Disney+ on Android and Apple TV (background). | Photo by Thomas Ricker / The Verge
I just spent the last few minutes signing up for Disney+ and downloading apps for iOS, Android, and Apple TV. I then spent a few more minutes, several actually, streaming titles like Avengers Infinity War, Star Wars The Last Jedi, Incredibles 2, Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs, and Free Solo. No, I’m not a decorated general fighting at the front lines of the streaming wars, I’m just a dude who happens to live in The Netherlands where the Disney+ service has gone live. It’s a free pilot that runs until November 12th, after which time it’ll cost €6.99/mth.
I have to agree with my colleague Julia Alexander who described the Disney+ experience as “empty but elegant.” Compared to Netflix, there just isn’t much content here. Compared to Apple TV+ however, there’s a ton, and it’s very easy to find. A top row selection lets you quickly jump into Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, or National Geographic titles. Those inviting boxes sit directly below a full-width carousel showing the top promoted hits from each section. More than once I caught myself thinking, “oh, right, that’s a Disney movie” as I scrolled through hundreds of titles.
It was previously reported that only four Marvel movies would be available at launch on November 12th: Captain Marvel, Thor: The Dark World, Iron Man, and Iron Man 3; with Avengers: Endgame available later in December. The Dutch pilot — perhaps due to different licensing agreements — has 18 Marvel titles, but it’s currently missing Endgame and Captain Marvel:
The pilot also has the entire Star Wars franchise is available to stream, from Episode I to VIII, including Star Wars specials, series, and Lego shorts. Sadly, there’s no sign of the The Mandalorian yet.
The Disney+ home page conveniently sorts content for all the Disney+ sections into a number of useful categories like Hit Movies, Out of the Vault classics, Musicals, and Documentaries.
A 4K Ultra HD and HDR section is populated with 17 titles including a few from the Avenger and Star Wars sagas. Unfortunately, the Disney+ search feature doesn’t work for terms like “4K” or “HDR” or “Ultra HD.” Even the titles listed in the 4K Ultra HD and HDR section don’t identify themselves as 4K once you click into their pages. Here’s the full list available right now:
Some other observations:
For a pilot, the entire experience was bug-free. No weirdness in the apps, no unexpected buffering, no nothing to detract from an otherwise strong first showing of Disney’s streaming service.
Of course, my impressions are drawn from a pilot running in a small country — let’s see how it scales come November 12th.