You’ll pay more from October, along with a crackdown on password sharing
Disney+ is once again shaking up its subscription fees. From 17 October 2024, viewers are looking at up to £24 extra on their bill over a year.
Fortunately there are ways to save before that date – and after. Here’s everything you need to know.
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When are Disney+ prices changing?
There are two deadlines here. The first is 17 October 2024, when those signing up for new packages or changing plans will pay new prices.
The other is for those sticking on an existing plan, or signing up before 17 October. The new prices won’t be implemented until your next billing date on or after 21 November 2024.
Both dates give you a chance to beat the hikes, which I’ll come back to later.
What are the new Disney+ prices?
Pay monthly price
The price is going up by as much as 18.2% on the Standard and Premium tiers, but staying the same on the cheaper Standard with Ads option.
| Standard with Ads | Standard | Premium | |
| New price | £4.99 per month | £8.99 per month | £12.99 per month |
| Old price | £4.99 per month (No annual bundle) | £7.99 per month | £10.99 per month |
| Price change (£) | No change | +£1 per month / £12 a year | +£2 per month / £24 a year |
| Price change (%) | No change | +12.5% | +18.2% |
Pay annually price
Prices are also changing on the annual subscription where you pay up front, though this is only available on the Standard and Premium tiers.
| Standard | Premium | |
| New price | £89.90 a year | £129.90 a year |
| Old price | £79.90 a year | £109.90 a year |
| Price change (£) | +£10 a year | +£20 a year |
| Price change (%) | +12.5% | +18.2% |
New extra member charges
However, don’t forget that Disney is also stopping the sharing of accounts across different households. Instead you’ll need to pay an extra charge to let others use your password to stream in their home, or they’ll need to set up and pay for their own subscriptions.
The Extra Member cost is £4.99 if you add one of these to your Standard or Premium account. It’s a lower £3.99 a month when added to the ad supported tier.
Combined with the new prices, your total bill would see a huge annual hike of up to 80% if you pay monthly!
| Standard with Ads | Standard | Premium | |
| New price | £4.99 per month | £8.99 per month | £12.99 per month |
| Extra member charge | £3.99 per month | £4.99 per month | £4.99 per month |
| Total spend | £8.98 per month | £13.98 a month | £17.98 a month |
| Price change (£) | +£3.99 a month | +£5.98 a month | +£6.98 a month |
| Price change (%) | +80% | +75% | +63.4% |
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Can you beat the Disney+ price hikes?
The good news is that you can beat the price hike on the Disney+ accounts before things change in October. All you’ll have to do is sign up for an annual subscription before the new prices and tiers comes in and you’ll lock in at the lower price. Sadly this will only work for those who aren’t already in the middle of an annual plan.
Right now you can get a year’s subscription to Disney+ Standard for £79.90. So if you lock into this rate, it works out to around £6.66 per month, saving £10 a year versus the new annual plan price and £27.96 versus paying the new monthly price. Just remember that when that year is up you’ll be paying the higher prices (unless you change your plan then).
You can bring the price you pay down further by paying with one of the frequent 15% cashback offers from many bank cards, including Monzo and American Express. Check your accounts to see if you can access any – you’ll need to activate or opt in to trigger the saving. You’ll earn £11.99 back on the standard Disney+ tier.
Stack that by signing up via a cashback site such as Quidco or Topcashback and you’ll be able to get £10 or more back as an extra saving – though that’s only for the first time you register with Disney+. In total those three savings will bring your annual pass will cost £57.92.
And if you’re new to either cashback site there’s another £20 back on top as a welcome offer. Meaning you’ll pay just £37.92 for a year.
Too much? Well an easier option to get the same tier for free is via a year of Uber One, which costs just £59. So that’s a huge saving, and you’ll get discounts on Uber rides and takeaways.
Other ways to save on Disney+
There are a couple of other options as well, as well as other special deals that come and go. O2 customers can save £2 off each month (though there’s a six month minimum), while Club Lloyds is offering one free year of Disney+ with ads as one of the Lifestyle Benefit freebies.
Another option is to be a bit more strategic and only pay for the months you want to watch something on Disney+.
This means you can dip in and out of a subscription and probably end up paying less overall. For example, paying £8.99 for just 6 months will cost £53.94 – cheaper than getting Uber One now for a year.
Check out our rules to spend less on streaming guide for more.
All the latest offers in our dedicated Disney+ article
Disney+ tiers compared
Obviously, there are differences between each price option, and those features might dictate which one you go for.
You’ll avoid adverts on Standard and Premium, but have to sit through them on Standard with Ads. The latter is also the only one that doesn’t allow downloads for offline watching.
All plans will let you see at least full HD with 5:1 sound, though Premium increases that to 4K and Dolby Atmos (though not all shows are available in these formats, nor are all TVs).
Finally, you can watch on two devices at the same time with Standard with Ads and Standard. That increases for Premium. Of course, you can’t share it outside your home any more, but all allow you to add an Extra Member.
| Standard with Ads | Standard | Premium | |
| Ads | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Can add Extra Member | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Video quality | Up to Full HD 1080p | Up to Full HD 1080p | Up to 4K UHD & HDR |
| Concurrent streams | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Downloads | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Audio | 5.1 and Stereo | 5.1 and Stereo | Dolby Atmos |
Which Disney+ tier is best?
Personally I hate adverts so I’ll always avoid that, but for some that won’t be a bother, especially with the far lower price.
I also don’t see the need for the top level of Premium, especially since the end of wider sharing means our household won’t ever have more than two streams going at once. If I’m honest, I don’t think even big families need to bother either.
Things to consider
Ultimately, if you’re considering the best Disney+ plan for you though, the main things to consider are:
- How many people in your home are likely to be streaming at the same time?
- Do you need to download shows?
- What is your tolerance for ads?
- Do you need 4K picture quality?
With all this taken into account, I imagine most people will actually be fine with the middle Standard tier! Although it’s good to have the cheaper option available if you want to save a little more.
Your answers to these questions above will help guide which plan will suit you best. And once you have a tier in mind, be sure to check out our Disney+ deals and offers guide to find out how to save on your subscription.