During the fiscal third quarter Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ combined to lose $1.1 billion, reflecting the higher cost of content on the services. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/10/disn...-earnings.html

They're still losing quite a bit of money. That's why prices are going up.

But they're actually losing less than they expected. The real test will be how many of these three year subscribers they'll be able to retain. That introductory price, even the non D23 one, was unsustainable for what they wanted to create.

The hikes percentage wise seem insane but comparative value-wise probably makes sense (particularly if you're a fan of their IP), at least until they pull a Zaslav and start pulling stuff from their service to sell elsewhere.

It does make you wonder how much longer streaming services can continue to run with those kinds of loses each quarter. The Parks division revenue really increased and that is helping to bail out the divisions losing money.

Same. Hulu is my most watched paid service and it's been nice having it essentially free with my Spotify sub.

I'm also on the 3 year D+ plan. Once that runs out I will certainly drop it, barring any sweet deals they offer to retain us. I'll just let the Marvel/Star Wars shows pile up and will rotate in every now and then. The only catalog thing I'd really want is the Simpsons, but I already have all of the DVDs for the seasons I revisit.

My biggest concern here is if Verizon will still cover the base cost of the bundle with one of their unlimited plans. I pay for no ads Hulu separately. Going to suck to have to pay for no ads on Disney+ too, if that happens.

Looks like the Bundle with Disney+ no ads, Hulu w/ads, and ESPN+ is only going up by a buck, from 13.99 to 14.99. I can handle that.

"Input! More input!"

It was a pre-order deal, and Disney Plus's launch date was 11/12/19, so everyone's 3-year expiration date is going to be 11/12.

​​​​​​This article says that the streaming wars are already over, and obtaining customers at any cost is at an end. Prices are going to go up, content spending will go down (from the current insane levels to something more realistic), and bundling is the way forward.

Yep. Over the next eight-ten months there will probably be a lot of people doing some cleanup of their subscription services. I know I'm subbed to at least 3 or 4 that once my pre-paid time is up, I'll let lapse.
Sounds an little bit legacy cable/satellite, only more confusing. Just hope the services don't start requiring contracts. I like Disney and Hulu but it might turn into a once-a-quarter sub.
Even excluding all the crap and trying not to get mad at the cancellations of good shows, there's still good stuff on most of the services. We watch a couple things here, a couple things there. But if we didn't have a service, we'd survive (or churn).
It'll be interesting to see what happens to D+'s subscription numbers in November. I think for a lot of people D+ is sort of like Netflix by now, almost a given. I definitely don't want it to go up, but that bundle isn't a huge jump.

Folks, I am about to switch my Disney+ subscription to the Ad Free Disney+/Hulu (no ads)/ESPN+ bundle, should I go for it now? Or do you think I will miss out on a promo deal offered around Oct/Nov (as noted here and elsewhere, a ton of folks signed up in 2019 in Oct/Nov, which is when a good chunk of us will need to manually renew our subscriptions)?

I guess what's the rush? Unless you really want Hulu and ESPN+ right now or something.

Fair enough, I can wait a few more months before I go the ad free Hulu route.

I still have another year thanks to a free year from Verizon.

https://whatsondisneyplus.com/avatar...al-re-release/

Avatar was removed from Disney +

But, it's going to be re-released in theaters before the sequel, so that's most likely the reason why.

I just realized there's no watch history on D+. It's not a huge issue, but as my kids get older and might be more likely to watch things unsupervised, I'd like to be able to keep tabs on their viewing. Seems like a weird choice on Disney's part.

Disney has a setting to restrict things to "kids only" and then set a question so they can't get out of that account easily, though. That may be too restrictive depending on the age of your kids. Maybe now that they finally started putting R rated content, they'll have more granular controls. But I have to say that even if they did have a watch history feature, you're only catching them after the fact anyway. It is kinda odd considering they definitely track what you watched and keep your place, and even have a "continue watching" section if you didn't finish something.

There's a "Continue Watching" list if you're in the middle of a series, but yeah - it's gone once you watch all the shows. I think there IS a "Watch again" list, but it doesn't populate with everything.

I don't know why many streaming services don't have a watch history. It seems like a simple task. Netflix and Prime have it. You have to request it from Hulu, which can be annoying but at least you can view it. I wish Disney Plus, HBO Max, Paramount Plus, and Vudu would get it.

Like I said, it's more to just keep tabs on things. Even with restrictions in place, kids can get pretty smart about getting access to things. A watch history is just a simple way to see if they are following the rules we've put in place, or for us to see if we need to reassess the restrictions we have in place. Again, it's not a huge issue, just something that's pretty normal elsewhere that's missing with D+.

Source

Get Disney Plus for $2 in this epic Disney Plus Day deal
By Rory Mellon published about 13 hours ago
The best ever Disney Plus deal returns

Disney Plus Day has returned for another year, and to mark the occasion a bunch of new content is dropping on the streaming service. Even better, our favorite Disney Plus deal is back, giving you the chance to try the platform at a very low cost.

Starting at 9 p.m. PT tonight, you can score a month of Disney Plus for $1.99. That’s a pretty significant savings compared to its usual price of $7.99 a month. This offer will be available through September 19th. The same deal is available in the U.K. allowing you secure a month of Disney Plus for £1.99. Note, after your discounted month your subscription will continue at the regular monthly price unless you opt to cancel beforehand.

Disney Plus Day is scheduled to take place on Thursday, September 8 and on that day a wave of fresh content will hit the popular streaming service. The headliners include the streaming debut of Thor: Love and Thunder as well as a new live-action adaptation of Pinocchio starring Tom Hanks and directed by Robert Zemeckis. A new episode of Marvel show She-Hulk: Attorney at Law will also debut on that day, alongside several behind the scenes features looking at the production of Thor 4 and the recently concluded Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series.

Of course, this deal doesn’t just give you a month to watch all the new stuff hitting Disney Plus, you can also binge anything from the service’s vast content library. That includes content from Marvel, Star Wars and Pixar, and there’s also a wealth of animated content both classic and contemporary. Not to mention all 30+ seasons of The Simpsons. That should be more than enough to keep you entertained across the whole month (and you might even want to stick around for longer afterwards).

It's a good deal but remember that December is when the price hike is happening so if you want to "lock in" the old annual price for a year you'll want to switch back to annual before that happens.

Also if you were thinking of taking a Disney Cruise with your family:
https://dclfan.com/discounts/disney-...s-subscribers/

"Lots" of restrictions, but that's expected. I'll keep this deal in mind for Disney+ Day 2023, hoping they'll have cruise deals for 2024 itineraries.

I don't know if it's a targeted offer or not, but I received an e-mail a few hours ago about $5 back in PayPal if you used it in September to pay for a Disney+ subscription. The instructions simply say to log in to D+ and change your payment method to PayPal. The e-mail came from PayPal with a subject of "Earn $5 Cash Back" Again, maybe it might help someone or may be intended for only certain accounts. My subscription is covered from Verizon, so it doesn't do me any good.