The Disney Plus streaming service is now a mainstay in the streaming landscape, with over 100 million subscribers. Disney is using the impact of its big intellectual properties – Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar, The Simpsons and many animated classics – to battle Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and more for its own slice of the lucrative streaming market.
Here we’ll keep you updated with every new and exciting development on the platform, as well as the Disney Plus price and the new movies and originals you should be marking in your calendars.
Streaming services live or die based on their new content, and Disney is betting big on shows based in the Marvel and Star Wars universes. The Mandalorian season 2 released late last year, and a spin-off called The Book of Boba Fett is coming in December 2021, followed shortly after by The Mandalorian season 3. WandaVision, a TV show about Wanda Maximoff and Vision together again in a sitcom-like small town, ended its run earlier this year. The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, meanwhile, began in March 2021. Upcoming shows also include Loki, Moon Knight, Secret Invasion, She Hulk, Ms Marvel and animated show What If?.
Two big new movies are coming as part of its Premier Access program, too, which charges extra to see a film early – Cruella (May 28) and Black Widow (July 9).
Future TV shows on the Star Wars side will include an Obi-Wan Kenobi spin-off, a Lando Calrissian TV show, two spin-offs of The Mandalorian (Ahsoka and Rangers of the New Republic) and another series called The Acolyte. There’s a lot to get excited about.
Disney is investing significantly in original content for the service, with upcoming movies including Peter Pan and Wendy, Pinocchio, Chip ‘N’ Dale Rescure Rangers, Disenchanted (the sequel to Enchanted) and a reboot of Cheaper by the Dozen. There’s also a TV show based on The Mighty Ducks, which began in March 2021.
Disney Plus is available in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Japan and a selection of European countries, while other territories are still waiting patiently. Two years after the original US release of November 2019, Disney aims to have it everywhere.
Here’s our comprehensive Disney Plus guide, including details on its price, movies, shows, and bundles.
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 used to offer a 7-day free trial, but discontinued it earlier 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 £79.99 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 $12.99 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. Unlike the US, which has Hulu, this means you can enjoy broader entertainment offerings from Disney’s many production silos – including FX, 20th Century Fox and ABC. They’re included as a channel next to Star Wars, Marvel and company in the Disney Plus app.
In the UK, this has doubled the amount of content available to stream.
Disney Plus FAQ
- What is Disney Plus? Like Netflix, this is a streaming service, but it’s exclusively packed with Disney content, including movies and shows from companies it owns.
- When did Disney Plus launch? Disney Plus originally launched in November 2019 in the US.
- What does Disney Plus cost? $7.99/month in the US (or $79.99 per year), $11.99 in Australia and Canada ($119.99 per year) and £7.99 per month in the UK (£79.90 per year).
- 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. It also features content from Fox, like The Simpsons.
Disney Plus app and devices
These are the devices that are compatible with the Disney Plus app:
- iOS
- Android
- Apple TV
- Fire TV devices
- Roku
- Chromecast / Chromebook
- Xbox One
- PS4
- Nvidia Shield (via Android TV)
- Smart TVs (including Android TV, LG WebOS, Samsung Tizen, Vizio SmartCast)
The Disney Plus app can be downloaded on almost any device, then, 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, too, Disney Plus added a co-watching feature called GroupWatch, letting you watch a movie or TV show with up to six other people, letting you invite subscribed members 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
These are the major movies coming to Disney Plus in the US throughout 2021 and beyond that we know about right now:
- Cruella (Premier Access): May 28
- Luca: June 18
- Black Widow (Premier Access): July 9
- Disenchanted: TBA
- Sister Act 3: TBA
- Peter Pan & Wendy: TBA
- Pinocchio (live-action): TBA
- A Droid Story: TBA
- Chip ‘N’ Dale: Rescue Rangers: TBA
- Cheaper By The Dozen (reimagining): 2022
- Flora and Ulysses: February 19, 2021
- Safety: TBA
- Three Men and a Baby: 2022
- Hocus Pocus 2: TBA
- The Jungle Book (2016): May 30, 2021
- The Lone Ranger: April 30, 2021
- Tomorrowland: September 1, 2021
Older Disney Plus movies are the lifeblood of the service. You’ll see many of them in our list of the best Disney Plus movies. You won’t find adult movies on this streaming service, though, as all of the content on Disney Plus is family-friendly.
That varies in countries that get Disney Plus Star, however, which unlocks the option for broader entertainment options – including more movies. In the US, however, Star is not available.
Disney Plus includes pretty much every Disney animated movie you can remember from across the decades: Snow White, 101 Dalmations, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid. There’s more or less parity in the library across different countries, though depending on where you are, some movies may be tied up in deals with other services and will arrive on Disney Plus later. We’ve listed the main examples of this above.
Disney Plus also has an almost-complete archive of Pixar movies to watch, as well as every Star Wars movie, and that includes 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker.
Every single Marvel Cinematic Universe movie is on Disney Plus, except those that are owned by other studios (the two Tom Holland Spider-Man movies and The Incredible Hulk).
Existing original movies on Disney Plus include The Lady and the Tramp, Noelle and Timmy Failure.
You’ll also find a number of movies from 20th Century Fox available to stream on Disney Plus, including James Cameron’s Avatar, The Simpsons Movie, the Home Alone series and Cheaper by the Dozen. Many of the X-Men movies have been added to the service now, too.
Disney Plus TV shows: what’s coming soon
Existing Disney Plus originals include Star Wars TV series The Mandalorian, The Clone Wars and WandaVision, which are by far the best reasons to subscribe right now. Another series called Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian explores the making of the Baby Yoda-starring show.
Other originals include the excellent documentary series The Imagineering Story, and kid-friendly shows like Diary of a Future President, Zenimation, High School Musical: The Series and the Pixar shorts series Forky Asks A Question.
Disney Plus has a lot of non-fiction shows available to watch, like 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.
But what about the future?
The reason to be excited about the future of Disney Plus is its upcoming originals, a big-budget array of new Disney Plus shows that put the characters of Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars to work. The highlights for most adult viewers will be the upcoming canonical Marvel Cinematic Universe shows featuring characters from the movies, as well as new live-action Star Wars shows focused on popular heroes like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Cassian Andor.
WandaVision was the first Marvel Cinematic Universe TV show – it debuted in January 2021. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier followed in March 2021, with Loki coming in June. Ms Marvel and Hawkeye will follow this year too, along with the animated series What If…?.
Here’s what we know is coming up on Disney Plus in 2021 and beyond:
- WandaVision – January 15, 2021
- The Falcon and the Winter Soldier – March 19
- The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers – March 26
- Big Shot – April 16
- Star Wars: The Bad Batch – May 4
- Loki – June 11, 2021
- Mysterious Benedict Society – June 25
- Monsters at Work – July 2
- Zenimation season 2 – June 11
- Turner & Hooch – July 16
- Chip N Dale: Park Life – July 23
- What If…? – Summer 2021
- Hawkeye – Late 2021
- The Book of Boba Fett: December 2021
- Lando Calrissian series – TBA
- Star Wars: The Acolyte – TBA
- Star Wars: Visions – 2021
- Star Wars: Ahsoka – TBA
- Rangers of the New Republic – TBA
- Star Wars: Andor – 2022
- Secret Invasion – TBC
- Armor Wars – TBC
- Ironheart –TBC
- She-Hulk – TBC
- Moon Knight – TBC
- Ms. Marvel – Late 2021
- Cars – Late 2022
- Dug Days – Late 2021
- Iwájú – 2022
- Baymax – 2022
- Zootopia+ – 2022
- Tiana – 2022
- Moana – 2023
- Earthkeepers – TBC
- (Re) Connect – TBC
- Ink & Paint – TBC
- Beauty and the Beast Gaston and LeFou spin-off – TBC
- Obi-Wan Kenobi – TBC
- Lizzie McGuire sequel series – TBC
- Willow TV series – 2022
- Percy Jackson TV series – TBC
- National Treasure TV series – TBC
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 at fans of Disney, Marvel and Star Wars. It doesn’t have the adult content or variety you’ll find on other streaming services, 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, and international subscribers who get Star may 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 many of its best series coming long after launch. In a few years, though, with a regular rotation of Star Wars and Marvel shows to enjoy every few months, subscribing is going to be essential.