Plus content as you want to watch offline, as long as you sign in to the app online every 30 days.
The app has different age ratings for content, and you can choose to create a Kids Profile to remove the more adult-friendly content on there (The Simpsons, for example).
As well as having different content hubs for Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel and National Geographic, the Disney Plus app has curated content lists themed around different subjects. These hubs include the major franchises we just mentioned, but also themed sets of Simpsons episodes, or Disney divided into decades. It's a nice way to find something to watch that's not just driven by Netflix-style algorithms.
In September 2020 Disney Plus also added a co-watching feature called GroupWatch, which allows you to watch a movie or TV show with up to six other people, inviting fellow subscribers to a synced-up playback experience. You get the option to react to the stream in real-time, too.
Disney Plus movies: what's new in 2021
Disney’s massive archive of classic movies is one of the biggest trump cards it holds over its streaming rivals. They’re the lifeblood of the service, as you can see in our list of the best Disney Plus movies.
Disney Plus includes pretty much every Disney animated movie you can think of from the last nine decades: from early classics like Snow White and Pinocchio, through to modern hits such as Moana, Zootopia and Frozen. There's more or less parity in the library across different territories, though depending on where you are, some movies may be tied up in deals with other services and arrive on Disney Plus later.
Disney Plus has an almost-complete archive of Pixar movies to watch (including the studio’s two most recent releases, Soul and Luca), as well as every Star Wars movie, up to and including 2019's The Rise of Skywalker.
You can also complete most of a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie marathon from the first Iron Man (2008) through to the conclusion of the Infinity Stone saga in Avengers: Endgame (2019), as well as Phase 4 flicks like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The only MCU movies missing from Disney Plus are those owned by other studios – the Tom Holland Spider-Man movies and The Incredible Hulk.
There’s a bunch of Disney Plus original movies you won’t find anywhere else, among them the Lady and the Tramp live-action remake, Noelle, Timmy Failure, Artemis Fowl and Safety. And you'll also find some of the more obscure films from the Disney back catalogue (The Black Hole, The Rocketeer), as well as a number of movies from the old 20th Century Fox archive available to stream, including James Cameron's Avatar, the Home Alone series and Cheaper by the Dozen. Many of Fox’s X-Men movies have been added to the service now, too.
The Disney Plus movie selection is defiantly family friendly, though in countries that get Disney Plus Star, there are options for content for older viewers – everything from The Fly to Kingsman: The Secret Service and Con Air. Ridley Scott's historical drama The Last Duel is landing in December 2021 too.
These are the major movies coming to Disney Plus in the US throughout 2021 and beyond that we know about right now:
NEW MOVIES FOR 2022 AND BEYOND
Disney Plus TV shows: what's coming up?
Arguably the biggest reason to be excited about the future of Disney Plus is its raft of exciting TV originals. The Mandalorian, WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Loki have redefined watercooler TV by inviting fans to pick over the twists and hidden meanings in every single episode. It’s not surprising, then, that the Disney Investor Day presentation in December 2020 went big on announcements for new TV shows based in the Marvel and Star Wars universes – Disney clearly believes the two mega-franchises are going to be the pillars of the platform. And with The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ms Marvel, Moon Knight, Hawkeye and many more on the way, these big-budget TV shows are now just as important to the respective Star Wars and Marvel canons as the movies.
Other originals include kid-friendly shows like Diary of a Future President, Zenimation, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, and Pixar series Forky Asks a Question and Monsters at Work.
Disney Plus also has a lot of non-fiction shows available to watch, such as the excellent documentary series The Imagineering Story, Shop Class, Marvel's Hero Project, The Big Fib, Disney Family Sundays and Disney Fairy Tale Weddings. As you might expect, a lot of its programming is targeted at families.
In terms of classic shows, Disney Plus offers a lesser array of older series compared to its movie collection. What's here is mostly animated, like DuckTales, Recess, Gargoyles, Gummi Bears, Goof Troop, TaleSpin and several Marvel series, including the '90s X-Men and Spider-Man animated series. The big hitter, of course, is The Simpsons. There are 31 seasons to stream now, as well as The Simpsons Movie. You'll find some other live-action shows to enjoy in the US, too, like Marvel's Runaways and Boy Meets World.
Star viewers outside the US also get access to high-profile TV shows such as 24, Lost and Desperate Housewives.
Here are the new TV shows we know are coming up on Disney Plus in 2021 and beyond:
STAR WARS TV SHOWS
MARVEL TV SHOWS
PIXAR TV SHOWS
DISNEY ANIMATION
OTHER DISNEY PLUS RELEASES
Disney Plus error codes: what the numbers mean
Check out our list of Disney Plus error codes for more on what the different numbers mean. If you're having issues with Disney Plus you can't seem to solve, try the Disney Plus help center for more.
This is how you contact Disney Plus customer service, too, if you can't resolve an issue. You can call 888-905-7888 if you're based in the US. You can also tweet the Disney Plus help account. This email should help, as well: DisneyPlusHelp@Disney.com.
Disney Plus gift subscriptions: get a year of Disney Plus for a friend or family member
Disney Plus Gift Subscriptions are available at the yearly $69.99 tier, and make an ideal last-minute gift. You can buy Disney+ Gift Subscriptions here.
Our verdict? Disney Plus is worth it, but mostly if you have kids
Disney Plus is slightly a more specialist offering than Netflix, aimed primarily at fans of Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars. It doesn't have the adult content or variety you'll find on other streaming services – unless you live outside the US and have access to Star – but that's okay, because inevitably you'll find something you want to watch on here.
The archive of Disney Plus content is amazing, and for Disney fans, that's reason enough to subscribe. If you've got children, too, the service is more of a no-brainer – especially for international subscribers who get Star, and will find the service more versatile.
The next year will be crucial for Disney Plus. Its initial offering of original shows has been solid, but slow, with only one of its tentpole shows (The Mandalorian, WandaVision, Loki) debuting new episodes at any one time. In a few years, though, with a regular rotation of Star Wars and Marvel shows to enjoy every few months, subscribing is going to become essential.