Disney Plus UK guide: price, deals, app, shows, Star and more

Disney Plus (often styled Disney+) has risen to be one of the biggest streaming services on the planet alongside Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. As we note in our detailed Disney Plus review, it brings subscribers a wealth of streaming video entertainment on demand, including the mega hits Hamilton, West Side Story, The Mandalorian, WandaVision, Cruella, Frozen 2, Luca and much more.

The streaming service combines landmark shows like Loki and Obi-Wan Kenobi with a simply monstrous amount of content from Disney Plus' content libraries, libraries that now includes the complete Star collection of films and TV shows, as well as the full works of Disney, Marvel, Pixar, Star Wars, The Simpsons and National Geographic.

Now boasting well over 100 million subscribers worldwide, the enormous success that the platform has enjoyed means Disney can now double down on the new content it's bringing to the platform. Disney Plus is now committed to launching at least 100 new pieces of content each year.

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Our unbeatable T3 guide to Disney Plus provides everything you need to know about the service right now: the movies and shows you can watch, the best Disney Plus subscription deals, tips for watching Disney Plus, and much more. Disney Plus has rapidly grown to be one of the major video streaming services on the planet, and this article will help you make the most of it.

If you haven't yet signed up for the Disney Plus party, Disney Plus UK pricing is set at £7.99 a month or £79.90 a year. Here at T3 we think that the £79.90 option is the best as it offers the greatest value for money. It is also a pay once and forget deal, meaning you unlock 365 days of entertainment in return for one low fee.

This detailed Disney Plus UK guide has all the info you're going to need, including a rundown of the Disney Plus apps, the 4K and HDR Disney Plus movies and shows you can enjoy, the audio and video streaming quality on offer, the latest Disney Plus news and more. It's the web's best guide to Disney Plus, and it's right here.

So if you've got questions such as "what does Disney Plus offer?", "how much does Disney Plus cost?", "when can I sign up for Disney Plus?", "which Disney Plus channels do I get?", and "what devices run Disney Plus?" then this guide has an answer for you.

It's clear that the streaming wars are now at their absolute peak, with services such as Apple TV Plus and Paramount Plus joining Netflix and Amazon Prime Video in competing for your attention, but as this guide shows, Disney Plus is quickly making a claim to become the front runner, and can more than hold its own against the competition. Let's get on to the important stuff of how you can sign up, and how much you can expect to pay.

Disney Plus: why you should sign up right now

When you consider everything that Disney Plus has to offer – from Toy Story to Star Wars – as well as all the stuff that's on the way, it's no surprise that Disney Plus is attracting a lot of interest: this is a library of films and shows that's very hard to beat.

Right now, we'd say Disney Plus has a great opportunity to replace Netflix as the streaming service that people register for first, and cancel last – it has an absolutely massive library of content to draw on, content that's being pulled off its competitors' platforms as it appears on Disney Plus.

Most importantly, though, it is frequently delivering brand new top-tier content for its subscribers like Raya and the Last Dragon, WandaVision, Loki, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Moon Knight, Turning Red, Cruella and much more. Disney Plus is managing to both deliver an epic selection of pre-existing content as well as totally new content, too.

Disney Plus price and best deals

Disney+ is competitively priced all across the world, and Disney+ UK is no exception to that: you'll pay £7.99 a month or £79.90 a year for  the service (about £6.65 a month). By comparison, Netflix starts at £6.99 a month, but to get HD and Ultra HD quality, you need to up that to £15.99 a month.

Before Disney+ launched in the UK, you could bag yourself a whole year of access to the streaming service for £49.99, but we haven't seen a deal that good since the platform went live. However, if you're an O2 customer you can grab six months of Disney Plus free (you'll need to sign up for a new contract or upgrade your existing one).

It's worth noting that taking a break at any point is fine: Disney Plus can be cancelled whenever you like through the website or apps – just like Netflix – so you can stop and restart your Disney+ subscription at any point. Don't feel like you're trapping yourself into a long-term commitment.

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Coming soon to Disney Plus

As well as the wealth of content already on Disney Plus, there are plenty of movies and shows coming down the pipe as well – which means your subscription fee is going to become better and better value over time.

Perhaps the most eagerly anticipated incoming TV show is the Obi-Wan Kenobi series starring Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen, reprising their roles from the movie prequels. That's going to make its debut on 25 May 2022.

From 30 March 2022 you'll be able to watch Moon Knight on Disney Plus: that's the Marvel comic book adaptation starring Oscar Isaac in the titular role, and from what we've seen so far, it's going to be well worth the wait. 

When it comes to movies we've got a live-action version of Pinocchio, Sister Act 3, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Death on the Nile, Lightyear, Avatar 2, and Hocus Pocus 2 in the pipeline, so there's plenty to look forward to there as well. They join recently arriving films on Disney Plus such as Turning Red.

Disney Plus channels, movies and TV shows

There's obviously stacks of content on Disney+ in the form of movies and TV shows, such as recent hits WandaVision, Loki, and The Book of Boba Fett. The selection continues to expand all the time as well, with movies such as Jungle Cruise and high profile shows including The Dropout arriving recently.

Don't panic if you notice slight discrepancies between the US and the UK in terms of content, which is down to the different licensing agreements that Disney has in each territory. By and large, most of the content should be the same no matter where you're viewing it from.

Movie studios continue to experiment with release schedules on streaming services and in actual theatres, and Disney Plus is very much a part of that process too. Films are showing up earlier than ever before after their cinema runs, and in some cases the launches are simultaneous.

If you're wondering what Disney Plus has in store for 2022, the streaming service has very helpfully put together a showcase of upcoming attractions, which you can view below. Look out for the Eternals movie, an appearance from Ms. Marvel, and another adventure for the Ice Age crew.

There's not much chance to catch your breath: news of fresh content on Disney+ is arriving all the time, with Disney bosses keen to keep people coming back to the service (and paying their money) as regularly as possible.

The Disney team was busy working on content from home as well during the coronavirus pandemic  – check out one of the Frozen shorts that was put together remotely below. This isn't exclusive to Disney+ but it shows how the production studio team kept itself busy during lockdown.

Big blockbuster movies like the updated Lion King and the new version of Aladdin are included in the Disney Plus library, as is the second series of The Mandalorian and Falcon And The Winter Soldier, and the recently launched The Mysterious Benedict Society.

Big Pixar animated movies such as Soul, Nightmare Alley, Luca and West Side Story have dropped on Disney Plus in recent months, giving you even more choice. We've also seen the addition of new features as well as new content – including the GroupWatch option for watching live with friends over the internet.

The content machine shows no signs of slowing down either, with productions both old and new arriving on the service. Disney Plus recently nabbed a lot of Marvel TV show content (including Punisher and Jessica Jones) from Netflix as well.

Disney is understandably keen to promote its material as well, making the most of any award nominations and wins that it gets – see the way that it celebrated Toy Story 4 winning the 2020 Academy Award for Best Animated feature, for example. Look for more prizes in the months and years ahead.

Have a browse through what's available in the various sections of Disney+ and you can't fail to be impressed. From Moana to Thor: Ragnarok, from High School Musical to Agents Of SHIELD, from Big Hero 6 to Pirates Of The Caribbean, from Finding Dory to Mary Poppins Returns... there's a lot here.

There are some fantastic movies and shows in the National Geographic channel as well, including Free Solo, Before The Flood, and Miracle Landing On The Hudson. If you're at all interested in the planet and its wildlife, there's a treasure trove of stuff to work your way through.

In some cases – The Lion King, Aladdin, Dumbo – you've got both the original movie and the more recent remake to enjoy. Perhaps you could show your kids both back-to-back and ask them which they enjoy the most...

Disney is also pushing original productions to the service: check out the documentary More Than Robots, for example, which you can see in the trailer above. It looks like more classic Disney fare.

We also know that Avatar is making its streaming debut on Disney Plus, announced via a couple of tweets from the official account – it's available to watch now. If you want to dive back into the world of Pandora and the Na'vi people, then the Disney Plus streaming service is the place to do it.

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Disney Plus: Star

The addition of Star content to Disney Plus means there's even more to enjoy on the platform now. It's mostly older content from Disney's various production houses, but it's all really good fare – we've got shows including The X-Files, Lost, 24, Family Guy and Prison Break for example, as well as the likes of Atlanta, Desperate Housewives and How I Met Your Mother.

There are originals to enjoy as well, such as Helstrom, Victor, Next and Dollface, with more on the way: look out for the comic book adaptation Y: The Last Man and the spy drama The Old Man, starring Jeff Bridges. All this extra material means a Disney Plus subscription is better value than ever before.

Disney Plus: Star Wars

Disney has some big-hitting franchises to call on for its Disney Plus service, but there's none bigger than Star Wars – Disney paid George Lucas a cool $4 billion for the western-in-space property back in 2012, and since then we've seen numerous films and shows from the universe appearing on screens.

Live action Star Wars series such as The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett have been attracting plenty of buzz as far as new Disney Plus shows go, and you can check out a trailer for the former below. The first two series are now available to stream in the UK.

You can now watch all nine of the main Star Wars films on Disney Plus, plus Solo and Rogue One, with the original trilogy available in 4K HDR quality for the first time. On top of that you've got documentaries and animated series, including five seasons of The Clone Wars. A series based on Obi-Wan Kenobi is about to launch too.

If you wanted to set up the ultimate Star Wars movie marathon, Disney Plus gives you the chance. Go from episode I to episode IX, or watch them in the order they were released at cinemas, or watch them backwards, it's really up to you.

We've also heard that a spin-off series based around the Rogue One movie is on the way, focusing on the character of Cassian Andor, played by Diego Luna. It now sounds likely that we'll see it later in 2022.

You can expect future Star Wars movies to appear on Disney Plus UK too, even if Disney is now wary of making too many of them (Taika Waititi is the latest big name to take on a film). Disney is rightfully proud of its Star Wars library, and that should show in the Star Wars section of Disney Plus.

Disney Plus: Marvel

Disney Plus UK subscribers can also immerse themselves in the Marvel universe: it's the perfect streaming platform for fans of Marvel superhero content new and old: several original series are available, including Loki and Falcon and the Winter Soldier. More are on the way, such as a Hawkeye show (which has been delayed but not cancelled, apparently).

A bunch of series have just made the jump from Netflix too, including Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist. There's now more Marvel content than ever before on the Disney Plus streaming service.

Then there are the movies: Eternals, Black Widow, Avengers Endgame and just about every other Marvel film you can name can be streamed now on Disney Plus. If you want to watch them all back to back then you're going to have to invest a serious number of hours in the endeavour.

After their theatrical runs, you can expect future Marvel movies to make their way to Disney's streaming platform as well: we're thinking about films such as Morbius, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Black Panther Wakanda Forever to name just three.

Disney Plus: The Simpsons

Then there's The Simpsons: the classic comedy is into its 33rd season now, having completed more than 650 episodes, and they're (almost) all on Disney Plus, thanks to the Disney acquisition of 21st Century Fox. Future episodes will be available to stream as well, though it's not exactly clear how long they'll take to arrive.

If you're a passionate fan of the adventures of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie and the rest of the crew, then that's one more reason to sign up for Disney Plus. Watching all the episodes of The Simpsons back-to-back sounds like the ultimate binge watch.

When it comes to the UK, Disney has now confirmed that more than 600 episodes of The Simpsons are going to be available in the UK (see tweet below). That's not all of them, but it's a significant percentage, and we've got a few recommendations about which episodes to watch first.

For the time being at least, it looks as though The Simpsons is going to show up on both Sky and Disney+. It's a sign of the tricky rights issues that Disney has to work through in all the countries that it's operating in, with certain movies and TV shows appearing on multiple platforms simultaneously.

Disney Plus: Pixar

If you love Pixar content then Disney Plus is perfect for you. Recently launched movies such as Turning Red, Onward, Luca and Soul can only be watched on this particular streaming platform, so if you're a fan of high-quality animation then it's a must. There are also short animated spin-offs of these movies too, and others like Inside Out.

Some of the Pixar movies you can enjoy on Disney Plus right now include The Good Dinosaur, the Monsters Inc movies, the Incredibles movies, and all four Toy Story films. You've got Cars, and Coco, and Wall-E, and much more, so it's going to take a long time for you (and your kids) to get through everything.

Disney Plus streaming, content and image quality

When it comes to devices and quality Disney Plus can be streamed on up to four devices at the same time in lovely 4K HDR with any package. Disney Plus comes with support for both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos too, so if you have the right hardware setup you'll be able to enjoy an incredibly immersive, cinema-grade audio-visual experience.

Disney has a lot of older content of course, so not everything is available in 4K UHD at the moment. Some of the content already in 4K includes the first Frozen movie, the original Lion King, the original Star Wars trilogy and all the Marvel movies currently screening, so that's a good selection to get you going. Older content may well get upgraded in the future too.

Overall, the streaming quality of Disney Plus, and the number of audio and visual technologies it supports, is impressive, and compares well to other streaming services. Disney has confirmed that its apps can adjust video quality if you're on a less-than-stellar Wi-Fi or cellular connection, as well.

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Disney Plus app and features

No matter what device you're using, the Disney Plus apps are a breeze to use. Whether you're on Android or an iPhone, an Xbox Series X/S or a PS5, a Roku stick, a Now TV box or an Amazon Fire TV stick, you can start watching in seconds.

If you're on a laptop, you can log into Disney Plus on the web as well to start watching. There are also some keyboard shortcuts you can take advantage of too, to save you reaching for the mouse – they include Space to pause (and play again), M to mute, and the left and right arrow keys to rewind and fast forward.

As with Netflix, after you've signed up you can set up multiple user accounts on the Disney Plus service, so everyone in the family can keep their own viewing history and recommendations separate – just select your avatar on the web or in the app to create a new profile. Basic parental controls are included too.

As time goes on, the streaming service is making it to more and more places too, with Tesla boss Elon Musk confirming that Disney Plus is eventually going to make it to the console inside his company's electric cars. We've also been promised that it'll appear on the Nintendo Switch, though that's still "coming soon".

As far as smart TVs go, check with your manufacturer: Samsung smart TVs running the Tizen OS (basically anything from 2016 and later) have a dedicated Disney Plus app, so you can get up and running straight away, and other manufacturers offer similar apps. For other TVs without dedicated Disney Plus functionality, you could always use a Chromecast or a similar device.

When you get to the actual Disney Plus interface, it makes use of the familiar rows of shows and movies arranged in blocks, so they're easy to scroll through when you're looking for something to watch. Content is sorted into major hubs: Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic.

Offline support is included, so content from Disney Plus can be saved to devices like smartphones and tablets, ready for watching without an internet connection. That should come in handy if you're travelling away from home and want to take the Marvel Cinematic Universe with you.

There have been a few hiccups along the way: Disney Plus suffered some downtime across the world at the start of 2020, though it only lasted a few hours. If something has gone wrong with the Disney servers, you'll probably see an "error 83" message on your device. On the whole though, it's a reliable and stable service. Enjoy your streaming!

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