by When Disney Plus first came out, I was very excited to subscribe to the service. Disney Plus had a lot of films and shows that I loved to watch, and it was very convenient to have access to all of them for the low price of $7.99 a month. On top of all the content available, Disney was making some new shows such as Loki and Obi-Wan Kenobi. These shows were available at no additional cost, and I was excited to watch these new shows. Any new movie that Disney released would be released on Disney Plus only a few weeks after releasing in theaters, which was great so that I could watch new releases without having to pay anything extra.
However, in the past year I have found multiple reasons why I think it is wise for me to cancel my Disney Plus subscription and take a different approach in how I watch the films I enjoy.
Reason 1: The Quality of New Projects
I was a Disney Plus subscriber for about 2 years. For the first year, I enjoyed catching up on the Marvel shows such as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and the shows like Hawkeye that I had missed. However, once She-Hulk released on Disney Plus, I started to realize something about Disney Plus’s recent shows and films. The reality is that a lot of the shows that they have been coming out with are just not that good. I wanted to enjoy them but instead they just felt boring and dull. I decided to rewatch some of the old films and shows Disney had come out with and realized that they were much better than anything that Disney has come out with recently.
Reason 2: The Never-Ending Price Increases
When Disney Plus was first released, it only cost $7.99 for a month and that was with no ads. It was an amazingly low price that I thought was well worth my money. However, as time has gone on, Disney Plus has had multiple price increases. Some of them involved making tiers that added ads and other tiers that remove the ads. They also introduced bundles where you could bundle with other streaming services such as Hulu for a combined price.
When I canceled Disney Plus, I was paying $13.99 a month. That was a $6 dollar increase a month ($72 a year) within a 2-year period. And there is no sign that the price increases are going to stop anytime soon. Disney recently announced that they are going to bundle with Max, and you can expect there will be a price increase with that bundle. Personally, I got annoyed of the price increases when it didn’t feel like the new content, they were making was worth the extra money a month.
Reason 3: Politics and Narratives < Good Stories
It’s no secret that in the past few years Disney has been pushing its narratives down our throats in everything that they make. There is always a reference to something that aligns with their narratives. Sometimes these references are subtle, but they are becoming much more prominent. Personally, I do not agree with Disney’s political narratives at all, and seeing it become more prominent over the years has finally pushed me past the point where I thought it best to cancel my subscription.
Streaming Services aren’t the only way
The reason I stayed subscribed to Disney Plus for so long was because I didn’t really own many of the films I loved, and I wanted to be able to watch them still. For example, I enjoy watching the old Star Wars and Marvel films, but I did not own any of them physically. This kept me subscribed to Disney Plus for some time.
However, at the beginning of 2024 I decided that I was going to invest in purchasing the films that I enjoyed on Blu-ray and DVD. I found that I could get a lot of my favorite films on eBay for cheaper that I thought. Another plus was that some of these films had digital copies so I could still watch some of the films on the go.
By purchasing physical copies of my favorite films and shows, I knew I would always have access to them, and I would be able to have the films I would watch and not pay a monthly price for extra content that I didn’t need. While cost about $250 to set up my collection, I was able to get most of the films that I enjoy and I am buying second-hand from other people, leading to me putting a halt to giving more money to Disney.
I plan to continue to grow my Blu-ray and DVD collection with films and shows that I will rewatch and limit how much I spend on streaming services since they seem to be becoming more like cable every day. If you are in a similar situation, I would highly recommend starting a DVD collection as I find it to be a very effective to combat paying insane prices for Disney Plus.
