Is Disney+ Worth Getting and Worth the Money?

These days, there are a lot of streaming services available to choose from. So much so that it’s difficult to decide which ones are worth getting and which ones represent good value for money. And that includes Disney+.

In this article, we’ll help you decide whether Disney+ is worth getting for the money. We’ll also compare Disney+—which offers access to movies and shows from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic—to other streaming services.

How Much Does Disney+ Cost?

At $6.99/month (in the US), Disney+ is one of the cheapest paid streaming services available. For that price, you can add seven profiles to your account and watch movies or TV shows on four devices at a time.

You can also sign up for a one year subscription with an upfront payment of $69.99. That’s the equivalent of $5.83/month, making Disney+ even cheaper.

If you aren’t ready to sign up to Disney+ just yet, you can try out Disney+ for yourself with a seven-day free trial.

Disney+ content is available to stream or download on almost every device you own, including your TV, smartphone, tablet, and laptop. And you don’t need to pay extra to unlock 4K video, which is the case for some of the best streaming TV services.

There are absolutely no adverts and the service is packed with thousands of hours of content.

How the Price of Disney+ Compares to Other Services

The biggest competitors to Disney+ are Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu. Each of these services offers a wider range of plans, with certain features locked behind paywalls. Other streaming services also exist, like Apple TV+, but since Apple is limited to original content its library pales in comparison to the competition.

Netflix offers three subscription plans: Basic, Standard, and Premium. The Basic plan costs $8.99/month—which is already more expensive than Disney+—and only lets you watch standard definition videos on a single screen at a time.

Amazon also offers a basic Prime Video subscription for $8.99/month. But most people go for the $12.99/month option to get unlimited music streaming, photo storage, and reading as well. You can watch Prime Video movies or TV shows on three different screens at once. And since it’s Amazon Prime, you also get free two-day shipping.

Also owned by Disney, Hulu is the only option with a lower subscription fee at $5.99/month. That said, you can still get Disney+ cheaper by signing up for an entire year. You also need to pay more for Hulu if you want to unlock extra channels or get rid of the adverts.

What You Get With Disney+

Disney+ includes Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, and Disney content. This collection covers an enormous number of TV shows alongside some of the best movies ever made.

We’ve already written about the best movies and TV shows to watch on Disney+. However, the highlights include Disney’s animated feature films, the Star Wars movies, and the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Considering that many of these movies still sell for $20 each on the iTunes Store, getting access to all of them for $5.99/month makes Disney+ a pretty good deal.

Original Disney+ Content

Most of the movies you’re likely to watch on Disney+ were enormously successful releases. That means you’ve probably seen them several times already and you might even own them on DVD or Blu-ray. In the long run, you’re probably going to be more interested in Disney’s original content.

The Mandalorian is the biggest show on Disney+. And it’s possibly the only one worth talking about. There aren’t a huge number of original titles yet, and while many of them are enjoyable, none has taken the world by storm like The Mandalorian (mainly thanks to “Baby Yoda”).

Disney+ will also be the home to future Marvel and Star Wars live-action shows. These are expected to include The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, WandaVision, and more live-action Star Wars spinoffs. Many of these shows are likely to tie-in to future cinematic releases, meaning they will be essential viewing for a lot of fans.

Take note that Disney releases original episodes weekly. So if you want to binge an entire season in one month, you should wait until every episode is released before you sign up.

How the Content Library Compares to Other Services

Because Disney owns the rights to all of this content, Disney+ is likely to have a more stable library than other services. While movies frequently appear and disappear from Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Hulu, those that are on Disney+ are there to stay.

However, this stability comes at a cost: Disney’s library isn’t as broad or varied as other services. Most of the TV shows are from The Disney Channel and everything is family-friendly.

In contrast, other services give you fresh movies or TV shows all the time as they cycle content through the platform. You also get a wider range of viewing options, with Hulu offering everything from Family Guy to Teen Titans, for example.

What You Don’t Get With Disney+

Disney has a well-established brand to maintain, which means there is no mature content available on Disney+. Everything is rated PG-13 or lower, making it a perfect safe space for kids, but a little too sanitized for adults.

Don’t expect to find shows like Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead on Disney+ any time soon.

What’s more, each of the major franchises on Disney+ is better known for its movies than its TV shows. As a result, there’s a disappointing lack of quality TV shows for you to watch when you don’t have time to watch a full movie.

20th Century Fox Content

In 2019, Disney purchased 20th Century Fox. However, there isn’t much Fox content on the platform yet. It’s possible this is because Disney needs to maintain its family-friendly brand, which isn’t possible if it offers up Family Guy, Die Hard, and the Alien movies to stream.

At the moment, the only major Fox titles available on Disney+ are The Simpsons, Avatar, and some of the X-Men movies. Still, there’s no Deadpool and no Logan because those were both rated R.

It’s possible that Disney will filter more Fox content into its platform in the future. This would make Disney+ more worthwhile for adult subscribers. However, some speculators predict that that’s what Disney intends to use Hulu for instead.

Is Disney+ Worth Getting for the Money?

If you like the look of the movies and TV shows available to watch on Disney+ then it’s well worth the money. Purely in terms of the numbers, the subscription fee is cheap compared to a lot of other streaming services. And you get access to a lot of popular and highly-rated movies.

If you have children who might enjoy Disney Channel titles and Marvel cartoons, there’s a seemingly endless number of TV shows for them to watch as well. However, there aren’t a great deal of quality shows for adults outside of The Mandalorian and The Simpsons.

Hopefully that changes in the future as Disney releases more originals and/or introduces more 20th Century Fox content. But only time will tell.

To summarize, Disney+ is absolutely worth getting if you want to watch Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel, and Disney movies, plus some interesting documentaries courtesy of National Geographic. There are also plenty of classic films worth watching on Disney+.

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