The cost of Disney+ is going up soon, and budget-conscious streamers are probably wondering if there’s a way to avoid the changes.
The answer is: Yes, but you better act fast, and the fix may only be temporary.
The long-anticipated price hike for Disney’s popular video streaming service will arrive on December 8, 2022, along with the unveiling of a new ad-supported subscription option.
In this article, I’ll walk you through your options for temporarily avoiding the price increase. And be ready to take action, because your options may be limited after December 7.
How To Temporarily Avoid the Disney+ Price Increase
The new Disney pricing will be in place on December 8. If you’re an existing customer, you may have already received a notification that your bill will be going up soon.
So what can you do to avoid the bump to $10.99 per month for ad-free Disney+ in 2023?
You have two basic options. One requires a lengthy commitment, and the other requires that you watch commercials with your content moving forward.
Let’s look at both options more closely.
1. Commit to a New Annual Subscription Now
Disney is actually advertising the simplest solution itself: Pay for an annual subscription by December 7. In doing so, you’ll lock in existing pricing and save roughly 39% off the same subscription if you paid for it on December 8.
This will bill you for the current ad-free annual rate of $79.99, and your renewal won’t come due until December 2023.
Be warned that you’ll owe the full year’s worth of payments upfront, and that it’s not refundable for partial cancellation. So you’ll be making a commitment in exchange for locking those additional 12 months of existing pricing.
Also note that, upon that renewal coming due, you’ll be asked to pay market price in December 2023.
Effective December 8, market price for an ad-free annual subscription to Disney+ will be $109.99.
2. Downgrade to an Ad-Supported Subscription
The next option is not nearly as time-sensitive as the first, and it can be altered at any time if you choose to pay monthly.
Beginning December 8, Disney+ will offer an ad-supported subscription option. Much like the plans offered by competitors HBO Max, Netflix, Paramount+ and Peacock, this will give Disney watchers the option to pay a lower price in exchange for watching advertisements and commercials that are placed within the content.
This plan is being unveiled along with the price increase on ad-free subscriptions as an option to keep your bill the same moving forward.
The monthly pricing on ad-supported Disney+ will be $7.99, which matches what ad-free pricing costs right now.
So, if you want to keep your total cost for the service the same and don’t want to commit to the full year presented in Option 1, this could be a good solution for you.
Final Thoughts
If you are a stand-alone Disney+ customer (someone who doesn’t pay for ESPN+ or Hulu), you may benefit from purchasing a year-long subscription before December 8.
This will allow you to lock in an effective monthly subscription rate of $6.67 for ad-free streaming for the next 12 months. But remember that it will require paying the entire $79.99 upfront by December 7.
Alternatively, monthly subscribers could opt to switch from ad-free to ad-supported Disney+ on December 8 to keep the existing $7.99 pricing.
However, if you do like ESPN+ and Hulu, you may find it simpler to consider The Disney Bundle moving forward.
This gives you all three of the services for between $13 and $19 per month, depending on your choices on watching ads within the services.
What are you planning to do with your Disney+ subscription in 2023? We’d love to hear about your strategy in the Clark.com community.
