The Walt Disney Company is one of the biggest conglomerates in the entertainment industry, owning some of the biggest and most popular studios and franchises. This is why fans got really excited when they launched Disney Plus, its own video-on-demand streaming service, back in 2019.
It’s no surprise that Disney+ already has 164.2 million users, and is expected to continue to grow as it expands in more markets like the Philippines.
Disney+ is a video streaming service with a large library thanks to the studios and franchises under its umbrella. This platform lets you watch any movies or videos from Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and Disney Studios themselves, and more on select markets.
To provide better value to its users, Disney has also imported shows and movies from other entertainment producers, giving you more options to be entertained.
If those are enough to persuade you, today we’ll provide you a couple of Disney+ trips and tricks to let you take advantage of your subscription much better, as well as save you a couple of bucks on your monthly fee.
Bear in mind that some of these features may not be available in all regions yet. That said, let’s begin.
Table of Contents
- Get an annual subscription to save money
- Set the quality to the highest or Auto
- Customize the subtitles
- Create a Disney+ watch party using GroupWatch
- Use the IMAX Enhanced Format
- Download for offline watching
- Disable Disney Plus autoplay
- Enjoy bloopers, deleted scenes, and more bonus content
- Use “Search” to type your preference
- Create a watchlist to save for later
- Request a movie or show from Disney+
Get an annual subscription to save money
This is a common retail technique. Buy in bulk and get savings. Instead of paying for a monthly plan, you can advance your payment and pay for a full-year subscription to get a Disney Plus discount.
In the Philippines, you can get more than 30% savings by doing this. A Premium plan will cost Php369/month. But if you get the 12-month subscription you’d only be paying Php2,950. That’s like spending only Php245/month for the service.
In addition, you can share the Premium account with up to 4 users, as it allows for 4 concurrent streaming (similar to Netflix). This means you can divide that monthly or yearly subscription into four (4) for more savings.
Set the quality to the highest or Auto
As a long-time Netflix user, this is one of the features we appreciate as a Disney Plus subscriber.
Unlike Netflix, you can easily set or change the resolution quality while playing a movie or show, much like how YouTube does it.
You can set the quality to the highest available quality (4K, 1080p, etc.) to ensure that you’re always watching at the best resolution possible. Of course, you have to make sure you have a fast and reliable internet connection to prevent annoying buffering and slowdowns.
But if you have choppy internet, you can leave it to Auto, which is the default setting. This will automatically change resolutions depending on what your internet speed can handle.
Customize the subtitles
Disney+ really wants its users to have a personalized experience. So much so that they even allow you to customize the look of the subtitles or closed caption (CC).
Customizing the look of the subtitle is also a great accessibility feature if you have eye problems.
You can do this by playing a movie or show, access the Subtitles section, and click the settings. Here you can change the text format, font color and opacity, font size, font edge, background color and opacity, and window color and opacity.
Create a Disney+ watch party using GroupWatch
Here’s one cool built-in feature on the Disney+ that other services lack.
The Disney+ GroupWatch feature lets you hold a viewing party with friends and family. This is great for long-distance movie nights or binge-watching a new season of your favorite show.
To host a GroupWatch, simply tap the three-people icon on each film or show. It will generate a link that you can send to other users. Once accessed, and you have your popcorn ready, press Start stream.
Anyone of the up to 7 users can pause the stream. All members can also send emoji reactions. But, bear in mind that everyone should also have a Disney+ subscription.
Use the IMAX Enhanced Format
Now, before you become skeptical, you don’t need an IMAX screen for this to work. It is compatible with almost any device, simply look for the IMAX Enhanced icon on the title’s overview page.
So, what does it do? Well, it has an expanded 1.90:1 resolution, which allows you to see 26% more of the original picture.
Content that’s compatible with this format will enable it by default. But if you don’t like it, you can change it in the Versions section.
Download for offline watching
Are you a commuter or will you be staying in a place without an internet connection? Stay entertained wherever you are by saving a film or any video for offline viewing. This feature is available for smartphone or tablet users on iOS, iPadOS, or Android.
To download a movie, simply go to the title’s overview page and tap Download. For TV series, look for the season or episode you want to get and tap the download icon next to its name.
Related
- How to watch Disney Plus in unsupported countries using a VPN
- How to remove other users from your Netflix account
- 5 Netflix tips to improve your binge-watching experience
Disable Disney Plus autoplay
The autoplay feature on streaming services can be quite annoying. This usually happens when you’re browsing for content to watch. While it has its use, some people don’t like playing trailers and previews.
Fortunately, you can disable it on Disney Plus. Simply go to your Disney+ Profile —> Edit Profile —> Toggle Autoplay off.
Enjoy bloopers, deleted scenes, and more bonus content
Remember those DVD days when you get bonus content from the movie you just watched? A similar feature is available on Disney+.
Select films or shows will have an “Extra” section on the overview page, which shows funny bloopers, deleted scenes, trailers, director’s commentary, and other behind-the-scenes and bonus content.
Use “Search” to type your preference
Do you want to watch a film or show with a “Female lead”, set at “Christmas” time, or with “Chris Hemsworth” in it? Simply type your preference on the Search tab to narrow down the library and quickly find content that may fit your taste.
Create a watchlist to save for later
Here’s a scenario: you’re scrolling and looking for content you already want to watch but, you stumbled upon a movie or series that you also find interesting but don’t want to watch right now.
What you might want to do is save it so you can easily go back to it later. You can do this by adding it to your Watchlist. Simply click the plus icon next to the title. Once you’re ready to see it, go to the Watchlist section of the main menu.
Request a movie or show from Disney+
It may be from the biggest entertainment company in the industry, but there are still a lot of shows or films not available on Disney+.
If you really have something you want to see but it’s currently unavailable, you can request shows or films from Disney Plus. To do so, simply open the Help Center within the Disney+ app or website, tap Give Feedback, then select “Request a Film or Show.” You can suggest up to three titles.
These are the things you can try on your Disney+ accounts to take full advantage of it. Do you have other suggestions? Let’s hear them out in the comments section below.