Is Disney Plus Worth It?
5 months and counting. Is Disney Plus all it was promised to be?
It’s been almost 5 months since Disney Plus went live. There was a lot of excitement with the announcement of the newest streaming service. Star Wars and Marvel fans were promised new shows exclusive to the streaming service. And Disney is finally opening its vault which has always been a time-sensitive affair.
You might recall that prior to the streaming service Disney has had a long history of only bringing out their classics at certain times throughout the year. If you wanted to go out and buy Cinderella for example, then you had to go to a store that sold used DVDs. You simply couldn’t find classic Disney movies at normal retailers.
I was personally excited about having access to Disney’s exhaustive library of both classics and new favorites like the Marvel movies. Now going into the fifth month, is there anything still left to be excited about with the Disney plus service?
Honestly, the honeymoon is over. My issue with Disney plus is I have already seen everything in their vault. I am a huge fan of Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar and I grew up watching Disney shows. Unfortunately, that means I have already seen about 80% of everything available on the streaming service before it even launched.
Blockbuster Access
One of the positives to Disney’s library is that they have blockbuster caliber films in their catalog. You can binge-watch all of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. The majority of all of the Marvel movies including Captain Marvel and Avengers: End Game are also available. They even have James Cameron’s Avatar.
I absolutely enjoyed revisiting some of my favorite movies. But not everything had a magical happy ending. One thing that I found annoying was their inclusion of movies in their library that actually aren’t available yet. An example of this was the 2015 Disney Movie Tomorrowland starring George Clooney. I was excited about seeing this movie again because it’s been years since I’ve seen it. When you open up the title it states, “Coming Soon to Disney+. Due to existing agreements, this title will be available on Sept 1, 2021.” Yikes.
I honestly would rather not have even seen the title in the app at all. It did provide an option to add it to my watch list which was a nice touch. Don’t present the movie as an option if it’s more than a year away from us being able to watch it. This makes me wonder how many more titles aren’t actually available.
Exclusive Content
One of the shining stars in the steaming service was the new Star Wars series The Mandalorian. This series did not disappoint. We got introduced to baby Yoda and further expanded the Star Wars universe in a positive way. They did an amazing job of honoring the locations and feel of the films while telling a unique story. This series alone for me was worth the price of admission for the first month.
Disney also made new movies available like Togo starring William Defoe. The dog sledding movie was well done and tells a moving story. It’s nice to see family films like this that could easily have down well at the theaters.
We have been promised new marvel shows, but many won’t drop until next year. The new shows coming include Falcon and Winter Soldier, WandaVision, Hawkeye, and a Loki Series. These are all shows that should add tremendous value to the streaming service.
Currently, I just don’t think it’s enough new and exclusive content to compete with Netflix. Every month Netflix has new shows and new seasons of shows with a constantly changing library. It’s probably going to take some time for Disney to catch up.
How much does Disney plus cost?
Disney plus costs $6.99 a month. It’s nice to see it set at a smaller price tag than its competitors. They also have a bundle option that lets you have access to ESPN+, Hulu and Disney+ for $12.99
What is Worth the Cost
The bundle of Hulu, ESPN+ and DIsney+ is worth the $12.99 cost. Hulu constantly has new content because it’s featuring television content which changes each season. It also has its own exclusive shows like the Handmaid’s Tale.
It is, however, an excellent pairing for the Disney+ service. ESPN+ really doesn’t provide anything groundbreaking. It’s a nice addition to the bundle but doesn’t provide the content you would seek out on its own merit. For football or other prime time sports, you would still need to pay extra. If you’re a fan of the UFC, then there is extra value for you there. ESPN+ has replays of UFC events and historical UFC fights.
Conclusion
Disney+ has a lot of potential but is still a relatively new streaming service. If you have kids, as I do, who can rewatch the same shows over and over again, then this might be perfect for your family.
Disney’s library has a lot of great titles that have seen success at the theaters. Overtime I know their exclusive content will continue to grow. Unfortunately, we still have to wait for that content to be created and released.
If you are going to get the service, then get it with the Hulu bundle. Hulu makes up for Disney’s shortcomings and provides access to lots of new shows. Check out our other entertainment articles here.
