Disney Plus has quietly dropped its 7-day free trail, meaning those wishing to sample all of that lovely Star Wars, Marvel, Disney and Pixar content will have to pay for the privilege from day one.
The discovery was made by the French website Numerama. Further investigation shows mentions of the free trial have disappeared from the UK and US websites too. Why now, when most of the major streaming services continue to offer free trials to new subscribers years after they launch?
Well, it may be because Disney Plus is about to drop a live recording of the all-conquering Broadway musical Hamilton. The stage show will begin streaming on July 3, so it’s perhaps a pre-emptive move from Disney to bring in some extra paying customers.
Because Hamilton is such a high profile and unique release, it’s entirely possible millions will sign-up to watch and just cancel after the free trial. Previous subscribers could, of course, just use a different email to get another trial if they fancy another week on the house. But not anymore.
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As we were writing this, Disney issued a statement on the end of the free trial. It isn’t ruling out more offers and promotions in the future, but for now it seems the freebies are off the table.
The firm said: “We continue to test and evaluate different marketing, offers, and promotions to grow Disney+. The service was set at an attractive price-to-value proposition that we believe delivers a compelling entertainment offering on its own.”
Disney Plus costs £5.99/$6.99 a month, while you can subscribe for an entire year for £59.99/$69.99. The streaming service does represent decent value for money, considering the quality of the archive content on show. However, despite high profile launches like The Mandalorian, viewers are clamouring for more original content from the Star Wars and Marvel stables in particular.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
