Streaming Services – Disney+

Our Verdict

Disney+ offers a compelling mix of nostalgia, original content, and family-friendly entertainment. Its unique content library, which includes beloved franchises from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic, sets it apart from other popular streaming services and serves a crowd that they cannot.

The service’s competitive pricing, especially when considering its bundle options with Hulu, Max, and ESPN+, provides excellent value for money. Other services may churn out more content, but Disney+’s focused approach and continuous expansion of original programming make it an attractive option for many viewers.

Pros

Unique access to exclusive Disney franchises
Extensive library of family-friendly content
4K/HDR quality for many titles
Affordable and cost-saving, especially with bundle options
Increasing number of high-quality original series and films

Cons

Limited availability of certain titles
Unpredictably long waits for new original TV series
New episodes follow weekly release schedules rather than all at once

Products & Pricing

Disney+ offers a few different plans that can be paid monthly, and sometimes yearly to save money. But there are multiple ways to bundle it with Hulu and ESPN Plus to save even more.

Disney+ Basic (With Ads)

Priced at $7.99/month, this is the most affordable listing and provides unlimited access to Disney movies and series, as well as originals from its many subsidiaries.

Disney+ Premium (No Ads)

The premium version allows you to get rid of ads and provides unlimited downloads while offline. It costs $13.99/month or $139.99/year.

Disney+ Duo Bundle Basic (With Ads)

Disney also offers subscription options in bundles with other streaming platforms. This includes the Duo bundle, which also comes in Basic or Premium. This bundle includes all the Disney+ and Hulu offerings, another streaming powerhouse with more adult-facing content. With ads, the plan costs $9.99 per month.

Disney+ Duo Bundle Premium (No Ads)

If you choose to remove the ads and upgrade to Premium, it costs $19.99 per month.

Disney+ Trio Bundle Basic (With Ads)

For sports lovers, Disney+ also offers bundles with Hulu and ESPN+. This gives you full access to the sports service at a discounted price. With ads, the plan costs $14.99 per month.

Disney+ Trio Bundle Premium (No Ads)

With this plan, you get Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ for $24.99/month.

Disney+, Hulu, Max Bundle (With Ads)

Disney+, Hulu, and Max Bundle plans include subscriptions to Disney+, Hulu, and Max at discounted prices, as compared to the monthly retail price of each subscription. With ads, the plan is $16.99/month.

Disney+, Hulu, Max Bundle (No Ads)

You can upgrade and decide on the version without ads, which costs $29.99/month.

Hulu + Live TV, Disney+, & ESPN+ (With Ads)

This includes over 90 live TV channels, along with on-demand content from Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+. With ads, it’s $76.99 per month

$89.99 /mo

No Ads

In-depth review

Content Library

Disney+ offers a wide range of diverse, recognizable, and yet exclusive content in their library. It draws from its several entertainment subsidiaries, featuring high-quality family shows and movies from Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars, and other beloved IPs.

If you can think of anything Disney, it’s there. This is not to say you’ll get a service catered to kids, as there’s a lot of adult-facing content via ABC, FX, and Hulu originals.

You can expect to find content from:

Disney: Classic and modern animated films, live-action movies, and original series.
Pixar: The complete collection of Pixar animated features and shorts.
Marvel: Marvel Cinematic Universe films and original series.
Star Wars: All Star Wars films, originals, and animated series.
National Geographic: Documentaries and educational content.
20th Century Studios: Select films from the studio’s catalog.
ESPN: Access to live sports competitions like the NFL and NBA.

Content quality is typically high, with many of its classics, blockbusters, originals, and documentaries available in 4K Ultra HD with HDR. It regularly adds new content too, keeping the library fresh and expanding offerings for adult audiences.

User Interface (UI)

The Disney+ interface has a clean, intuitive layout with a dark theme. Content is organized into category hubs (Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic). The side of the screen sports a handy sidebar where you can search for your favorite movies or shows. There are also filters and categorized rows so you can easily find your content.

Customization

The platform is easily customizable for user-friendliness. You can create up to 7 user profiles per account, each with different personalization and privacy settings. Every profile offers a unique Disney avatar, with personalized content recommendations based on biodata and viewing history.

There are tight parental controls for children’s profiles if needed, with tailored recommendations and watchlists. You can download content for offline viewing if your plan supports it, and you can adjust viewing and download quality easily to manage data usage.

Disney+ lets you adjust language preferences for audio and subtitles, both for streams and downloads. The interface is generally responsive across various devices, including smart TVs, mobile devices, and web browsers.

Performance

Disney+ offers a good balance of video quality and data consumption. Video quality is great, as Disney+ supports a wide range of video formats, including 4K Ultra HD and HDR for compatible titles and devices. The platform automatically adjusts video quality based on your internet connection speed. Buffering issues are relatively infrequent on Disney+.

However, this can vary based on internet speed, device capabilities, and content quality. Disney+ is compatible with most devices, including smart TVs, streaming devices (like Roku, Chromecast, Apple TV), gaming consoles, smartphones, and tablets.

Accessibility

Disney+ provides an inclusive viewing experience for all users through a range of accessibility features. For users with impaired vision, audio descriptions are provided to describe visual elements on the screen. Brightness and contrast can be adjusted for improved visibility too.

Disney+ supports subtitles and audio dubs in 16 languages. There are also captions and transcripts for users who may be hard of hearing.

Additional Resources

Disney+ provides guides and videos tailored to your device. These are designed to make the onboarding process smoother and help users navigate the platform effectively. On the Disney+ Help Center website, users can find written guides that cover topics on how to sign up, set up devices, and use various features.

Customer Service

Disney+ offers a comprehensive Help Center on the website, which includes FAQs and troubleshooting guides. There are also active social media accounts where you can find help and stay updated.

For more personalized assistance, users can contact Disney+ customer service via live chat or phone support. Disney+ also provides in-app support features to address user concerns and improve the streaming experience.