Here’s how you can get a free year of Disney’s new streaming service

Here's how you can get a free year of Disney's new streaming service

One of the most buzzed-about streaming services is just a few weeks from launching. There’s so much excitement around Disney+ that at least one mobile phone carrier is getting into the mix.

The carrier will give new and existing customers one free year of Disney+. If a customer has already pre-ordered the service, the carrier has struck a deal with Disney to keep those early subscribers happy.

This latest move will provide Disney+ with millions of more subscribers. Click here to see why Netflix, HBO Max and Amazon Prime Video are girding themselves for Nov. 12 — D+ Day.

A great incentive

Verizon has announced it will offer its customers a year of Disney+ free. New and existing Verizon wireless unlimited customers, as well as new Fios home internet and 5G home internet customers, will all get the free service.

Verizon customers who already pre-ordered Disney+ will not be left out in the cold. Verizon has worked out a deal in which its customers’ pre-orders will be paused until their free year through Verizon ends.

Disney+ costs $6.99 a month and will feature Disney animated and live-action films, all the movies from the Star Wars and Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) franchises and all Pixar films. Disney+ already has several original series in the hopper, with a number of MCU characters starring in their own limited series. Disney is also adding more kid-friendly shows.

Disney+ is running on a number of platforms, including iPhone, Android, Roku, Xbox and PS4. Amazon Prime Video is conspicuously absent from the list. Neither Disney nor Amazon have commented on the absence.

Speaking of iPhones, Apple will launch its own streaming service, Apple TV+, on Nov. 1, just 11 days before D+ Day. The Apple TV+ family plan costs about $5 a month. But if you buy a new Apple device, you get the streaming service free for one year. Click here to learn more about Apple TV+.

Disney has another deal in store for streaming TV fans. On D+ Day, the company will start selling a bundled package that includes Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ for just $13. The version of Hulu included in the bundle is the one with advertising. Click here find out more about the Hulu-Disney connection.

The Mouse House offers even more

Update:

Disney spokespeople are clarifying a comment made by Disney CEO Bob Iger.  The spokespeople say that when a program leaves Disney+ it will disappear from all the devices it was downloaded to.

No less than Disney CEO Bob Iger delivered this great news to hardcore Disney fans: If you download a movie or show from Disney+ and it is later taken off the rotation, you get to keep the download.

That’s right. Let’s say you download the classic animated film “Snow White” while it’s streaming on Disney+. The channel then takes it off the lineup. You get to keep the download. You only lose it if you unsubscribe.

Imagine having all of Disney’s animated classics and every MCU movie stowed away on your computer or phone where you can watch them any time.

Another reason this is great is Disney films from 2016 to 2018 will leave Disney+ in about six years and head back to Netflix. It’s all due to a licensing deal Disney and Netflix hammered out back when Disney+ was barely a thought. But again, if you download the films before the six years are up, you can keep watching them on your computer.

 

Related: Netflix is losing some of its most popular shows because of these new streaming services

 

The licensing deal also means recent popular Disney films such as “Thor: Ragnarok” and “Coco” will stay on Netflix on and past D+ Day. Disney’s goal is to end all licensing agreements so all of its products stream exclusively on Disney+. When the Netflix deal ends, the God of Thunder will be storming onto Disney+.

So until D+ Day arrives — and you have an hour or three — take a look at this video Disney+ put together to show viewers what it will start streaming on Nov. 12:

Tags: Amazon, Apple, Apple iPhone, streaming services