Bad news if you plan to seriously watch this weekend without having to provide your bank details: Disney Plus has removed the 7-day free trial offer since its launch in the United States last November. If you haven't dipped your toes in the Disney Plus waters yet, you now need to pay $6.99 / £5.99 / AU$8.99 for a month of streaming. As with comparable services, you can unsubscribe at any time. For lower monthly rates, you can settle for a full year at a time; in this case, you'll part with $69.99 in the US, $59.99 in the UK, and $89.99 AU in Australia to stream everything continuously on Disney Plus for 12 consecutive months. In a statement to CNET about this decision, Disney said that its streaming platform "is built on an attractive value proposition that we believe offers a compelling entertainment offering" - they do that on whatever you want, too.
Pay to press play
Given that Netflix, Hulu (owned by Disney), and Apple TV Plus continue to offer a free trial (if you buy an Apple hardware device, you get a year of their free video portal), it's disappointing that there's no longer an option to try the main Disney service for free. In fairness to Disney, you've had seven months in the US to decide whether or not to sign up for Disney Plus (although the service won't launch in the UK until March). The monthly fees aren't too high and should give you plenty of time to figure out if Disney Plus is for you. It is perhaps notable that a filming of the hit musical Hamilton will air on Disney Plus in a few weeks on July 3 - Disney would obviously prefer new subscribers to pay a month to watch it, rather than watch it for free. . Of course, that's not stopping the 7-day free trial from coming back at some point in the future, or some other kind of promotion, perhaps when Disney has to test another wave of subscribers. For now though, you'll either have to pay or look elsewhere. Via Numerama