What Disney Plus Includes and What It Does Not

Disney Plus is Disney's streaming service organized around five content brands: Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic. The library covers thousands of movies and TV episodes, including every film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the full Pixar catalog, classic Disney animated features going back decades, and original series produced exclusively for the platform.

Exclusive originals include The Mandalorian, Andor, WandaVision, Loki, Moon Knight, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and an expanding slate of Nat Geo documentaries and Disney live-action remakes. Major theatrical releases from Disney typically move to the platform within a few months of their cinema run at no extra charge.

What Disney Plus does not include: adult-oriented scripted content (available on Hulu), live sports broadcasts (on ESPN Plus), and some titles still under third-party licensing deals with other networks. A small number of classic films carry content advisories for outdated depictions but remain available to watch. The platform streams up to 4K HDR on compatible devices and titles. Dolby Atmos audio is available on select content. Subtitles, closed captions, and audio descriptions are provided for most titles in multiple languages.

Choosing the Right Disney Plus Plan for Your Household

Disney Plus offers two standalone plans in the United States, plus several bundle options that add Hulu and ESPN Plus:

• Basic (With Ads) — $7.99 per month. Full content library with ads appearing roughly every four to six minutes. No offline downloads. Streams up to 1080p on most devices; 4K available on select titles.
• Standard (No Ads) — $13.99 per month. No advertisements. Up to 10 offline downloads per device. Same full content library as Basic.

Bundle plans available:

• Duo Basic (Disney Plus Basic plus Hulu With Ads) — $9.99 per month
• Duo Premium (Disney Plus No Ads plus Hulu No Ads) — $19.99 per month
• Trio Basic (Disney Plus Basic plus Hulu With Ads plus ESPN Plus With Ads) — $14.99 per month
• Trio Premium (Disney Plus No Ads plus Hulu No Ads plus ESPN Plus No Ads) — $24.99 per month

Annual billing reduces your cost by approximately 15 to 16 percent compared to monthly billing. The annual option is available during sign-up and in Account settings afterward.

Which plan to choose: For households with young children, Standard No Ads eliminates ad interruptions during kids' shows and includes offline downloads for car trips and flights. For solo viewers who watch occasionally and do not mind ads, Basic is sufficient. If you already pay separately for Hulu or ESPN Plus, compare your combined monthly total to the bundle price — bundles almost always cost less than subscribing to each service individually.

How to Sign Up for Disney Plus Step by Step

Creating a Disney Plus account takes about five minutes. Here are the exact steps:

1. Open a web browser and navigate to disneyplus.com.
2. Click Subscribe or Start Streaming on the homepage.
3. Enter your email address and create a strong password.
4. Choose your plan — Basic With Ads or Standard No Ads — or select a Duo or Trio bundle.
5. Select monthly or annual billing. Annual billing saves roughly 15 percent.
6. Enter payment details: credit card, debit card, PayPal, or a Disney Plus gift card.
7. Confirm your selection and submit. Your account is active immediately.
8. Download the Disney Plus app from the App Store, Google Play Store, your smart TV's app store, or your streaming device's channel store.
9. Sign in with your email address and password to start watching.

If you subscribe through the Apple App Store on an iPhone or iPad, billing routes through Apple, which adds a platform fee over time. To avoid this, subscribe first on the Disney Plus website and then use the iOS app only for streaming. Your account works the same either way.

Disney Plus gift cards are available at Walmart, Target, Best Buy, and other major retailers. Redeem them at disneyplus.com/redeem before or after subscribing. Multiple gift cards can be stacked to cover future billing periods.

Setting Up Profiles and Parental Controls

Disney Plus supports up to 7 profiles per account. Each profile maintains its own watchlist, continue-watching history, and content rating settings. Setting up individual profiles prevents family members from disrupting each other's viewing progress.

To add a new profile:

1. Tap or click the profile icon in the top-right corner of the app or website.
2. Select Add Profile.
3. Enter a name for the profile and choose an avatar image.
4. Toggle Kids Profile to on to limit this profile to content rated G, TV-Y, and TV-Y7.
5. Save the profile. It appears immediately in the profile switcher.

A Kids Profile removes the ability to browse the full catalog, search for titles outside the kids library, and access account settings. This is the simplest way to create a safe viewing environment for young children without needing to supervise every session.

For more granular parental controls on a standard profile:

1. Open Account settings and choose Edit Profiles.
2. Select the profile you want to restrict.
3. Under Content Rating, set the maximum allowed rating — choose from G, PG, PG-13, TV-14, or the platform maximum.
4. Set a 4-digit profile PIN to prevent children from changing the content rating or other profile settings.
5. Save your changes.

Profile-level content ratings and PINs apply to that individual profile only and do not affect other profiles on the same account. Each adult in the household can have an unrestricted profile while children's profiles remain locked to age-appropriate content.

How to Download Content for Offline Viewing

Offline downloads work on the Disney Plus app for iOS, Android, and Amazon Fire tablets. Downloads are not supported in web browsers, on desktop computers, or on smart TVs. You must also be on the Standard No Ads plan — the Basic With Ads plan does not include downloads.

Steps to download a title:

1. Open the Disney Plus app on your phone or tablet and sign in.
2. Navigate to the movie or TV series you want to save.
3. On the title's detail page, tap the download icon — a downward-pointing arrow. For a series, the icon also appears next to each individual episode in the episode list.
4. The icon fills in as the download progresses. Large movies may take several minutes on a typical home Wi-Fi connection.
5. When complete, access your downloads by tapping your profile icon and selecting Downloads from the menu.
6. Tap any downloaded title to watch it without an internet connection.

Important limits and rules:

• Each device can hold up to 10 downloaded titles simultaneously.
• Downloads expire 30 days after you save them, or 48 hours after you start watching — whichever happens first.
• You can re-download any expired title as long as your subscription is active and the title is still in the Disney Plus library.
• Some titles licensed from third-party studios are not available for download. The download icon will be grayed out or absent on those titles.
• A typical HD movie requires 1 to 3 GB of device storage. Download on Wi-Fi to avoid using your mobile data allowance.
• Downloads are tied to the device and cannot be transferred to another phone or tablet.

Getting Disney Plus for Less: Bundles, Annual Plans, and Discounts

Several practical ways exist to reduce what you pay for Disney Plus:

Switch to Annual Billing

Changing from monthly to annual billing saves approximately 15 to 16 percent. To switch, log in at disneyplus.com and go to Account, then Subscription, and change your billing frequency. The new rate takes effect at your next renewal date. You are not charged twice — the switch is applied going forward.

Use a Bundle Instead of Paying Separately

If you already subscribe to Hulu or ESPN Plus on their own, compare what you pay individually against bundle pricing. Paying for Disney Plus Basic ($7.99), Hulu With Ads ($7.99), and ESPN Plus With Ads ($10.99) separately totals $26.97 per month. The Trio Basic bundle offers all three for $14.99 per month, saving about $12 every month.

Student Discount

Hulu offers a verified student discount on the Hulu plus Disney Plus bundle. Verification is handled through SheerID and requires a .edu email address or enrollment documentation. The discounted rate is substantially below standard pricing and is available for the duration of your enrollment.

Carrier and Employer Promotions

Some mobile carriers include Disney Plus benefits with select unlimited plans. Verizon Unlimited subscribers have periodically received free Disney Plus months. Check your carrier's current promotions page before subscribing, as a benefit may already be included in your existing mobile plan.

Gift Cards on Sale

Disney Plus gift cards appear at Walmart, Target, Costco, and Best Buy. Retailers occasionally discount gift cards, particularly around major holidays, effectively reducing your subscription cost for the period covered. Cards can be stacked — load several at once to prepay multiple months at the discounted rate.

Fixing the Most Common Disney Plus Problems

Most Disney Plus issues fall into predictable categories and have straightforward fixes:

Error Code 83

This error indicates a device compatibility or account conflict. Start by uninstalling and reinstalling the Disney Plus app. Check whether your device's operating system or firmware has a pending update and install it. Error 83 also appears when your account has reached its simultaneous stream limit — ask other household members to stop watching and try again.

Buffering or Poor Video Quality

In the Disney Plus app, open Settings, tap App Settings, then Video Quality, and set it to Automatic. This lets the app match quality to your current connection speed. On Wi-Fi, move closer to your router or switch from the 2.4 GHz band to the 5 GHz band in your router settings — 5 GHz has less interference and higher throughput at close range. Disney Plus requires at least 5 Mbps for standard HD and 25 Mbps for consistent 4K.

Offline Downloads Not Working

Confirm your subscription is Standard No Ads — the Basic plan does not include downloads. Check your device's available storage; each HD title needs 1 to 3 GB free. Make sure the Disney Plus app has permission to write files to device storage in your phone's privacy or app permission settings. Restarting the app often resolves stuck downloads.

Login and Account Access Problems

If you signed up via Apple or Google, use Continue with Apple or Continue with Google on the sign-in screen rather than typing an email and password — these create separate accounts. For email-based accounts, request a password reset at disneyplus.com/forgot-password. After resetting, use Account settings to sign out of all devices before signing back in to clear any stale sessions.

Content Showing as Not Available in Your Region

Some titles are licensed by territory and will not play if your account region does not match your physical location. Sign out of the app completely, then sign back in. If you have recently moved to a new country, update your account region in Account settings. Using a VPN to access content from another region violates Disney's terms of service and can result in account suspension or blocked playback.