Is Disney Plus worth it for UK subscribers?
Is Disney Plus the streaming platform for you? We're taking a look to help you decide.
Disney Plus is going from strength to strength as a streaming service. It's packed with must-watch content and well-loved franchises like Star Wars, Indiana Jones (including the Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny movie) and the new Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, but is it worth your money? And how does it compare to the competition?
The RadioTimes.com team have spent plenty of time sizing up the different platforms and evaluating their best offerings, so we're in a great place to help you decide whether Disney Plus is the right streaming service for you.
This guide tells you everything you need to know about getting Disney Plus right now, including the best shows to look out for and the potential drawbacks. Stay tuned for our thoughts — and if you're already sure Disney Plus is the streaming platform for you, check out our Disney Plus offers guide for the latest deals.
Sign-up to Disney Plus from £4.99 per month
If there's one thing we like to do, it's compare top services. For more comparisons, check out Apple Music vs Spotify, Spotify vs Amazon Music and Amazon Music vs Apple Music.
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Is Disney Plus worth it?
This is the big question. Is Disney Plus worth it? To answer it, the first note is around price.
There are three types of subscription plan at Disney Plus. A Standard with Ads plan usually costs £4.99 per month, a Standard subscription costs £7.99 per month and a Premium subscription costs £10.99 per month.
Normally, Disney Plus Standard costs £7.99 per month, but you can get it a little cheaper if you pay £79.90 for the whole year (which essentially bags you two months of streaming for free). There's a similar deal with Disney Plus Premium: subscriptions cost £10.99 per month, or just £109.90 for the entire year.
For all the latest info on the streaming service's new prices, check out the Disney Plus ad tiers explained.
So how does this compare to other streaming services?
Netflix's Standard subscription will set you back £10.99 per month, although the streaming platform does have a 'with adverts' membership for just £4.99 a month. The Amazon Prime membership is £8.99 per month or £95 for the whole year. At NOW, Entertainment and Cinema members can get the channels for £9.99 a month each. So, all in all, Disney Plus is one of the cheaper streaming services out there.
Plus, it offers a wealth of original content, as well as nostalgic classics we all know and love, such as Lilo & Stitch and A Bug's Life.
Sign-up to Disney Plus from £4.99 per month
For more information on the various streaming services, take a look at our best streaming service UK guide.
What Disney Plus does well
If you're a fan of superheroes and sci-fi, Disney Plus is an absolute must-have. There's full access to all-things Marvel, including the latest series Echo and Secret Invasion, plus classics like the Avengers films. On the sci-fi side there's Star Wars, of course, and its spin-offs like The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka.
It's not all sci-fi and superheroes, though. Also among the best Disney Plus shows is Only Murders in the Building, the dark comedy starring Selena Gomez and, this season, Meryl Streep. Elsewhere, there's adult comedy like Family Guy and hard-hitting dramas such as It's a Sin.
Disney Plus also has exclusive access to exciting new releases, including Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and the brand new Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.
There are plenty of great movies on Disney Plus right now, too. From Avengers: Endgame to Titanic, and Monsters Inc to Predator, there's a great range and something to suit every taste.
What Disney Plus could do better
While it's exciting to see the latest releases from big familiar franchises, they're not always faultless. In our Ahsoka review, the team criticised the latest Star Wars spin-off show for ultimately offering "a slightly slow start to the Disney Plus show". Some potentially world-ending problems are figured out all too easily and ultimately, it's not the best time we've ever spent in the Star Wars universe.
Similarly, while Marvel's heroes and villains have immense popularity on their side, that hasn't always gone hand-in-hand with critical acclaim.
Notably, Disney Plus is also short on smaller, more independent productions that are easier to find on competing platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
Sign-up to Disney Plus from £4.99 per month
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Our verdict: should you subscribe to Disney Plus?
For many, the big, popular franchises that Disney Plus offers will make it a must-have streaming subscription. Clearly that's been the case over the last year, as growing subscriber numbers show.
Plus, the subscription service is the only place you can watch Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor's Version).
However, at times we've seen Disney lean a little too heavily on established brands and characters, rather than offering fresh content from smaller, independent studios. Sometimes, this has led to the big beasts, Star Wars and Marvel, offering us less than impressive new entries. Examples like Morbius —which our reviewers gave two stars — and Stargirl spring to mind.
Really, it's going to come down to your tastes. While Disney Plus has plenty to offer apart from superheroes, kids content and sci-fi, it definitely leans on those categories. Check out our guide to the content on Disney Plus UK to help you make a more informed decision, or take a look at our guide to the best Disney Plus shows.
Sign-up to Disney Plus from £4.99 per month
Searching for some savings? Be sure to check out Sky Sports offers and BT Sport offers.
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