If you’ve been reading the blog you’ll know that my kids watch too much TV, and I’m OK with that. So it’ll come as no surprise to learn that we’ve been testing out DisneyLife – Disney’s subscription-based streaming service – for the past couple of months. If you’re a Disney fan considering taking the plunge, or you’re keen to find out more about the service, here’s everything you need to know.
What is DisneyLife?
DisneyLife is a digital membership service that lets you pay a subscription to access ‘more Disney movies, TV shows, soundtracks and books than you’ll find anywhere else’. You can stream them to your device – be it a TV, laptop or iPad – or download them to watch later. It’s basically Netflix for kids. Or Disney addicts.
How much does it cost?
A DisneyLife subscription is £9.99 per month, although you can sign up for a free trial month and you won’t be charged if you cancel before your paid month kicks in.
What can I watch it on?
We streamed movies and TV shows to my MacBook Pro, and linked it to our TV screen. You can also watch on smartphones and tablets, or on a TV using Chromecast or AirPlay, apparently. To see if it’ll work for you, take a look at this list of DisneyLife compatible devices.
What can I watch?
There’s all sorts. In the movies section there are animated classics like The Lion King and Bambi, DisneyLife exclusives like Frozen and Enchanted, and teen movies like High School Musical 2 and The Lizzie McGuire Movie. In the shows section there are programmes from the Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD plus TV spin-offs. Take a look at the video below for a quick whizz through the movies interface.
Is it any good?
Yes, and that’s despite the fact my kids aren’t particularly into watching films yet. They loved watching programmes from Disney Junior – we don’t have Sky, so most of them were completely new (and they are now totally hooked on Henry Hugglemonster and Doc McStuffin). That said, we did watch The LEGO Movie, Toy Story, Walle and Pinocchio, and almost made it to the end of all of them. Almost.
Is it difficult to set up?
We had some streaming issues when we first started our subscription, but after talking to the technical team, updating Silverlight and swearing at the laptop, things ran smoothly. We used a HDMI cable to connect the MacBook to the TV, which is about as much technology as I can deal with.
What else do I need to know?
We started our six-month subscription in spring and it ran over summer, which I regret now as we spent most of our time in the park not watching tellie. If I could do it again I’d take my membership out now, just as the weather is turning and we’re starting to want to snuggle in front of the TV with popcorn and fizzy for ‘cinema time’.
Where can I try it out for free?
Sign up for a free trial month on the DisneyLife site and see if you like it. Just don’t forget to cancel your subscription before the month ends if you don’t want to be charged.
Disclosure: DisneyLife provided us with a six-month DisneyLife subscription in return for a fair and honest review. As always, all opinions are my own.
Thank you this has helped!
Thanks for reading, Luke, I’m glad it was helpful!
I’m glad to hear it Luke! 🙂
Thanks for the info, one question , can you have it installed on a few devices and watch them at the same time ? With Netflix it’s an additional cost to watch 2/3 at the same time, please advise, thanks,
Hi Dierdre, yes, you can use your account on up to 10 devices and stream content on up to 4 of them at the same time 🙂 Hope that helps!
with Netflix won’t do any more Disney movie will Disneylife work on Chromecast? As I miss Disney films
Hi Victoria, yes, you can use Chromecast to wirelessly stream DisneyLife content from your phone to your TV. There’s a support article on the site called Streaming DisneyLife through Chromecast. Hope that helps! 🙂
I signed up for a seven day trial but cancelled on the second day. I have been billed £4.99 every month as Disneylife claim that they do not recognise my email address or password.
Can someone please advise how I can deal with this.
My email address is bwbritten@gmail.com
Thank you.
\Brian
Hi Brian, you need to contact DisneyLife directly I’m afraid – I don’t work with them. Hope you get it sorted!
Can you download to a windows laptop and view offline?
Hi Kirsty, if you go on to the official Disney Life website there’s a box where you can enter your device and check if it’s compatible 🙂
We have downloaded Disney life tonight. It has take a few attempts but finally got it. Not that pleased with the quality of the pictures. Very blurry and pixelated especially when fast moving parts of film.
All other movies on Netflix and other streaming channels are fine. How can this be rectified as don’t want to keep it if picture going to be this bad.
Hi Pamela, sorry to hear that – you’d need to contact DisneyLife direct I’m afraid!