Disney+ is finally here and by golly, they couldn’t have picked a better time! The platform offers fans of all ages a new way to experience the unparalleled content from the company’s iconic entertainment brands, including Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic, as well as exclusive original programming including feature-length films, series, documentaries, and short-form content made exclusively for the service such as The Mandalorian, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series and The World According to Jeff Goldblum. The service which launched in the US back in November and gave us the Baby Yoda meme launched in Ireland on March 24, with Disney confirming that its streaming service will cost €6.99 per month for Irish subscribers or €69.99 upfront for the full year.
Content Galore
Originally the Disney + release date was supposed to be March 31st for the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, and Ireland but luckily this had been brought forward. Disney + features a pile of content from Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel, National Geographic films and other tv shows, will also offer a €69.99 annual subscription if you’d rather than instead of the €6.99 monthly charge.
Aswe are gripped by the new coronavirus and containment measures are shuttering cinemas and forcing families to entertain themselves at home, Disney Plus is swerving from the status quo too.For one, Disney Plus delayed its launch in France until April 7 because European officials worried that internet traffic linked to the rollout could strain the country’s networks. Disney Plus launched elsewhere in Western Europe — the UK, Ireland, Spain, Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland — Tuesday. Disney Plus generated about 5 million downloads on the first day solely on mobile devices across its new European markets.
New Releases – Sooner than expected
Disney Plus has come out an admitted they are lowering overall bandwidth by 25% in the EU to minimize stress on networks. Disney will keep an eye on congestion and could further reduce bit rates if service providers are getting overwhelmed, the company said.
On what can be considered a massive win, Disney are going to drop some recently released big-screen movies much earlier than expected, namely animated hit Frozen 2 and Pixar’s Onward.
Onward will be added to Disney Plus on April 3. Disney released the Pixar movie for online purchase just two weeks after its premiere in theatres earlier this month.
“While we’re looking forward to audiences enjoying our films on the big screen again soon, given the current circumstances, we are pleased to release this fun, adventurous film to digital platforms early for audiences to enjoy from the comfort of their homes,” director Dan Scanlon and producer Kori Rae said in a statement.
They’re rare pleasant surprises, following the spread of the novel coronavirus and the respiratory disease it causes, COVID-19. Amid the pandemic, Disney has temporarily shut down its theme parks like Disneyland, delayed releasing big films like Mulan and Black Widow, and paused production on movies and shows. That includes Disney Plus’ first Marvel original series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, that was supposed to be released in August.
Anyway to ensure the whole family can enjoy all of the good stuff, including The Mighty Ducks 1,2 and 3, at any point in time Disney + will allow 4 users to stream at the same time and will include unlimited downloads on up to 10 devices. The app also comes with personalised recommendations as well as the ability to create seven different profiles, including kids profiles with access limited to age-appropriate content. Sounds very similar to Netflix right?
Better yet, Disney + is advertising-free regardless of whether you’re on mobile, TV, console or laptops….unlike the disaster that is our very own RTE player.
JustWatch
The good people of JustWatch shared the above graphic and it’s about as unsurprising as you would assume, as a nation we are streaming 36% more than we were pre the current situation. JustWatch is an international Streaming Guide with more than 20 million users. We show you where to watch movies & tv shows legally online and we also help you to find what to watch on streaming services like Netflix, Prime Video and so on, now including Disney+ of course. Easily browse through, use different filter options like release year, IMDb rating, genres. You can check it out here.
Alexa Integration
Thankfully now Amazon devices can stream Disney +! That means Fire Tv and Fire tablets at the ready as finding the Disney+ app and content is easy with Alexa. If you didn’t already know Disney+ content will be included in Fire TV’s universal search feature making it easy to find and discover content with your voice and say things like:
- “Alexa, find Disney+”
- “Alexa, open Disney+”
- “Alexa, play [name of show]”
- “Alexa, find Star Wars movies.”
Fire Tablet customers can download movies, TV series or shorts, and watch whenever they want. You can also pause a show on their Fire TV and resume watching on their Fire Tablet, so you can enjoy Disney+ on the go – which at the moment might be pause the telly to take the tablet to the jacks, but sure whatever you’re having you do you.
Fire TV and Fire Tablet customers can sign up for a seven-day free trial directly on their Amazon device starting March 24th, after which they will be charged £5.99/€6.99 a month or £59.99/€69.99 for an annual subscription. If a customer signed up for Disney+ on another device, they can simply log into their account.
