Disney+ is now cheaper in the UK, but there’s a catch

Disney+ has changed up its subscription plans in the UK and Europe, with three options now available and one of those is cheaper than the original single tier option too. The streaming service now has a Standard with Ads tier, a Standard tier and a Premium tier, with the former starting at just £4.99 a month in the UK and €5.99 in Europe. For reference, for those in the US, the ad-supported tier is already available after launching in October – called Disney+ Basic – and it costs $7.99 a month, with the Disney+ Premium tier costing $10.99 a month.

What are the new Disney+ subscription options in the UK?

Previously, Disney+ was available in the UK for a £7.99 monthly subscription cost, but you got everything for that monthly fee, including downloads and 4K UHD quality streaming. The Standard tier still exists in the new structure, as mentioned, and it remains at £7.99 a month in the UK.

Some of the benefits have dropped for the Standard tier however, with the new Premium subscription tier now required for the best quality streaming experience – both audio and visually. This subscription tier costs £10.99 per month in the UK.

What are the differences in the Disney+ subscription options in the UK?

All three subscription tiers offer access to the same amazing shows and movies across the Disney+ platform. That means you can watch Grey’s Anatomy, The Kardashians, The Bear, or Only Murders in the Building, no matter what subscription you select and that’s the great thing about this new structure. You can access all that excellent Disney+ goodness and pay less for it too, if you opt for the Standard with Ads subscription.

For those that do choose the cheapest subscription, however, you won’t be able to download content to watch offline and streaming quality will top out at Full HD. As you might have guessed from the subscription name too, ads will appear at various points – more on that in second – and there is no annual billing option to make it even cheaper.

The Standard subscription tier offers an annual billing option of £79.90, which does save you a bit of money compared to £7.99 a month, though the ad-supported subscription is still cheaper. You do get the ability download content to watch offline on up to 10 devices with this subscription however, and you won’t get any adverts interrupting content.

Elsewhere, the Standard subscription delivers up to 1080p video content, support for up to 5.1 audio and up to two concurrent streams, just like the ad-supported tier.

The Premium subscription tier also offers an annual subscription option at £109.90 instead of £10.99 a month, which again helps you save a little bit of cash, though this tier is much more expensive than the Standard option. For that extra money, you get up to 4K UHD and HDR video, up to Dolby Atmos audio and four concurrent streams. Downloads for up to 10 devices are supported again, like the Standard tier so you don’t get any extra devices, but that’s probably OK.

What will the Disney+ ad-supported subscription experience be like?

It’s not as bad as you might think. Ads will only appear on certain profiles and content. For example, no ads will appear on Junior (formerly Kids) profiles. Content that is aimed at 0-6 year olds also won’t show adverts, no matter what account you are logged into, whether on a Junior account or Adult account. Disney+ has said it has tried to consider that some content will be viewed with a younger audience even if viewed on an Adult profile. Ahem, Bluey, ahem.

The streaming service also told us that content aimed at younger viewers will offer up appropriate ads, while content aimed at 14+, 16+ and 18+ will all offer a standard ad policy and adhere to advertising policies in all markets.

The ads themselves are limited to no more than four minutes per hour, which is quite a bit less than standard terrestrial TV. You will be able to see the ad breaks in the bar at the bottom of the screen when you’re watching if you hit the pause button, and when an advertising section starts, you’ll see the full length of the break in the top right corner rather than time per advert. You can’t skip through adverts. For movies, things are a little different, however. When watching movies on the Disney+ ad-supported subscription, you will see adverts at the beginning of the film but not during, so you will still get an uninterrupted viewing experience.

When are Disney’s new subscription tiers available?

Disney’s new subscription tiers arrive in the UK and Europe on 1 November 2023 so if you aren’t a Disney+ subscriber and you want to be, you’ll be choosing from the three tiers detailed above.