Everything you need to know about Disney Plus
Disney has been one of the biggest and most loved content creators for decades. Ever since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premiered in 1937, Disney has been a household name with countless hit movies and shows that generations have grown up with.
Now with its own streaming service Disney+ (pronounced Disney Plus), available in Australia, everyone can now relive their childhoods and show the younger generations the classics that we all know and love. Let’s take a look at what you can expect when you sign up to Disney+.
What is Disney+?
Disney+ is Disney’s own version of a subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) streaming service where you can expect a library of films and shows. Not only does Disney have a huge selection of animated and live-action films and shows under the Disney brand, you’ll also find shows and movies from other content producers under the Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars (Lucasfilm), National Geographic brands and more.
Much like other streaming services, you’ll have access to a library of shows and movies, but the real stand out for Disney+ is that this is very much a family-friendly streaming platform, with the exception of Star — a separate category on the platform which houses the content for more mature audiences. This separate category means it’s still easy to keep Disney+ very family friendly, and you are able to set up a Kids Profile for children under the age of seven. It also makes navigating the platform easier as you simply choose the ‘Star’ category to find a huge range of shows and movies for the more mature audience.
Disney is also one of the few production companies to release its streaming service outside the US. While many TV networks and production companies in the US, such as HBO, release their own streaming platforms, these companies rarely launch these platforms outside the US. Instead these companies license content to Aussie pay TV and streaming platforms such as Foxtel, Stan and Netflix.
How much does Disney+ cost in Australia?
Like most other streaming services, Disney+ is a paid subscription service. However, unlike many of its competitors, there is no tiered pricing. All of the features available on Disney+ will be available for the one subscription price of $13.99 per month. You also have the option to prepay for a year at $139.99, which works out to be a 16.6% saving, so you can score some savings if you’re willing to prepay.
| Brand | Subscription Type | No. of Screens/same time viewing | Advertised Cost^^/month or year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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min. cost $13.99 over one month |
4 | $13.99 |
Get Deal |
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min. cost $139.99 over one year |
4 | $139.99 |
Get Deal |
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^^View important information | |||
What is Disney+ Premier Access?
Disney+ Premier Access is an additional purchase option for Disney+ subscribers who want to catch the latest release from Disney studios. Users will have to pay an additional one-time fee – generally around $30 – and gain early access to movies that are still playing in cinemas, with titles released through Premier Access including Mulan, Cruella and Jungle Cruise. However, once users have paid the one-time fee, they can watch the title as much as they want, helping to take some sting out of the cost.
Alternatively, if you’re not keen on paying the additional fee, titles released through Premier Access are generally added to the Disney+ content library a few months later, meaning subscribers can watch them without having to pay extra.
Does Disney+ have a free trial?
Unfortunately for fans of Disney, Disney+ does not have a free trial anymore. Despite launching with a 7-day free trial, it removed the free trial in mid-2020.
- Check out our guide to see which streaming services offer free trials.
What do you get with a Disney+ subscription?
Most streaming platforms offer tiered subscriptions, with restricted features or access on each tier. However, Disney+ doesn’t follow this trend, offering all features on the one plan. Features available on Disney+ are detailed below.
| Disney+ Plan | |
|---|---|
| Monthly price | $13.99 (or around $11.66 when you prepay $139.99 for a year) |
| HD available | |
| 4K Ultra HD available (select titles) | |
| Video downloading available | |
| No. of screens/devices you can watch on at the same time | 4 |
| No. of profiles you can create | 7 |
| Free trial |
How to watch Disney+
Disney+ is available to stream on a multitude of devices, from TVs, mobile devices and tablets, as well as gaming consoles.
If you want to watch Disney+ on your TV, the Disney+ app should be available on Smart TVs from LG, Samsung and Panasonic, along with via Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Android TV devices and Roku services, or through Fetch TV, Telstra TV and Foxtel.
Disney+ is also compatible with Chrome, Mac and Windows operating systems, Android and Apple phones and tablets, along with Xbox One, Xbox Series S & X, along with the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 gaming consoles.
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What to watch on Disney+ Australia
If you’re a big Disney, Marvel or Star Wars fan, you’ll probably already have your mind made up as to whether you’ll be signing up to the streaming service. After all, Disney+ is the streaming home to much of this content, not to mention the original programming. Here is a list of Disney+ shows, documentaries and movies which is available to stream in Australia now:
- WandaVision
- The Mandalorian (Season 1 and 2)
- Soul
- Raya and the Last Dragon
- Artemis Fowl
- High School Musical: The Musical: The Series
- Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian
- Forky Asks A Question
- SparkShorts
- Encore!
- Marvel’s Hero Project
- The Imagineering Story
- Lady and the Tramp (live-action remake)
- Noelle
As Disney owns many assets, you can expect a fairly expansive library of content. Here is a selection of what shows and movies you can now stream on Disney+ in Australia, including Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic, along with its more recently acquired Fox assets.
Shows and movies you can now stream on Disney+ in Australia:
- 101 Dalmatians
- A Bug’s Life
- A Goofy Movie
- Aladdin
- Ant-Man & Ant-Man and the Wasp
- Bambi
- Bao
- Beauty and the Beast
- Black Panther
- Captain America (including The First Avenger, The Winter Soldier & Civil War)
- Captain Marvel
- Cars
- Darkwing Duck
- Doctor Strange
- Ducktales
- Earth Live
- Fantasia
- Finding Nemo & Finding Dory
- Frozen
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1 & 2
- High School Musical
- Hocus Pocus
- Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
- Hostile Planet
- Iron Man 1, 2 & 3
- Lilo & Stitch
- Mary Poppins
- Moana
- Monsters Inc.
- Mulan (animated & live-action versions)
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
- Planet of the Birds
- Pocahontas
- Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
- Sister Act 1 & 2
- Sleeping Beauty
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
- Solo: A Star Wars Story
- Star Wars: Episodes I-IX
- Star Wars: Rebels
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars
- Tangled
- The Lion King
- The Little Mermaid
- The Nightmare Before Christmas
- The Princess Diaries
- The Santa Clause
- The Simpsons
- The Sound of Music
- The Sword in the Stone
- Thor (including the first film, The Dark World & Ragnarok)
- Titanic: 20 Years Later With James Cameron
- Toy Story 1, 2, 3 & 4
- Up
- Wall-E
- Zootopia
This is only a handful of the shows, documentaries and movies that you can expect to stream on Disney+ in Australia. Not only will you get to enjoy all the Disney classic films you grew up with, but many of the popular Disney shows from the 80s, 90s, 00s and are also available.
Star on Disney+
While Disney is considered a very family-friendly company, it also owns the rights to a huge range of content for more mature audiences, especially since the acquisition of Fox. After about a year since the Disney+ launch, the decision was made to start rolling out this content on the platform, launching a new category — Star. This category houses a huge selection of shows and movies including Marvel’s Deadpool films and Logan (definitely not for the kids), which was not made available in the ‘Marvel’ section of the platform before.
This category doesn’t cost more and is available to every Disney+ subscriber. Want to know what you can watch on Star? Here’s a snapshot of some of the shows and movies available:
- 9 To 5
- Alien (1, 2, 3 & 4)
- Angel (Season 1 to 5)
- Armageddon
- Bob’s Burgers (Season 1 to 5)
- Black Swan
- Black-Ish (Season 1 to 5)
- Braveheart
- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
- Casanova
- Con Air
- Coyote Ugly
- Dead Poets Society
- Deadpool 1 & 2
- Desperate Housewives (Season 1 to 8)
- Die Hard (1, 2, 3, 4 & 5)
- Ed Wood
- Edward Scissorhands
- Ever After
- Evita
- Face Off
- Father of the Bride (1 & 2)
- Firefly (Season 1)
- Flightplan
- Fresh Off The Boat (Season 1 to 6)
- From Hell
- G.I. Jane
- Good Morning, Vietnam
- Independance Day
- Jojo Rabbit
- Little Miss Sunshine
- Logan
- The Martian
- Moulin Rouge
- Murder on the Orient Express (2017)
- Notes on a Scandal
- The Omen (1976)
- One Hour Photo
- Pearl Harbor
- Planet of the Apes (1968)
- Prison Break (Season 1 to 4 & Event Series 5)
- Pretty Woman
- The Sixth Sense
- Speed
- Taken (1, 2 & 3)
- Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri
- Titanic
- Ugly Betty (Season 1 to 4)
- Unbreakable
- Walk The Line
- The X Files (Season 1 to 11)
Related articles:
Is Disney+ worth it?
Ultimately, you’ll know if a Disney+ subscription is right for you. If you’re a fan of Star Wars or Marvel (or perhaps both), with the thought of having access to the existing Star Wars and Marvel shows and movies — along with a whole bunch of new and original content — you might find yourself signing up sooner or later. Now that these assets have found their home on Disney+, you won’t see any Star Wars or Marvel pop up on the likes of Netflix or Stan — especially the new shows and movies.
Likewise with Disney and Pixar content, this is the streaming home of many Disney and Pixar movies, including older movies and shows. Plus, it’s the Australian streaming home of seasons 1-29 of of The Simpsons, so you can binge-watch your favourite episodes to your heart’s content. There are also plenty of other family-friendly movies such as Sister Act, Mrs Doubtfire and 10 Things I Hate About You.
It’s clear that Disney did create Disney+ with families in mind, so if you have kids, you might find that this could be the family-friendly app you’ve been looking for. For adults, the addition of ‘Star’ could definitely tempt you to sign up, thanks to the huge selection of some of the biggest shows and movies around from Sci Fi classics like Alien to the tragic romance of Moulin Rouge. If you love documentaries, you might find there is enough National Geographic content to keep you occupied. Or you can just relive your childhood by binge-watching your favourite Disney movies and shows.
Considering the Disney Plus Australia price, it’s a fairly well-priced option if you are looking for a streaming service for the whole family. Also, the fact that there is only one subscription tier on offer means you don’t need to worry about which plan to choose or missing out on certain features. All in all, if you like the sound of what Disney+ has to offer, you’ll certainly have a great time kicking back and watching some of the world’s most popular and successful franchises of all time. If you’re still not sure though, check out our Pay TV and streaming ratings to see how Disney+ stacked up.
What are the best internet plans for streaming Disney+?
Disney+ doesn’t currently offer a report on streaming speeds like Netflix does, however there are NBN speeds which are required for video streaming. Generally you’ll find the Standard Plus NBN 50 speed tier is likely the best option for high-definition video streaming, especially if you have multiple users streaming simultaneously.
As for Ultra HD 4K (which Disney+ does offer on select content and compatible devices), you’ll most likely need a plan on the NBN 100 speed tier, which is recommended by NBN Co as the speed tier required for this quality of streaming.
Keep in mind that there are many factors that can affect the NBN speeds you experience, especially during the peak high-traffic evening time. When researching NBN plans, it’s worth comparing the expected peak evening speeds listed by the providers to give you a rough indication of typical performance.
The following table shows a selection of plans from Canstar Blue’s database, listed in order of cost from lowest to highest and all featuring unlimited data. Use our comparison tool to see all plans available on Canstar Blue’s database. These are products with links to referral partners.
Unlimited NBN 100 Plans
The following table shows a selection of published unlimited NBN 100 plans on Canstar Blue’s database, listed in order of standard monthly cost, from the lowest to highest, and then by alphabetical order of provider. Use our comparison tool above to see plans from a range of other providers. This is a selection of products with links to referral partners.
Unlimited NBN 50 Plans
The following table shows a selection of published unlimited NBN 50 plans on Canstar Blue’s database, listed in order of standard monthly cost, from lowest to highest, and then by alphabetical order of provider. Use our comparison tool above to see plans from a range of other providers. This is a selection of products with links to referral partners.
Unlimited NBN 25 Plans
The following table shows a selection of published unlimited NBN 25 plans on Canstar Blue’s database, listed in order of standard monthly cost, from the lowest to highest, and then by alphabetical order of provider. Use our comparison tool above to see plans from a range of other providers. This is a selection of products with links to referral partners.
Unlimited NBN 12 Plans
The following table shows a selection of published unlimited NBN 12 plans on Canstar Blue’s database, listed in order of standard monthly cost, from the lowest to highest, and then by alphabetical order of provider. Use our comparison tool above to see plans from a range of other providers. This is a selection of products with links to referral partners.
About the author of this page
This page was written and is regularly updated by Canstar Blue’s Senior Telco Specialist, Emma Bradstock. An expert in all things phone, internet, gaming and streaming, Emma helps to make complicated subjects easier for readers to understand, as well as covering the latest news and reviews across the telco industry. She’s passionate about helping consumers make better-informed telco choices and highlighting the next best deals.