Disney Plus is a streaming service produced by Disney which can be viewed on multiple platforms, its library contains many of Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar and National Geographical Films and TV Series, it’s staggered released around the world and was released in the UK in March 2020, and currently retails at £5.99, though there was a year launch package for a reduced amount.
We are big Disney fans, even Boo and I throughout the years have seen countless Disney films (Boo is from Monsters Inc), the Kiddies then, of course, have been brought up on Disney and Pixar films, let alone that all three have watched multiple series through those years. Roo being older, has watched the teen stuff also both from the TV series channels and films like Descendants.
But what’s also great is the additions of things like Marvel and Starwars, let’s be honest Pixar has been essentially Disney forever lol but these two franchises are still relatively new, and for many (a lot of boys and men especially) this adds diversity in range and Tigger and I love these so for us it great.
Table of Contents
The App
The app itself has been launched on multiple devices, and they are on many that you would expect the like of Netflix, Amazon and youtube to be on, including IOS, Android, PS4, Xbox One, Smart TV, so without phones tablets and TVs we are all pretty covered.
The Layout of the app has continued the theme of many others with a menu style on the left, but essentially you go horizontal and vertical, up and down left an right through the genres and films/show in the list, Why things like Amazon don’t do this as efficient I don’t know but this method with things like Netflix, Sky, Youtube has become the norm, we have SKY Q and have activated out Disney Plus on it, which allows us another way to access it, again it’s still up and down, left and right.
They suggest big numbers of Films and shows etc, but on first use, it’s not very obvious at all, there is the search button which allows you to find what you’re looking for, even some films that aren’t on there yet, like Frozen 2, they will confirm that and in some cases announce when they are preliminarily scheduled to arrive, unfortunately, there isn’t consistency between UK, USA, Asia, Europe etc.
some stuff is out on one but not the other, this is partly because of licensing agreements and hopefully, this will be ironed out long term. It takes a little time to work ou how to use it and you are really relying on them on their showcasing items on their horizontal scrolling, it’s not easy for the first time uses but you will get used to it and what to look for, much like Netflix for example.
Some choices
Another potential big thing for some and a bigger one for the future is the age rating principle, there’s no doubt its aimed at PG13/ 12A in Uk, this causes problems on films and shows joining the service, like Deadpool, arguably one of the most popular franchises of the last couple of years that they now own, and they’re not here,
There’s already been a backlash on edited shows to keep inline, for example, Simpsons has been edited to be more politically and age correct, which is a shame, this is a huge worry as they now own Fox, which has countless apon countless Shows and films that could enter the streaming service, but they wouldn’t under this thought process, again due to licensing this make take some time to appear, and maybe Disney will do a separate service,
The big knockdown for me is that Youtube, Netflix, Sky etc. ave all created profiles or Kids versions of there apps, which solves this issue for the most part, and we use that in our house.
The choice though is still good, they have a big back catalogue and there are plenty of Disney films and series to enjoy, and the films especially have always been pricey so you can easily get your money’s worth, the shows were often on channels that many people may not have had before so would be watching them for the first time, the same could be said for Marvel and Star Wars, and it’s nice to see documentaries on there to break it up.
They are pushing there Originals currently, these are films and show that haven’t been anywhere else yet, this is fine and potentially down the road a big thing for them, it took Netflix a while to build that up, and Amazon is only now turning a corner with this.
Overall
Overall it’s a solid start, I remember Netflix starting and it was awkward, limited and ok, Amazon is still a nightmare to operate, whereas Disney has taken a lot from its competitors and are running with it, which is fine. If you’re an adult that’s not a huge fan of the animated library of Disney and Pixar, then this will be limited for you until they look at the Fox thing this will be an ongoing issue, but in a house that could cater for all of the family?
Then it’s good and well worth it, let’s be honest these categories cover a lot of people and you can find something that you like, and if you’re a Disney fan? then wow this is THE thing for you.
thank you for all this detailed info about Disney+ I’ve been thinking about joining as I love star wars but wasn’t sure if there would be enough to justify it as we don’t have kids.
We are loving it so far but we were disappointed that Frozen 2 wasn’t on there as they made such a big deal about it before the UK launch.
I love the old school Disney movies so no doubt I’d enjoy using Disney+. It would keep children occupied for hours on end I imagine.
I have been enjoying Disney+, mainly for all the throwback stuff like Recess, Doug and Gummi Bears. I appreciate the editing of The Simpsons etc (but C4 had been showing clean versions too on Sunday afternoons). Hopefully they will create a kids profile in the future!
I am so tempted with this as I think my daughter would love it, but we already have amazon and netflix – I think we need to have a good think about which ones we are using and should continue with.
For me I really enjoy Disney plus and haven’t noticed the difference in terms of kids content as we don’t have kids. I’ve been starting to watch the Disney movies I’ve not seen before, then my next challenge is to rewatch the Marvel movies in order x
Oh we didn’t buy into the hype for a while and only recently decided to give it a try . Definitely hooked! No going back now 🙂
I have been pondering about Disnew Plus and if I should subscribe to it as we are stuck at home now due to Covid. Looks like so many child friendly programs here which I know mine would love.
I really want to get this but I just don’t know if we have enough time to watch it in order to justify the expense!
This is an interesting read, I’ve been struggling with Disney+ I just find it isn’t well laid out, making it hard to just browse for things to watch, we’ve not watched a lot on it but will keep trying.
yeh i agree the up and down is ok like most streaming services, but everything else can be a little difficult which is frustrating, its not clear whats on it at first glance, i think the recommend needs a little work also, but its a positive start and I’m sure they will iron some of this out.