Starting from March 5th, Disney Plus is raising its prices for current subscribers as it adds a new premium level.
The cost of the current Disney Plus subscription will rise by $4 every month or $40 per year for annual payments. This is the additional amount you will need to pay in order to maintain the same features you currently have.
If you wish to continue paying the current rate, you will no longer be able to enjoy 4K and Dolby Atmos, and you will lose the ability to stream on two devices simultaneously. However, the number of devices for offline downloads remains unchanged.
The upcoming plans will appear different when compared to the existing one.
Disney Plus prices in Australia
| Disney Plus (Current) | Standard | Premium | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price per month | $13.99 (Monthly) $139.99 (Annual) | $13.99 (Monthly) $139.99 (Annual) | $17.99 (Monthly) $179.99 (Annual) |
| Resolution | Up to 4K | 1080p | Up to 4K |
| Audio | Up to Dolby Atmos | Up to 5.1 audio | Up to Dolby Atmos |
| Simultaneous streams | 4 | 2 | 4 |
| Offline download devices | 10 | 10 | 10 |
Avoiding the price increase
You have the option to delay the price hike for an additional 12 months. From now until March 4th, Disney Plus is offering new, existing, and returning monthly subscribers the opportunity to enroll in the $139.99 per year subscription plan, which ensures that you will continue to have access to the current features for a year.
If you are certain that you will continue to subscribe to Disney Plus for another year, this is a great opportunity to save $75 effortlessly, as the annual plan equals almost two months of free service.
To subscribe to the yearly subscription, click on the “View Plan” link provided in the table.
If you are not concerned about the quality or quantity of streams and want to continue paying the same price, you have the option to switch to the standard tier.
Password sharing crackdown
Disney has announced new subscription levels for its services, along with an updated agreement for subscribers. In this updated agreement, Disney has specified their intention to take measures against the practice of sharing passwords.
The revised agreement includes a provision in section J. Account Sharing which restricts the sharing of your subscription with others outside of your household, unless your Service Tier allows it.
It goes on to elaborate on the definition of “Household” as the “group of appliances and gadgets connected to your main home that are utilized by the people living there”.
Disney also mentions that it has the ability to assess your account activity and revoke your access to their service if they find that you are in violation of the agreement. Moreover, this statement implies that Disney may potentially implement methods similar to Netflix, such as having additional user accounts or restrictions for certain membership levels, in order to address the issue of password sharing.
The implementation of the new policy by Disney is uncertain. Despite policy changes for Canadian subscribers in November last year, comments on social media suggest that some users who are using someone else’s account have not encountered any problems so far.
Also Read: New iPhone security feature protects you from hackers
Disney Plus with Ads
Disney Plus currently does not have any advertising plans in place, but it is not completely disregarding the possibility of including ads in the future. Last year, Disney did introduce plans with ads called “Standard with Ads” in both the US and UK.
Similar to other streaming platforms, the ad-supported option is available at a lower cost but includes approximately four minutes of advertisements for every hour of streaming.
