As Disney+ Rolls Out Premium Subscriptions, Some Users Have No Choice But to Splurge On the Ad-Free Option

A month ago, we reported on price hikes that were coming to Disney’s streaming service. Today, those price hikes have gone into effect with some consequences.

Credit: Disney+

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Disney+ contains over 600 titles from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, and more. Not only that, but the streaming service occasionally contains live TV programs as well. Anyone from Disney fanatics to casual fans can find something to watch.

Credit: Disney

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Previously, a Premium ad-free subscription for Disney+ was $7.99 a month and $79.99 for a year-long subscription. Beginning today, a Premium ad-free subscription costs $10.99 a month, with a full year’s subscription costing $109.99. If you’re a Disney+ user and don’t mind watching advertisements for a few dollars more, then you can continue to pay $7.99 a month or $79.99 a year for an experience containing promotions…Unless you watch Disney+ on a Roku device.

Theme park reporter Scott Gustin puts it best when he asks, “Disney+ launched its ad-supported Basic subscription without Roku support? Really?”

Disney+ launched its ad-supported Basic subscription without Roku support? Really?

"Disney+ Basic is not currently available on Roku devices. This means that viewers are unable to sign up for this plan on Roku devices or stream Disney+ on Roku devices if viewers have this plan." pic.twitter.com/TquXG3UOVD

— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) December 8, 2022

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Disney fans cannot tell whether this was an oversight or if it’s just simply a flaw that wasn’t able to be fixed in time. Because of this issue, Roku device users have no choice but to shell out the extra money on an ad-free premium subscription if they want to enjoy using Disney’s streaming service. That gives Roku device users quite the difficult decision to make: spend over a hundred dollars a year on Disney+ or forgo the streaming service.

This is likely a dispute over sharing ad revenue – and they'll eventually get it figured out. But I'm surprised they didn't get this resolved prior to launch.

— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) December 8, 2022

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Scott Gustin follows up, writing, “This is likely a dispute over sharing ad revenue – and they’ll eventually get it figured out. But I’m surprised they didn’t get this resolved prior to launch.”

Whether this is the case or not, we’re currently unsure. Hopefully, Disney will fix this issue swiftly and smoothly, allowing Roku device users to choose between ad-supported and ad-free Disney+ experiences.