How I save money on Disney+

With the cost of living affecting our food, energy and water bills, non-essential purchases like streaming services have been taking a hit with many people cancelling their subscriptions.

Like all of us, I have a few streaming subscriptions and don’t really want to give them up so I’ve been hunting for ways to save money on streaming services without having to cancel them. One streaming service that I’d find very hard to say goodbye to is Disney+.

Disney+ has cemented its place in the streaming sphere and is a strong rival to the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime. Alongside its extensive selection of Disney, Marvel and Star Wars series, Disney+ has also added many different films, TV shows and documentaries to its repertoire. It also comes with Star and National Geographic channels added on and has a lot of content that was previously on Netflix. See our Disney+ review for more.

I originally signed up to the free trial of Disney+ (which is no longer available) to watch the stage recording of Hamilton and after my free month ended, I couldn’t let it go! However, in an effort to save some money, I’ve found 6 ways to make the most out of my Disney+ subscription while also keeping the costs down.

P.S. For more money saving tips, check out the best streaming service deals available this month.

1. Pay annually instead of monthly

The best way to save money on Disney+ is by paying for an annual subscription rather than monthly. It makes a lot of sense to pay monthly as it’s more flexible if you want to cancel it but compared to an annual subscription, you’re paying a lot more than you should be. The monthly fee for Disney+ is £7.99 / $7.99 compared to the yearly fee of £79.90 / $79.99. If you pay monthly for 12 months, this totals to £95 which is 15-20% more expensive than paying a lump sum for the whole year. This not only saves you money but it also alleviates bill stress each month.

2. Get the Disney+ bundle

For more streaming services and capabilities, I’d suggest signing up to the Disney+ bundle. The Disney+ bundle is for US users and is $13.99 a month that gives access to Hulu and ESPN+. While this bundle deal isn’t currently available in the UK, Star is included in all monthly subscriptions so you’re still getting a wide range of kid-friendly and adult content. Of course, the Disney+ bundle is more expensive than the standard Disney+ plan but with access to multiple subscriptions, you technically get 3-5 services for a cheaper price within one bundle. If this is what you choose to do, I’d suggest cancelling Netflix or your other streaming services in favour of this bundle deal.

3. Share your account

If you live with someone or share a flat with people and you all want to use Disney+, share an account and split the bill each month or annually.  Sharing a Disney+ account is a great way to save money and offers up to 7 different profiles at no extra cost. You can also stream on up to 4 devices at once so you can all use Disney+ at the same time without interfering with each other’s viewing. If you live with 2 or 3 people, you can split the bill each month and you’ll only pay around £2 - £3 each.

4. Get a free year of Disney+ with a new phone contract

If you’re looking for a new phone or contract, you can find Disney+ deals from mobile phone networks when you sign up with them. Whether you’re looking for a SIM only deal or a phone deal, you can get a new device and contract at a cheap price and with a streaming subscription deal thrown in. Depending on the handset or contract you want, you can get Disney+ for free for 12 months. Providers like Virgin, Carphone Warehouse, iD Mobiles and Three all offered this when the new Samsung Galaxy S22 was released so if you need a new phone, it doesn’t hurt to have a look at a free Disney+ subscription at the same time.

5. Download videos and customise your settings

One of the biggest mistakes people make with Disney+ is not downloading videos to watch while you’re on the go. By downloading films, TV episodes or documentaries to your phone or tablet, you can watch while you’re out and about and preserve your data without racking up your phone bill. You can also customise the download quality of your viewing via the app settings. Head to the ‘Download Quality’ tab in your settings and select ‘Standard’ so you can determine how much data you want to use while downloading and streaming to save more data and money.

6. Ask for a Disney+ subscription as a gift

If you’re a new user to Disney+, you can ask for a Disney+ gift subscription for £79.90 / $79.99. Whether it’s your birthday, Christmas or an anniversary, ask for a year of Disney+ as a gift so you can watch all the content you want and you won’t have to pay for it for a full year.

For more information on how to save money on streaming services, check out my tips and tricks on how to save money on Netflix, Amazon Prime, NOW TV, Apple TV+, YouTube Premium and StarzPlay.