Disney+ launched in November to provide Walt Disney Co. fanatics with their favorite movies and television shows.
The streaming service costs $6.99 per month or $69.99 for a year, making it an affordable plan for families and individuals to enjoy. Its catalog varies from classic Disney films to newer additions and gives users the freedom to choose according to their preferences.
Prior to the release of Disney+, Disney announced that they were going to open the legendary Disney vault full of classic films no longer available anywhere else.
Disney+ became popular partially because of the 34 films released with the vault. These include movies such as “Beauty and the Beast” (1991), “Cinderella” (1950), “Dumbo” (1941) and more films from the past.
With the release of Disney+, Disney also added a new original show for “Star Wars” fans known as “The Mandalorian” (2019).
The addition of this show has encouraged individuals to subscribe to the streaming service to watch episodes released on a weekly basis.
Although Disney has received positive feedback, there are still customers with concerns. Disney+ lacks newer features that other streaming programs have and faces technical issues such as frequent freezes and problems with WiFi connection.
These may be small technical issues, but people expect the latest and greatest from Disney.
Nathaniel Alcala, sophomore pre-nursing student, said he could not resist Disney+ when it was first released and decided to pay annually.
“What influenced me to get Disney+ was that Disney stripped Netflix of its Disney movies,” Alcala said. “I’m a big Disney fan. My dad has worked for Disney for 25 years and we are really big fans of it; we go to Disneyland all the time. I use Disney+ daily and I find myself constantly binge-watching stuff throughout the day.”
Alcala also mentioned his favorite shows that are only viewable on the streaming service.
“My favorite show (on Disney+) is ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ (2008). It’s technically not Disney but I’ve been re-watching it and am excited for the new season coming out,” Alcala said. “I like watching ‘The Mandalorian’ and I absolutely love it, although I will say the mid-season episodes were pretty bad.”
Alejandro Aguilera II, sophomore biomedical sciences major, also set up Disney+ the week it was released because he was eager to watch “The Mandalorian” and got a free annual subscription with Verizon.
“I don’t use it as much anymore, because I mainly used it to watch all the ‘Star Wars’ movies and keep up with ‘The Mandalorian’ because it is the best show on there. Other than that, I enjoy re-watching ‘Finding Nemo’ (2003),” Aguilera said.
Aguilera plans to keep the streaming service for a while because he enjoys watching the films with his family and reliving memories.
“I like getting to re-watch a bunch of ‘oldies but goodies,’ especially the ‘Star Wars’ movies, but they don’t have a ‘keep watching’ tab, so I would still choose Netflix over it because there is a bigger variety,” Aguilera said.
Dr. Krystal Hays, assistant professor of social work, is familiar with Disney+ but is not a subscriber.
“I was a Disney fan growing up and I think Disney is great for parents and their children to bond together as a family,” Hays said.
Hays pointed out that Disney still has a free app where people can access several movies and television shows without having to subscribe to anything.
“There are a lot of Disney followers and because of that I think Disney made a smart move in creating Disney+ because it is an easy target to gain subscription,” Hays said.
Disney+ continues to grow and make improvements for its viewers, and despite technical issues it attracts many subscribers to the new streaming platform.
There are expected to be more movies and television shows released soon on this new streaming service for friends and families to enjoy.
