How to Watch Disney+ from Anywhere in the World

It’s a streaming battle royale, everybody. Dubbed as the future of the company, Disney+ is making its way to the streaming industry on November 12th, 2019. Remember when all the Defenders’ shows died in the last years? Yeah, that’s Disney preparing us for an OTT war next year. No more Disney on Netflix, if that’s what you’re asking. Still scratching your head wondering what it’ll be like and where would it be available? Don’t worry. Here’s everything you need to know about Disney+ and how you can get its Disney-fied glory all around the world.

Disney Plus – The Introduction it Deserves

Disney+ is well, you guessed it, is Disney’s upcoming streaming service that’s threatening the OTT market. As the name suggests, it will be the exclusive home to the company’s top movies, shows, cartoons, and of course, Pixar movies. Let’s talk about how Disney is growing to be one of the biggest TV companies in the world.

First, in August 2016, Disney acquired a controlling stake in BAMTech for $1.58 billion, increasing its stake to 75%. It turned out to be just a start in Disney’s plan to control the media.

One year later, the company started plotting to get 21st Century Fox. And guess what? In March 2019, it did. So, expect an X-Men vs. Avengers movie anytime soon. One more thing that I should get out of my chest; we finally might get an actual good Fantastic Four movie.

Do you want more? Have you ever watched Netflix’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and Roma? Well, if you have, their director Matt Brodlie has jumped ship and landed as senior Vice President of International content development at Disney+. Here’s what he had to say:

Now that you know the path that Disney took in order to get to November 12th, 2019. Let’s dig a little deeper into the House of Mouse‘s new streaming service.

Who Can Get It?

The official launch will first be in the United States, Canada, and the Netherlands. For those living in these countries, you can start your Walt Disney streaming tour by November 12th, 2019.

A week later, on November 19th, Australia and New Zealand will join the mix as well. You might ask yourself why this timing? Well, despite targeting children, Disney does think outside of the box. It will make a lot of profit by that time courtesy of the holiday season. Remember, big names such as Frozen 2 and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will hit the theaters on November 22nd and December 20th, respectively.

As for the ones living outside of the countries mentioned above, there’s also good news for you. The company declared that it’s going for a progressive rollout worldwide in the upcoming two years. Here’s what we know so far:

According to Kevin Mayers: “He believes people “will be happy” with how quickly Disney rolls out the service to international markets.”

Is it Expensive?

For a new streaming service to compete in today’s industry, it should take its price into consideration before the initial launch. Well, Disney did its homework before stepping up to the giants like Netflix and Hulu.

Upon release, Disney+ will cost around $7/month and $70/year in the United States. If we were to compare it with Netflix, for example, that’s a lot cheaper from Netflix’s $13 monthly fee. I know that there’s a cheaper option, but that plan is the most common in the States as it lets you stream on two devices in High Definition.

A basic subscription with Disney+ allows you to stream four screens simultaneously in 4K quality if you want, which is a feature Netflix has for $16 as a premium tier. But don’t get your hopes up just yet. Disney stated that the $7 fee is an initial price (quite vague, huh?). That makes us think that the company will start pushing its costs even higher in the future.

Let me give you a briefer look at what the prices will look like come Disney+’s initial release:

Before the official release, Disney offered everyone who was attending its D23 conference a discount on its subscription plan. The deal was a three-year subscription for $140.97 only, which makes it equivalent to $3.92/month. Hurry up, if you’re a US resident, start pre-ordering as the offer expires on September 2nd, 2019.

Disney also said that it’s going to add a Disney+ bundle with Hulu (ad-supported) and ESPN+. Users also get a $5 discount if they subscribe to all three as the price will end up equal to Netflix’s popular plan, $13/month.

What to Expect – Disney+ Catalog

A couple of years ago, Netflix was the go-to place to watch Disney’s blockbuster movies with a subscription. However, that was until Disney decided to back down on the deal and start competing in the streaming business on its own.

So, expect all Disney content to be removed from Netflix by the end of 2019. The service has laid out a vast catalog of all the shows, movies, and documentaries that are coming on November 12th. There are thousands of titles, but I’m going to give you a quick look at the top new, old, and original ones below:

The good news continues. If you don’t know this yet, Disney+ lets you download content for offline viewing. Just pick a title, click on the download button, and stream anywhere, anytime.

But there’s one problem that adult fans will face. What will happen to The Defenders? If Disney has the rights to Fox now, what does that mean the likes of Deadpool and Logan? They’re are not allowed on the service? You see, Disney+ won’t feature any Rated-R or TV-MA content on its service. It will only focus on family-oriented material.

However, these titles instead are going to Hulu. After the acquisition of Fox, Disney now owns 60% of the streaming giant. Therefore, expect your favorite (Merc with a Mouth) on Hulu’s screen. Don’t forget that you’ll need to add Disney+ as an extra bundle with Hulu.

That’s It?

If you think that Disney+ is going to stick to everything Disney-exclusive, think again. Disney has declared war on other streaming services come November 2019. So, how can it par with the likes of Netflix and Hulu? That’s simple. These channels don’t solely rely on original shows and movies, which helps them expand their content library even more.

Apparently, Disney+ is going to do the same. According to Bob Iger:

“We are buying certain products from the outside opportunistically.”

Is There an App?

Definitely, and it’s landing big. Disney’s application will be available upon release. However, what we didn’t expect is the fact that it’s available on mainly any device you might have.

As I mentioned before, with the Disney+ app, every Disney+ account will be able to stream top titles in full HD and 4K quality. However, to make it even better, Disney is allowing you to download its titles and watch them later on in offline mode. Back on April 11th, Disney revealed the devices it will be available on. Let’s take a look:

If you’ve seen the images at the Disney Investors event, Amazon Fire TV platform was shown, yet not mentioned. So, expect any Amazon product to be out of the mix for the time being. Also, Nintendo Switch is missing, despite being on the image as well.

Will There Be a Problem Though?

Unfortunately, yes, but not with the application itself, as far as we know. You see, I’ve already mentioned that Disney+ will be available in select countries throughout 2019 and 2020. This means that it won’t be accessible in others. Alright, so Disney+ will be rivaling Netflix and Hulu, but technically, they’re not that different.

All these streaming services use geo-blocking as a method to restrict or limit the access of specified content based on your geographic location. This mechanism relies on your IP address to determine your location. If you live overseas, you’ll have a different IP address from the one Disney+ requires.

So, if you try to stream the channel’s content from abroad, you won’t be able to get past the home page. You might ask yourself, how can I know this if the service is not available yet?

Well, Disney provided users to test out the service via a preview website. I tried to see what the fuss is all about, but got greeted with this geo-error message:

Can Anything Be Done?

Yes, yes, don’t worry. It doesn’t matter where Disney+ is available, you’ll be able to access its top shows and movies no matter where you are on the map. As I mentioned, streaming services rely on your IP address to pinpoint your location. But that doesn’t have to be the case if you’re using a Virtual Private Network.

A VPN is an internet security tool that redirects your internet traffic through a server in a country of your choosing. Once you’re connected, your data will appear to be coming from the server’s location, thus, you’ll be qualified as a current resident (virtually speaking). You then obtain an IP address in the region where the server is based.

As a result, whatever service restricted to that territory will think that you’re within its broadcasting area, granting you full access in the process. It’s quite a simple task, actually. Here’s what you need to do:

1. As a start, subscribe to VPN service that has servers in the countries where Disney+ is launching. As your guide, I recommend ExpressVPN.
2. Next, head over to your App Store and download their dedicated VPN client.
3. Now, sign in with your VPN credentials and navigate to the server list.
4. Your best option would be an American server. Click on that and hit connect.
5. Wait a few seconds for the connection to take place.
6. Launch Disney+.
7. Enjoy a vast catalog of the best Disney originals, movies, and TV shows anywhere.

Any VPN Recommendation?

If Disney follows in Netflix’s footsteps, there are a couple of things you should look out for:

• Disney+’s content will be region-specific, which means each country will have a certain catalog to use.
• The new streaming service will be able to block VPN access, just like Netflix and Hulu do.

As seen above, I was able to unblock Disney Plus using ExpressVPN. Throughout the years, I’ve been using this VPN provider to get around all kinds of geo-restrictions. That’s not all; ExpressVPN is also capable of unblocking Netflix, while other premium services failed to fulfill the task (Hint: IPVanish).

The provider has been around for quite some time and has spread its reach to over 94 countries. You’ll be able to switch between 3000 servers at will unlimitedly. Furthermore, ExpressVPN allows five simultaneous connections, while Disney+ gives you four. That means you get to stream Disney on four different devices at blazing fast speeds.

As for security, ExpressVPN shields your data with high-level protocols. The United States uses the same encryption to protect its sensitive online data as well. Privacy-wise, this provider respects its customers’ needs. It doesn’t keep any logs of your browsing activities.

In addition, ExpressVPN has an automatic kill switch, which will terminate your internet connection if the VPN network took a sudden drop.

ExpressVPN might be on top of the VPN industry, but it’s for sure not the only provider out there. If you’re looking to dig deeper into the VPN market, you have to check these top alternatives:

Disney+ vs. Netflix

Again, streaming World War One. Disney+ is coming full force this November to go head to head with none other than Netflix. But will it be able to do that? Can it pull it off when none of the other services could?

Looking at Disney’s history, you’ll probably estimate how popular its new service will be. I mean let’s face it, a lot of Netflix subscribers enjoy the fact that the service has Disney movies in its library. However, to make the competition even more fierce, Disney is pulling all of its content out.

There’s always a catch when it comes to licensing. It is very complicated. One report says that Disney might return these titles to Netflix by 2026. But the good thing is, Disney+ has a lot of time to introduce more originals to keep the balance the time comes.

Having said that, let’s look at some facts:

Disney shares trading are up 4.4%, while Netflix shares were down 1%. That means the channel will make a big impact as soon as it hits the market. Reports say that Disney+ will have more than 130 million subscribers across the globe by 2024. That could be a big threat for Netflix as it just reached 150 million in 2019.

Disney+ – The Long-Awaited OTT Service

Disney+ will undoubtedly make a significant impact on the streaming industry. After acquiring Fox, the channel is stronger than ever. I hope you’re ready to binge-watch all 30 seasons of The Simpsons; they’re available on launch. You now know everything about the channel and how to stream it anywhere. What shows and movies do you think Disney has in stores for us? Pop them into the comments section below, and I’ll share mine as well.