Disney Plus is a streaming service operated by entertainment giant Disney. After launching in Australia on 19 November 2019, just a week after it debuted in the US, Canada and the Netherlands.
Starting off as just a historical vault of Disney classics, Disney Plus has since grown to be the second-biggest streaming service in the world after Netflix.
Subscribers get a mix of TV shows and movies, with an emphasis on original productions you can't watch anywhere else. Highlights include original shows like The Mandalorian, long-running series The Simpsons, reality hit The Kardashians, Star originals like Only Murders in the Building. Plus, you get a whole bunch of other goodies, including Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars blockbusters.
Get Disney+ for $13.99 per month - cancel any time
Subscriptions to Disney Plus in Australia cost $13.99 a month or $139.99 for an entire year. Both packages give you the exact same offering in content, simultaneous streams and devices. The only difference is committing to an entire year gets you a 16.61% discount compared to paying monthly.
From 5 March 2024, Disney Plus will be available with 2 subscription options. A Standard plan will cost $13.99 a month, but only allows 2 simultaneous streams and HD resolution. For $17.99 a month you will get the Premium plan, which gets you 4K resolution and 4 streams at the one time.
Although there was initially a 7-day free trial at launch, Disney Plus stopped offering it on 19 June 2020. Special promotions or bundles may be available again in the future, such as with Disney Plus Day.
The easiest way to create a Disney Plus account is via the official website. To sign up to Disney Plus, all you need is an email address plus your debit or credit card. Register for an account, drop in your card details and you'll be good to start watching.
If you currently use a friends or family members account, you may soon need to get your own as Disney Plus will crackdown on account sharing like Netflix has.
If you're looking for a different way to sign up, you may want to purchase a Disney Plus gift subscription. There's no option to get anything other than an annual gift card, which you can get through the Disney Plus gift subscription page.
The online service gives users access to a generous library of TV shows and movies from the Disney catalogue, as well as titles from Marvel, Lucasfilm, Pixar, National Geographic, ESPN, 20th Century Studios and Hulu. We monitor Disney Plus content additions and removals daily and the streaming service has 949 TV shows and 2,055 movies in its library.
On the TV front, Disney Plus offers hours of Disney Channel programming, but also original productions made especially for the streaming service. The list features Star Wars spin-off The Mandalorian, which became an international hit shortly after its release. Other Star Wars originals include The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Andor.
Subscribers get a lot of new Marvel TV series as well, from She Hulk: Attorney at Law to Ms. Marvel to Werewolf by Night and beyond. The platform also now hosts the Marvel shows previously on Netflix: Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders and The Punisher.
Star is a Disney Plus hub that hosts content for adults. It's the closest thing to Hulu that countries outside the US can get. Originally, Disney Plus was strictly family-focused, but the arrival of the Star channel added more adult-skewed programming. It hosts popular titles such as the Deadpool franchise, Grey's Anatomy, Family Guy, American Horror Story and Criminal Minds to name a few. It also offers originals such as Dopesick, The Dropout, The Bear and The Old Man.
On the movie front, Disney Plus is becoming the exclusive streaming destination for all titles under the Disney umbrella. The likes of Lightyear, Eternals, Encanto and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness have all found a streaming home on Disney Plus after theatrical release.
The service has Australian originals too, including Matildas: The World at Our Feet and The Clearing.
Meanwhile, Star hosts films targeted to a more adult audience such as The Menu, Prey, Fire Island and more. All in all, it's enough content to last you a couple of lifetimes.
The media giant is planning to launch a lot of shows and movies based on existing properties.
Marvel fan? Keep an eye out for upcoming TV series Ironheart, Agatha: House of Harkness, Spider-Man: Freshman Year, Marvel Zombies and a Daredevil reboot.
On the Star Wars side of things, the list of upcoming releases includes Lando, The Acolyte, as well as a spin-off from The Mandalorian titled Rangers of the New Republic.
Star Originals are also making noise. Upcoming titles under the Star banner include crime thriller Culprits.
Disney Plus 2024 release highlights include the following:
Sign up to Disney+ to stream thousands of movies and shows
Disney Plus can be viewed on more devices than nearly any other streaming service.
If you need any help at all with getting started, we have a guide for setting up Disney Plus on every device.
Disney Plus was ranked the number 1 streaming service by customers. It topped the categories for both its range and quality of content. Around 92% of respondents said they would recommend Disney Plus, which was the most of all the streaming services surveyed.
Despite joining an increasingly crowded marketplace, Disney Plus stacks up really well. Compared to other streaming services that offer 4K and multiple devices for example, Disney Plus costs less than the premium plans from Stan and Netflix. There are streaming services that are cheaper than Disney Plus – Prime Video and Apple TV Plus are just a couple, along with more niche services.
You can read more about how Disney Plus stacks up against some of the major streaming services below.
In Australia, Disney Plus packs a wide content library, fun features and an affordable price given it supports 4 simultaneous streams.
Since it offers content from Marvel, Lucasfilm, Pixar Fox Studios and National Geographic, the Force will continue to be strong for Disney Plus. After all, these are some of the biggest media franchises in the world.
Removing the free trial hasn't seemed to affect consumers' willingness to test out the platform, as it has well and truly broken through the 160 million subscriber barrier globally. If you're still tossing up whether it's right for you, check out our list of the best Disney Plus shows and the best Disney Plus movies.
Every TV show and movie launching on the new Disney+ Star channel.
Disney Plus annual gift subscriptions are now available in Australia.
Looking for a show that will make you chuckle? You’re in the right place.
Wondering which devices are supported by Disney Plus?
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Is your favourite available?
See the complete and up-to-date list of movies on Disney Plus Australia right now.
Here's the complete list of shows on Disney Plus in Australia right now.
Here's what is coming to Disney Plus in the near future.
