In this whole new world of streaming, Disney Plus comes in hot with hundreds of titles available at the push of a few buttons.
Disney Plus has been taking the internet by storm for the past week thanks to its tremendous amount of new and old titles available for only $6.99/month, or in a bundle costing $12.99/month that includes Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN+.
Now, I’ve always been more of a Dreamworks person than a Disney fan (who doesn’t love How to Train Your Dragon and Shrek?), so this wasn’t incredibly exciting for me.
Don’t get me wrong, I was a big Hannah Montana and Wizards of Waverly Place girl when I was younger, and I still love a good Emperor’s New Groove or Gravity Falls moment, but that’s pretty much the extent of my love for Disney.
I haven’t ever had the urge to go watch a classic princess movie or sit down and binge Kim Possible or catch the latest Star Wars or Marvel film.
With all that being said, when my sister texted me and gave me the login to a Disney Plus account, I logged in immediately anyway.
And hot dog, is it impressive.
The first thing I watched was The Sword in the Stone since I was giving a presentation on the book it was based on later that afternoon. I watched it the day Disney Plus dropped, Nov. 12, and although there were some issues loading — I assume since it was the morning of the release — everything worked well.
I searched it and it came up with a cute little image to accompany the film, a G-rating, genres and categories, and a brief summary of the film. The movie itself ran smoothly, and it looked and sounded great, especially considering its 1963 release.
Like most streaming services, different users can make their own profiles with cute little profile avatars, special names, and mark whether it’s a kid’s profile or not. Users can also choose whether or not the service autoplays and can enable background videos.
Upon logging in, you’re greeted with Disney Plus originals, like Lady and the Tramp and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, as well as National Geographic titles like The World According to Jeff Goldblum, Star Wars films (yes, that includes the original movies from the 1970s), Marvel titles like Endgame, and Pixar films like Finding Nemo.
The functionality is great too, as it’s user-friendly and easy to navigate.
The platform is organized like most streaming services, with categories not only based on what you’re looking for in terms of shows or movies, but also branches of the brand, so you can browse specifically for Pixar or Star Wars, for example.
There are even some “collections” on the “Explore” page, each full of titles that fall within that category. There’s a “Princesses” category, for example, with films including Frozen and Mulan, and a “Disney Channel” category with both original movies like Camp Rock and series like Hannah Montana.
One of the biggest things that I noticed while scrolling through the Disney Plus selections is that there is truly a lot to take in. From random childrens’ shows to Pixar shorts shown before movies like Bao to random titles like Avatar and even The Simpsons, it kind of feels like a random assortment of shows and movies to watch.
In some ways, it’s overwhelming because there’s truly so much. On the other hand, though, for such a low price, I truly feel like it’s worth the money if you’re a big Disney fan and will be streaming frequently, or even if you’re just a die-hard fan of Marvel or Star Wars and see yourself spending a lot of time watching some of your favorite titles.
Overall, I think Disney Plus is a worthwhile service. With plenty of titles both new and old, Disney Plus brought out the big guns and is providing users with a pleasant, nostalgic experience.
