There is no shortage of streaming services. Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Apple TV+ all have compelling shows and films to tempt you – even during a quarantine you won’t have time to watch them all.
And now there’s another option courtesy of popular film licence snaffler, Disney. It’s packed with all your favourites that you pretend are your kids’ favourites, but are actually yours, including Finding Nemo, Toy Story, Aladdin and more. Not forgetting, a boatload of Marvel and Star Wars.
It’s a rich back catalogue of the world’s biggest franchises and with a seven-day free trial there’s no reason not to give it a go. That is as long as you can actually get the app. Here’s how to watch Disney Plus on your TV, and what other options you have if you can’t.
Not sure whether Disney+ is for you? Here’s everything we know about the latest streaming service.
What TV do you need for Disney Plus?
Samsung TVs
If your Samsung was made in or after 2016 you should be able to head to the app store and download Disney Plus.
LG TVs
As with Samsung, any LG TV made in or after 2016 will have the Disney Plus app ready to download from the app store.
Sony TVs
Some Sonys have Google’s Android TV as their operating system and if yours has, then Disney Plus should be available to download.
Panasonic TVs
It looks as though the Disney Plus app isn’t available on Panasonic TVs yet, although we would expect it to be coming soon.
What can you do if your TV doesn’t support Disney Plus?
Fear not, a world of adorable animation, brave superheroes and beige-clad Jedis is still yours for the watching, but you might need to get yourself an extra bit of kit.
Buying a streamer is like putting an old TV through university. It takes care of the smart side of things by giving you access to the apps your TV doesn’t support. They connect to one of the HDMI outputs and connect wirelessly to your router.
The streamers that support Disney Plus
- Amazon Fire TV Stick with Alexa voice remote
- Amazon Fire TV Stick with 4K and Alexa
- Amazon Fire TV Cube
- Apple TV (4th generation)
- Apple TV 4K
- Roku Premiere
- Roku Streaming Stick+
- Roku Express
- Xbox One
- PlayStation 4/Pro
What about Google Chromecasts? Well, they work a little differently to the streaming services above and we’ll explain how a bit later.
Limited deals mean it’s a good time to buy a streamer
Some streamers are currently being discounted, so you won’t need to spend a great deal to make your TV smart.
All the Amazon streamers have £20 knocked off their price, so the basic model is £20, the 4K one is £30 and the Cube, which also has many of the features of an Amazon Echo, is £90.
The Chromecast and 4K Chromecast Ultra are £20 and £59 respectively after their £10 price drop.
Cast Disney Plus
Casting is where you use the app on a phone or tablet but send the picture to your TV – and the good news is Disney Plus supports this feature.
As long as your TV has DLNA (a technology that allows different devices on a network to talk to each other) then you should be able to cast to it and watch Disney Plus, even if your TV or streamer doesn’t have the app installed.
Casting is how Chromecasts work and the Google streamer is basically adding the DLNA features to your TV. So if you have one of these then you’ll be able to cast away*.
- Castaway starring Tom Hanks is not available on Disney Plus, sadly.