In May 2023, Netflix began cracking down on password-sharing. That was the moment that we all knew that it was only a matter of time before all of the other streaming services followed suit. It sucked because it didn’t account for people who logged into their accounts while traveling or kids who used the family account while in college. Basically, it was just as frustrating to customers as you’d expect. Disney has found a solution to these problems *and* a way to profit off of them.
Last year, Disney announced that they’d also be cracking down on password sharing with their streaming service, Disney+. It looks like that time has finally arrived because earlier this week, the House of Mouse sent out a memo stating that they’re going to start enforcing a one Household rule. However, for a small fee of $7-to-$10 per month, you can upgrade to their new “Extra Member” plan, which lets you have one additional account outside of your household. The catch? You can only add this feature if you subscribe through Disney itself and it’s not available if, like me, you took advantage of the Disney Bundle or any of the partner-program special offers.
The company line: “Your Disney+ subscription is meant to be used within your Household, which is a collection of devices associated with your primary personal residence that are used by the individuals who reside there,” the company said. “But what about people outside of your Household? They will need to sign up and pay for their own subscription or be added as an Extra Member to your account for an additional monthly fee to continue enjoying Disney+.”
The Extra Member Add-On: Disney+ revealed that this week, they expanded its paid sharing program in order to make sharing with friends and family who don’t live under the same roof possible via the new Extra Member add-on. For users in the United States, the Extra Member add-on feature will currently cost an additional $6.99 per month for Disney+ Basic subscriptions, with Disney+ Premium subscription access for an additional $9.99 per month.
Don’t forget about those price hikes are coming: Per its website, the base Disney+ Basic subscription (with ads) currently costs $7.99 per month, but will increase to $9.99 per month on Oct. 17, 2024. The base Disney+ Premium subscription (no ads) currently costs $13.99 per month, but will increase to $15.99 per month on Oct. 17, 2024.
Restrictions, of course: There are still some restrictions under these plans — only one Extra Member slot is available per account. Also, if viewers purchased their plan through Disney Bundle or are subscribed and billed through Disney+ partners, the add-on will not be available.
You can still log in while on vacation: No need to worry about violating your agreement if you are traveling or visiting others and want to view your favorite programs or movies. Though some users may see “This TV doesn’t seem to be part of the Household for this account” on their screen, you can select “I’m away from home.” Or in the event that you’ve recently moved, you can choose “Update Household” to reset the Household location for your Disney+ subscription,” the memo states.
It’s available in these markets: According to the company memo, these features launched in select markets over the summer, and in addition to the U.S., are now available in Canada, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
Meh, sigh. I get it from a business perspective, but as a consumer who is tired of paying so much money for everything, I’m annoyed. And this honestly doesn’t even affect me and my household! I’m annoyed out of principle! If Disney+’s subscriptions are down, it’s not solely because people are sharing passwords. Most of the time, those are instances like parents logging into Disney+ at their own parents’ (the grandparents’) homes so their kids can watch their own, curated accounts without interruption. It’s funny that they don’t even sit there and think that maybe people are unsubscribing to streaming services because they all keep raising their prices and just like with cable, it’s once again becoming unaffordable for us to enjoy all of the truly great and truly not-so-great content they’re all putting out. There’s a reason why YouTube is doing so well in the ratings game. Maybe see how it goes when more people can afford their own subscription and then encourage others to subscribe and watch your shows.
Frankly, in my home we pay for the equivalent of basic cable and one streaming service. In our case, Netflix. It’s more LGBTQ+ friendly, and it has more international content. When my kids feel the need to watch something from Disney, they go to a friend’s home or in some cases, we rent the film. It’s just not worth the cost to subscribe to everything.
I just canceled them.. so good luck with that 🤷🏼♀️. Between them and hbo I don’t know who’s a worse streaming service. I’m ok with just prime and Netflix (Netflix is free with my phone service and prime is free with my membership).
I would have cancelled most of my streaming services already if other family members weren’t also using them. I don’t watch enough to justify spending that kind of money just for myself. So if I can no longer share my account then I’ll just cancel.
I don’t fully blame the streaming services for cracking down on sharing passwords. I know too many people who share passwords across extended families regardless of ability to pay (like, its not someone sharing a password with an elderly relative on a fixed income who can’t afford Disney or Netflix.)
But in general, it just feels like these streaming services are at a breaking point. They’re getting more expensive, they’re increasing the commercials (wasn’t lack of commercials one of the original draws?!?), and you can’t always find the content you want anyway so have to buy the movie or TV series or buy another streaming service even if only for a month. If they keep raising prices its going to feel less sustainable for people.
We were never a family that cut cable, but I know a lot that did because “cutting cable and streaming is cheaper” and that’s true if you have very few streaming services. But they start to add up fast.
Meh – Disney is the worst streaming service especially if you don’t care about star wars or marvel like me. I barely use it. Once Rivals has come out (October 18th – I can’t wait) then I will let it go.
As someone who lives in one city, works in another and regularly has to spend time at a third place to take care of my elderly parents this is just beyond annoying. And I have college kids living out of (my) state so we will not hold on to memberships much longer. It’s not getting cheaper, it‘s getting more expensive. No wonder so many people stream “via greynet” with VPN.
All the streaming services are getting too expensive.
I have Disney+ and the content we actually watch is less and less.
@THEOTHERVIV I’m literally in the same boat! I know a lot of other people who are too. It’s ridiculous, I think these streaming services are really out of touch. If you pay for X number of accounts, you should be able to use them wherever you (and the people who you allow to use it) are, period. I could rant in this for a while, but off to a meeting!
The good news about streaming is we have choices. There is still competition. I canceled Netflix when I couldn’t watch it on my tablet, when my husband was watching it on the TV. When Prime switched my favorite shows to ‘pay extra’ channels, I found different shows. Maybe this will work for Disney, maybe not. But it’s not cable, so we aren’t trapped, with a huge monthly bill or no TV, like the bad old days. Now, thanks to the Olympics, I have Peacock, at least, until they get too greedy.
This is so dumb. People in households travel. People go away for college, people go to summer camp, and people travel for leisure, pleasure and work. It will now be a pain in the butt to use something that someone in your household, likely your parents, is paying for. It’s ridiculous. Also, like cable, streaming is already starting to cannibalize itself and it’s remarkably taken less than a decade. Expect the streaming landscape to be very different in five years.
I’m on a more limited income not fixed but limited so with streamers I shop for specials.
I also subscribe to the lower priced with commercial because that’s what fits in my budget
Peacock the last several years has been $19.99 for the year. I’ve consistently gotten deals with Hulu. My promotion is coming to an end this November. I paid $0.99 a month for 1 year commercials.
HBO Max comes with the phone. Prime comes with the membership. Paramount Plus just had a special $29.99 for the year with commercials. There are so many apps that are free. And many times that I find the same show I want to watch is free on one of the apps versus paying per episode on one of the streamers. It’s all on what you want to put up with. I don’t really mind the commercials because it allows me to watch things within my budgetary range
I just cancelled my membership with Disney+. They come off as greedy and the content isn’t that great.