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Disney+ launched just last week – on the much awaited date of Tuesday, November 12, 2019. There has been so much excitement leading up to the launch. The base price of $6.99 a month – with various deals and free periods for everyone from D23 members to certain Verizon customers – makes it seem like a no brainer for even the most casual Disney (or film) fan.
But truth told, especially since cutting the cord on cable earlier this year, I’m hyper aware of just how quickly the various streaming service subscriptions add up. Because after all – if I cut the cord on cable in part to save some coin each month, it sort of defeats the purpose once the subscription to Disney+ and Netflix and Hulu and Amazon Prime, etc etc, basically adds up to a cable bill. (That said – it still doesn’t touch that cable bill. And I also just really dislike pretty much all cable companies and don’t want them to get my money. But still. You see my point.)
We can only call each of these subscription services “no brainers” for so long before the total cost of them all becomes very much an….um….brainer.
So. All of that said. Entering day 5 of my Disney+ subscription. Is it worthwhile?
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Heck. Yeah.
And I’ll take a step back and say what ISN’T a factor for me here.
For starters: The sheer volume of it all. While it’s mind blowing to scroll through ALL of the content that’s suddenly at our fingertips – it’s worth noting that it all kind of hit at once. If someone suddenly dropped all of Netflix into your lap at once, your mind would be pretty blown by that, too. Especially if you’d known about it and waited for it for a year or more. And so I’m not going to give it a rave review on sheer volume.
Nor am I going to overstate the number of day 1 subscribers. Yes – 10 million people in one day is pretty amazing and has me kvelling a little over my most favorite company. But again…we’ve all been waiting for this moment for a LONG TIME. We had the date on our calendars. People who talk about what will happen “if this trend continues” need to realize that everyone who waited obsessively for it downloaded that app (probably many times) on day 1.
Or at least tried to…. (A nod to my friend Kenneth and others who had some troubles with the platform in those first 24ish hours.)
The numbers are very impressive – but again – they alone aren’t going to make this a win for me. They aren’t the start of some massive 10-million-a-day trend. We were all waiting for November 12th. And most of us got it on November 12th.
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What Disney+ wins on, massively, is content. And what will always make it a no brainer in my house is that content. From nostalgic films like Parent Trap to wonderful documentaries like The Imagineering Story to other original content like Encore! and shorts like Float (if you haven’t watched it, go – now – and do) and Forky Asks a Question. From the live action Lady and the Tramp, which is easily the best live action remake I’ve seen so far short of maybe Cinderella – which is one of my all time favorite Disney movies of all time, not just among the live action set.
Having (almost) the entirety of the Vault at my finger tips is mind blowing.
Watching my boys watch and love Steamboat Willie – the original Mickey short created by Walt’s own hand that is fast approaching its ONE HUNDREDTH birthday – again and again has been one of the great joys of my time on this planet as a mother.
While The Imagineering Story for the most part isn’t new information to me, I challenge you to watch it without getting emotional. I’ve cried with Bob Gurr more in the last few days than I’d likely admit.
I love that I can play anything at all on the platform and know that it will be appropriate content for my kids. I love having wonderful things like Waking Sleeping Beauty (one of my all time favorite documentaries) at my fingertips. I love feeling Walt’s spirit in my home as much as I have these last 5 days.
And this is what makes Disney+ a no brainer for me. Not the numbers. Not the volume. Not the low price. The content. The content that brings my family around the screen throughout the day to enjoy the world that Walt built.
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You can find my top 5 Disney+ surprise favorites right HERE.
