Disney Plus Review 2021: Plans, Pricing, and More

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• Deals and promotions
• Plans and pricing
• Vs. the competition
• Movies and shows
• Specs and features

What is Disney+?

Disney+ is an on-demand streaming service that’s gained over 116 million subscribers since its December 2019 launch, so you’ve probably heard of it. Besides Disney movies and TV shows, Disney+ is also the streaming home of most things Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic. (We almost forgot The Muppets and The Simpsons—d’oh!)

Disney+ also produces original content like The Mandalorian, WandaVision, Loki, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, and even some shows outside of the Marvel and Star Wars universes, like High School Musical: The Musical: The Series and The Beatles: Get Back. In all, there are over 70 Disney+ originals—not quite Netflix numbers yet, but this Mouse House is expanding fast.

Is Disney+ good?

At $7.99 a month, Disney+ is a decent streaming deal even if you don’t have kiddies in need of digital babysitting. It has over 7,000 movies and TV shows that aren’t available anywhere else, meaning you could clear all those beat-up Disney DVDs out of the garage and maybe park your car (or Tauntaun) in there again.

Disney+ is our obvious editorial pick for best on-demand streaming service for kids, but there’s plenty here for adults, too. Well, adults who are into cartoons, lightsabers, and superheroes, that is. If you need more PG-13-and-above fare, you can bundle Disney+ with Hulu and ESPN+.

Disney+ pros and cons

• Over 7,000 movies and TV shows
• 4K capability

• Content limited to PG-13 and below
• No same-day theatrical releases

Disney+ deals and promotions

If you want to save in the long run, you can take the plunge on Disney+’s $79.99-per-year deal. You’ll save $15.89 annually.

Or you can up your streaming game with a bundle that includes Disney+, ESPN+, and (ad-supported) Hulu for only $13.99 per month. You’ll save $6.98 per month on the cost of the three services separately. This bundle is also available with ad-free Hulu, ad-supported Hulu + Live TV, and ad-free Hulu + Live TV.

Disney+ plans and pricing

Data effective as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

Most streaming services offer a discounted annual plan, but not all of them let you know about it upfront, so always look into those FAQ sections. Disney+’s yearly $79.99 service plan can save you about $16.00 over monthly payments—a better choice if you plan to keep streaming all year.

Streaming TV’s favorite bundle, Disney+/Hulu/ESPN+ for $13.99 a month, can save you about $6.00 a month, or $72.00 annually. This bundle also applies to ad-free Hulu (which can be had $19.99 a month).

Disney Plus vs. the competition

Data effective as of post date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

Disney+ is in the middle of the streaming pack, cost-wise. Apple TV+ and Paramount+ are cheaper, HBO Max is more expensive, and Netflix starts at the same price. They all have their own exclusive content, but Disney+’s equally-essential catalog of Marvel, Star Wars, and (of course) Disney properties is pretty compelling.

Movies and shows on Disney+

On-demand movies and shows

Did we say Disney+’s content is compelling? More like staggering: Disney+ carries almost every Disney classic and recent favorite, from 1940’s Fantasia to 2021’s Luca. We say “almost” every classic because there are a few gaps in the Disney+ collection, like the 2007 live-action fairytale Enchanted and 1970 farce The Boatniks, among hundreds of others. Don’t even ask about 1946’s Song of the South.

Still, with thousands of movies and shows to choose from, it’s unlikely you’re going to be mad about not finding Lindsay Lohan’s Herbie: Fully Loaded on Disney+ (it’s on HBO Max, fyi).

Movies on Disney+ (partial list)

• Aladdin
• Avatar
• Avengers: Endgame
• Black Panther
• Black Widow
• Blank Check
• Brave
• Cars
• Coco
• Flubber

• Freaky Friday
• Hamilton
• Hocus Pocus
• Incredibles
• Jungle Cruise
• Mulan
• Muppets Most Wanted
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Rocketeer
• Up

TV shows on Disney+ (partial list)

• Agent Carter
• Andi Mack
• Boy Meets World
• Doug
• DuckTales
• Even Stevens
• Gravity Falls
• Hannah Montana
• Kim Possible
• Lizzie McGuire

• Muppet Show
• Once Upon a Time
• Phineas & Ferb
• Running Wild with Bear Grylls
• Simpsons
• Spider-Man
• Star Wars: Rebels
• Suite Life of Zack & Cody
• That’s So Raven
• Wizards of Waverly Place

Original shows and movies

Disney+ made a major splash right out of the gate with its original The Mandalorian Star Wars series that gifted the world with Baby Yoda (sorry, sorry—“Grogu”). After that, Marvel took over the buzz with WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and Loki.

It’s not all about Star Wars and Marvel, though: Disney+ has also stepped up with more down-to-earth fare like Doogie Kamealoha, M.D. (an update on Doogie Houser from the ‘80s), Big Shot (a sports comedy starring John Stamos), and Just Beyond (a Twilight Zone for tweens).

On the movie front, you probably know about the animated Pixar offerings Soul and Luca, as well as Beyonce’s Black is King and Billie Eilish’s Happier Than Ever. Disney+ originals may be family-friendly, but they’re far from predictable.

Original shows and movies on Disney+ (partial list)

• Big Shot
• Black is King
• Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.
• Forky Asks a Question
• Godmothered
• Happier Than Ever
• High School Musical: The Musical: The Series
• Just Beyond
• Loki
• Luca

• The Mandalorian
• Muppets Haunted Mansion
• The Mysterious Benedict Society
• Soul
• Star Wars: The Bad Batch
• Taylor Swift: Folklore
• The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
• Turner & Hooch
• WandaVision
• What If . . . ?

Disney+ specs and features

Disney+ allows for up to seven personal profiles and gives you dozens of avatars from Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, National Geographic, The Muppets, The Simpsons, and other universes to choose from. We’re partial to Dug the Dog from Up.

If you want to keep the little kids away from the big kids’ content, Disney+ also features customizable, PIN-locked parental controls for each profile. PG-13 is as intense as the streaming service’s content gets, but it’s a nice option to have.

Multiple streams

Four simultaneous streams is a minor upgrade from the three most streaming services give you, for sure. If you have more housemates to keep entertained, Disney+ also offers unlimited offline downloads for up to 10 devices as a workaround. Bravo, Mickey!

Supported devices

Data effective as of post date.

Disney+ is compatible with every major streaming device there is, with the exception of Nintendo products. We’ve seen few streaming services that cover this many bases, so chalk up another win for Disney+.

Video and audio quality

Disney+ streams in 1080p HD, with some content available in 4K Ultra HD, HDR10, and Dolby Vision. Many older Disney movies and shows have been remastered to take advantage of Disney+’s eye-popping visual capabilities, but don’t expect the first few seasons of The Simpsons to look as sleek as The Mandalorian.

Disney+’s audio output is standard 2.0 stereo or Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, depending on the movie or show. Some newer titles feature Dolby Atmos audio, if your system can handle it.

The Disney+ home screen as seen on a computer browser.

Final take: Is Disney+ worth it?

Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, The Simpsons, and The Muppets? That’s a pop-cultural Mount Rushmore.

If you have children in the household, we think Disney+ is a must-have streaming service—but we wouldn’t limit it to just the kids (or kids at heart). The phrase “something for the whole family” gets tossed around a lot, but Disney+ fits that bill almost perfectly for just $7.99 a month.

The only real limitation of Disney+ is its lack of adult content above the PG-13 level (c’mon, it’s Disney). But, if you need more grown-up viewing in your streaming life, there’s always the Disney+/Hulu/ESPN+ bundle starting at $13.99 a month. As with Disneyland and its other theme parks, Disney’s mission is to leave no customer unsatisfied—or cash left on the table.

Get Disney+

Disney Plus FAQ

Methodology

Our TV experts spent many magical hours in the land of Disney+, rating the service on value, reliability, features, and customer satisfaction. Then we matched it up against other on-demand streaming TV services head to head to give a clearer picture of its strengths and weaknesses. For more information on our methodology, check out our How We Rank page.

By Trevor Wheelright

Disney+ surpassed its four-year goal of reaching 60–90 million subscribers in only nine months, gaining a reported 100 million subscribers so far—and the streaming service isn’t even live worldwide yet.^{1, 2} While new hits like Onward, Beyonce’s Black Is King, and Hamilton attract viewers to Disney+, nostalgic fans can use the service to find their favorite Disney Channel Original Movies.

Using Google Trends data, we broke down searches across America to find each state’s most-searched Disney Channel Original Movie (we’ll call them “favorites”).^{3, 4}

We decided to include films up until 2010 to nail that nostalgia factor and bring back all those warm, fuzzy memories of growing up with movies like Brink!, Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century, and Smart House.

Most Popular Disney Channel Original Movie in Your State

Do you remember these forgotten favorites?

This list might help bring back a few memories. Who remembers the basketball-playing twins in Double Teamed? West Virginia does. Basketball fans might also remember Full-Court Miracle. Or you might like the girl-powered gusto of Gotta Kick It Up!

Or did you see each of the sequels for Halloweentown, The Cheetah Girls, or Johnny Tsunami? Zenon: The Zequel was the follow-up favorite in three states: Arkansas, Iowa, and Missouri.

We were also surprised at how many older favorites were getting revisited with their own Disney Channel Original Movies. Some were Disney Channel TV shows, like The Famous Jett Jackson, which came back with Jett Jackson: The Movie (a favorite for Illinois and Michigan).

And Harriet the Spy: Blog Wars isn’t a reboot of the Nickelodeon movie you might remember, but instead it’s a modernized version based on the novel (a favorite in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia).

What’s your state’s connection to its favorite Disney Channel Original Movie?

• The Luck of the Irish is Montana’s favorite, and it turns out that Butte, Montana has the largest Irish population per capita.⁵ (You learn something new every day!)
• The first Disney Channel Original Movie original movie Under Wraps made it onto the list as Maine’s favorite. And there’s a bit of an urban legend in Maine around using mummies to help make paper (experts say that’s too much “dead weight” to make economic sense).⁶
• Utah continues to be the source for enduring High School Musical support. Last year, East High School in Salt Lake City, Utah, where they filmed the movie, had its students perform the musical.⁷

What do you think about your state’s favorite? Any interesting connections?

While you’re staying inside and social distancing during the pandemic, you might enjoy some of our old favorites on Disney+. So, call up your friends, set up a simultaneous stream party, and revisit some classic Disney Channel Original Movies.

What do you think of your state’s favorites? Let us know in the comments below.

Methodology

To find each state’s favorite Disney Channel Original Movie, we cross-referenced a complete list of Disney Channel Original Movies of Disney Channel Original Movies (with release dates up until 2010) against state-specific search data from Google Trends.

Sources

1. Julian Boorstin, CNBC, “Q2 Was a Tipping Point in Streaming Wars. Here’s How the Media Giants Stack Up,” August 7, 2020. Accessed August 7, 2020.
2. Lauren Feiner, Sarah Whitten, CNBC, “Disney Shares Pop after It Reveals 100 Million Streaming Subscribers and Plans to Launch a New Streaming Service,” August 5, 2020. Accessed August 7, 2020.
3. List Challenges, “Complete List of Disney Channel Original Movies,” Accessed August 3, 2020.
4. Google, “Google Trends,” Accessed August 3, 2020.
5. Matt Villano, AFAR, “The Most Irish City in the United States Isn’t What You Think It Is,” March 16, 2017. Accessed August 7, 2020.
6. Julia Bayly, Bangor Daily News, “Unwrapping the Connection between Egyptian Mummies and Maine Papermaking,” October 26, 2012. Accessed August 7, 2020.
7. Scott D. Pierce, Salt Lake Tribune, “High School Musical’ Returns as East High School and Salt Lake City Finally Get to Play Themselves,” November 19, 2019. Accessed August 7, 2020.