Italian Disney Plus users are fine emails arriving these days that they knew would arrive but hoped they wouldn’t arrive: for the streaming platform it’s time for a price increase again. At the same time, advertising is also introduced in our country.
You knew the communication was coming because the company had already announced its intention to move in this direction, starting from the United States and then expanding to the rest of the world. It was hoped that it would not arrive because the increase is objectively substantial and also because causes the price of Disney Plus to double over 4 years.
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How much does it cost to subscribe to Disney Plus now
The email explains that “we have updated the prices so to be able to continue to offer you new Originals, successful films and many unmissable series” and that therefore “the price of your subscription, which has been renamed Disney Plus Premium, will be 119.90 euros per year”. Instead of the previous 89.90 euros, therefore a jump of 30 euros from one year to the next.
It must be said that in 2023 there had been no increases but also that this is somehow the fourth upward adjustment in the 4 years of the platform’s presence in Italy: Disney Plus arrived in our country in 2020 at the promotional price of 59.99 euros per year, rising to 69, 99 in 2021, to 89.90 in 2022 and then now to 119.90. Without getting lost in psychological mechanisms of dubious effectiveness and rounding off, we went from 60 to 120 euros a year in 4 yearsexactly double.
It is true that Disney Plus, together with Netflixis probably the platform with the richest offer, among the most famous cartoons, the saga of Star Wars, Indiana Jones, the Marvel films and also a lot of content for a more mature audience, but it’s actually quite a leap. Also because it fits into a context in which you can easily spend money also 130-150 euros per month (every month) for the various subscriptions.
Advertising arrives on Disney Plus
Disney’s email also says something else, namely that “we now offer several pricing options thanks to the new subscription plans” and that “you can cancel or switch to another plan very easily”, with a link (which does not work on smartphones) to a page where the various subscription options. Including those with advertising.
On the page (which is this), we read that there are essentially 3 plans: Standard with advertising, Standard and Premium, which cost respectively 5.99, 8.99 and 11.99 euros per month (the last two also allow annual payment, at 89.90 or 119.90). The two cheapest ones are similar, with the difference that the first one has advertising and instead does not have the ability to download contents to view them without connection. The Premium subscription has no advertising and adds Dolby Atmos and 4K resolution, which are all things that until last year they were already there and for which now you have to pay instead.
As for the advertising, it is not clear how much there will be, because Disney explains it but doesn’t explain it very well: “If you subscribe to Disney Plus Standard with advertising, you will see advertisements during movies and shows. Normally, advertisements are displayed before the start of the program and during playback, just like in traditional television broadcasts.” How many commercials there are and how long they last, however, is never said. Instead, it is specified that “advertising will not appear in any of the following cases: content viewed in Junior Mode and downloaded content”. Also because the download is not available in plans with advertising.
As widely expected, Disney is following the path traced by Netflix and it will do so (it has already been confirmed) also to combat sharing password abuse, which should be triggered in 2024.
@capoema