Disney Plus UK is set to celebrate its second birthday in March 2022 – and, wow, what a two years it’s been for the streaming platform so far.
It may have launched a long time after Netflix and Prime Video, but Disney Plus is certainly making its mark on the streaming world in the UK. Its vast library of content, including numerous Marvel movies and TV shows and its iconic animated film line-up, means that Disney Plus UK is in rude health. Add in the streaming service’s Star Wars productions, live-action flicks, and more mature content under the Disney Plus Star banner, and there’s plenty to wrap your eyes around.
And there’s much more on the way, too. From Marvel Phase 4 projects including Moon Knight to Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Star Wars TV series, Disney Plus UK subscribers will certainly get more bang for their buck over the next 12 months and beyond.
Away from Disney Plus UK’s immeasurable amount of films and TV shows, there are a lot of other cool, tech-based features that can make your viewing experience more pleasurable. SharePlay enables you to watch your favorite productions alongside family and friends at the same time, while Disney Plus’ parental control features ensure that your little ones can’t watch things that they shouldn’t be.
With all of that said, you may still be on the fence over whether it’s worth subscribing to Disney Plus UK. Allow us, then, to provide you with a helping hand on that front. Below, you’ll find even more information on Disney Plus UK, including how much it costs, what TV shows and movies are available to stream, what Disney Plus Premier Access is all about, and more. Don your favorite Mickey (or Minnie) Mouse ears and let’s dive in.
What is Disney Plus?
What is Disney Plus?
Think of Disney Plus as the House of Mouse’s version of Netflix. You get an extensive archive of Disney movies to watch, as well as a hefty back catalogue of Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar and National Geographic movies and TV shows. You’ve also got 31 seasons of The Simpsons to watch.
As of February 2021, MCU movies and TV shows, including Eternals and Hawkeye, had made their debuts on Disney Plus UK. Meanwhile, The Book of Boba Fett expanded the streamer’s Star Wars line-up, and Hulu/Disney Plus original series Pam and Tommy delved into the incredible true story behind the ’90s celebrity couple’s stolen sex tape.
Additionally, Disney Plus is supported on a whole number of devices, including mobile phones, video game consoles, computers, and streaming sticks/devices. You can check out what devices are supported in more detail further down this page.
Disney Plus: how to sign up
How to sign up to Disney Plus UK
To sign up for a Disney Plus subscription, head to the Disney Plus website. From here, you can create an account, pick which pricing tier you want, and enter your billing details to get started. Then, with your login details to hand, you can download Disney Plus onto the device of your choice.
Disney Plus UK free trial
Disney Plus free trial: is there one?
Unfortunately, there’s no Disney Plus UK free trial any more. It was discontinued in June 2020, so the cheapest way to get Disney Plus is by subscribing to its monthly deal. Alternatively, you can wait and see if Disney offers another sale deeper into the year.
Disney Plus UK price
Disney Plus UK price: how much is it?
As of February 2022, Disney Plus costs £7.99 per month or £79.90 per year. When it launched, it cost £5.99 per month or £59.99 per year, so it’s had a price increase since.
For a more in-depth look at Disney Plus’ pricing options, check out our dedicated guide.
Disney Plus Premier Access
Disney Plus Premier Access: what is it and how much is it?
Premier Access is a premium option that allows you to watch big new movies before they’re available to regular Disney Plus customers. Launched in September 2020, it was designed to give subscribers an option to watch major releases while cinemas were closed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mulan and Raya and the Last Dragon were the first movies to take advantage of this. Since then, films including Cruella, Black Widow and Jungle Cruise were also brought to Disney Plus using as Premier Access titles.
At £19.99 per movie, the cost of Premier Access may seem pricey – especially on top of your regular Disney Plus subscription. But, in most cases, it’ll be cheaper than taking the family to the cinema. There’s also the added bonus that you can watch the film again and again – as long as your Disney Plus subscription remains active.
If you don’t want to pay for Premier Access, releases tend to appear on the standard Disney Plus package around 90 days after release. Although, as the UK population starts to learn to live alongside Covid-19, cinemas countrywide are open for business as usual. That means that Disney Plus Premier Access titles may become more a rarity over the next few months and years.
Disney Plus Star: what is it?
What is Disney Plus Star?
In February 2021, Disney Plus Star – a new channel that sits on the homepage like Star Wars, Disney, Pixar, Marvel and National Geographic – arrived in the UK. With parental controls enabled, this allows users to watch adult TV shows and movies on the streaming service, and has doubled the amount of content available to subscribers of a certain age.
The line-up includes older content that Disney owns via other production houses, such as Fox Studios, which it bought in a multi-billion-dollar deal in 2019. As well as adding extensive library content to the service, like The X-Files, Lost, 24, Atlanta, How I Met Your Mother, Family Guy, Bob’s Burgers, The Walking Dead and a selection of the Die Hard movies, original shows are a massive part of the offering, here.
Originals on Star on Disney Plus include Pam and Tommy, Marvel’s Hit Monkey, Dopesick, American Horror Story, and Only Murders in the Building. Star is also the home of movies like The French Dispatch and Underwater, which were produced by its subsidiaries.
Star is included with your existing Disney Plus subscription, too, so you don’t have to pay extra to get it.
New Disney Plus movies and TV shows
Disney Plus UK new TV shows and movies: what’s coming up?
Disney Plus is constantly being updated with new movies and TV shows – and 2022 is set to be another bumper year for the streamer.
There are a slew of new MCU and Star Wars TV shows on the way, as well as Star Original films and those that have already been released in cinemas. Let’s take a look at some of the exciting movies and TV series set to debut this year:
NEW MOVIES FOR 2022 AND BEYOND
- West Side Story: March 2
- Fresh: March 4
- Pixar’s Turning Red: March 11
- Cheaper By The Dozen remake: March 18
- Chip ‘N’ Dale: Rescue Rangers: May 20
- Disenchanted: TBA
- Three Men and a Baby (remake): TBA
- Sister Act 3: TBA
- Peter Pan & Wendy: TBA
- Pinocchio (live-action): TBA
- Hocus Pocus 2: TBA
- The Santa Clause 3: TBA
These are the Disney Plus TV shows we know about, including a heap of new Star Wars and Marvel shows.
NEW TV SHOWS FOR 2022 AND BEYOND
- The Walking Dead Season 11B: February 21
- The Proud Family: Louder & Prouder: February 23
- The Dropout: March 3
- How I Met Your Father: March 9
- Moon Knight: March 30
- The Bad Batch season 2: spring 2022
- Obi-Wan Kenobi: May 25
- Ms. Marvel: summer 2022
- Andor: late 2022
- Pixar’s Cars: Late 2022
- Baymax: expected 2022
- Zootopia+: expected 2022
- She-Hulk: expected 2022
- Secret Invasion: expected 2022
- Willow TV series: expected 2022
- Pixar’s Win or Lose: Late 2023
- What If…? season 2: TBA
- Armor Wars: TBA
- Loki season 2: TBA
- Ironheart: TBA
- Wakanda spin-off: TBA
- Futurama revival: TBA
- Life and Beth: TBA
- Culprits: TBA
- The Mandalorian season 3: TBA
- Ahsoka: TBA
Disney Plus 4K and HDR support
Disney Plus supports 4K and HDR streams
Disney Plus supports 4K and HDR. When you’re in the app, head over to the ‘details’ tab of a given movie or show and you’ll see a section that says ‘available in the following formats’, which will explain if the content in question features 4K Ultra HD and HDR.
Additionally, Disney Plus UK offers additional support to Marvel movies with its Enhanced Mode. This allows users to watch certain MCU superhero flicks in IMAX cinema mode – i.e. allowing you to see more of what’s on the screen due to its larger aspect ratio. You can learn more about Enhanced Mode here.
Disney Plus: apps and compatible devices
Disney Plus UK: compatible devices and apps
Disney Plus is available on almost any device in the UK, including mobile phones, games consoles, streaming media devices and many of the best smart TVs. You can take Disney Plus on the go, too, downloading as many movies and shows as you can fit on your device. That is, as long as you have an active subscription and connect to the internet every 30 days.
Disney Plus UK is available on LG TVs, Sky Q, Apple TV, Roku streaming devices, Android (5.0 and later), iOS (11.0 and later), PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, LG WebOS smart TVs, Samsung Tizen smart TVs, Google Chromecast, Now TV, and Amazon’s Fire range of streaming devices. One notable exception is the Nintendo Switch, which is still pretty poor at supporting streaming services.
Phillips’ Android-based smart TVs support Disney Plus, too. Your Samsung TV may be able to get Disney Plus, as well. Read our guide and discover if your TV can support it.
You can search for and download Disney Plus on the device of your choice, but here are some app links if you’re having a bit of trouble. Disney Plus is available in web browsers, on Smart TVs, through Amazon devices, iOS, Android, PlayStation consoles, Xbox devices, Roku sticks, and almost everything else (except Nintendo Switch).
Disney Plus parental controls
Disney Plus parental controls: what are they?
Launching in February 2021, Disney Plus’ parental controls feature allows adults to restrict the type of content that children and young teens consume via the streamer.
Disney Plus offers subscribers the chance to create up to seven profiles on one account, which can be tailored to each user’s age. Parents can create access limits on various profiles (based on their content ratings), as well as being able to set profile PIN locks that prevent youngsters from accessing R-rated Disney Plus content.
Additionally, Disney Plus also provides the opportunity to create Kid profiles. This option only contains content that’s suitable for children aged seven and younger, so there’ll be no chance of them accessing mature movies and TV shows.
To create a Kid profile, or to stop children and young teens from seeing content that they shouldn’t be watching, open up your user profile menu. Navigate to the ‘edit profiles’ section, and choose a profile to change. From here, you can add specific parental controls to each profile. Once you’re finished, click ‘done’ to let these changes take effect.
Disney Plus SharePlay and GroupWatch
Disney Plus SharePlay and GroupWatch: what’s the difference?
Released in December 2021, SharePlay is a new and exclusive Apple device-supported feature that allows Disney Plus subscribers to watch content with their friends and family.
Supported on iPhones, iPads and Apple TV devices, SharePlay enables up to 32 users to simultaneously watch the same movie or TV show via FaceTime. Users have the opportunity to select the audio settings of their choice, too, while individual subscribers can add subtitles if necessary. SharePlay is only compatible with tvOS 15.1, iOS 15.1, and iPadOS 15.1, though, so owners with devices on older software won’t be able to use it.
For non-Apple device users, or those running software older than iOS 15, Disney Plus’ GroupWatch offers an alternative. Launching in September 2020, GroupWatch enables up to seven people to watch a synced-up film or TV series across any number of devices. Subscribers can react in real-time to watch they’re watching, too, using the in-built emoji system that GroupWatch employs. Interested parties can find out more in our dedicated GroupWatch hub.