Disney+ is rolling out a tempting summer offer that may just catch the eye of those who have been on the fence about subscribing (or resubscribing) to the streaming service.
From June 11 through June 30, you can grab their Standard with Ads tier for just £1.99 per month for up to four months – that’s a £12 saving compared to the regular price over the same period.
The timing isn’t accidental, with the service lining up several major releases, including the new Snow White film (June 11), Marvel’s Ironheart series (June 25), and the much-anticipated fourth season of The Bear (June 26).
Disney+ in 2025: A Very Different Service
It’s hard to believe Disney+ is now over five years old in the UK. Since launching back in March 2020 (just as the first lockdown began), the streaming service has undergone quite the transformation.
What started as a family-friendly platform priced at a modest £5.99 per month has evolved into a comprehensive entertainment service with a much heftier price tag attached.
The first major change came in February 2021 with the introduction of Star – adding more mature content like Family Guy and Grey’s Anatomy alongside Mickey Mouse and Marvel. This expansion came with a price bump to £7.99 per month.
By November 2023, Disney+ had adopted the now-familiar three-tier system:
- Standard with Ads (£4.99/month)
- Standard (Then at £7.99/month)
- Premium (Then at £10.99/month)
Fast forward to 2025, and those prices have climbed even higher:
- Standard with Ads (£4.99/month)
- Standard (£8.99/month or £89.90/year)
- Premium (£12.99/month or £129.90/year)
That means if you were an original subscriber wanting to maintain the same 4K quality and four concurrent streams you enjoyed at launch (not to mention no adverts), your monthly cost has more than doubled in five years.
From Baby Yoda to Live Football
While prices have certainly increased, it’s fair to say the content library has improved significantly as well.
The Star Wars universe has expanded beyond Baby Yoda with series like Ahsoka and Andor, while Marvel has delivered shows like WandaVision and Loki. FX’s partnership with Disney has been particularly fruitful, with shows like The Bear racking up Emmy awards.
And then in a somewhat surprising move, Disney+ recently secured exclusive rights to the UEFA Women’s Champions League for the next five seasons, marking its first serious venture into live sports in the UK.
From October 2025, all 75 matches of the competition will be available live on Disney+ at no extra cost to subscribers.
This five-year deal runs from 2025/26 to 2029/30, putting Disney+ alongside Amazon’s Prime Video and Netflix as streaming services venturing into sports content.
Mind the TV Licence
As we recently reported, one important wrinkle to Disney+’s sports expansion: if you plan to watch those UEFA Women’s Champions League matches live as they happen, you’ll legally need a TV Licence – currently set at £174.50 per year.
This only applies to the live broadcasts. If you wait to watch the matches on-demand after they’ve aired, you won’t need a licence – though for many football fans, watching the action unfold live is half the appeal.
This change is part of a broader trend across streaming platforms. Netflix has already ventured into live events with boxing matches and comedy specials, while Amazon’s Prime Video has been streaming live Premier League football and tennis tournaments for several years.
For now, the rule remains the same: if you’re watching live content, you need a licence; if you’re only watching on-demand, you don’t (unless it’s on BBC iPlayer).
The £1.99 Deal: What You Need to Know
The new offer gives you Disney+ Standard with Ads for £1.99 per month for up to four months (but you can cancel before the four months are up, if you wish).
After this period, your subscription will automatically renew at the then-current monthly retail price (currently £4.99) until cancelled.
To take advantage of this deal, you’ll need to sign up between 11-30 June, on the Disney+ website.
The offer is available to both new and returning customers – but NOT if you currently have an active subscription.
What you’ll get with the Standard with Ads tier:
- Full HD (1080p) quality
- Two concurrent streams
- Access to the full content library
- Advertisements during programming
What you won’t get:
- 4K UHD & HDR quality
- Download capability for offline viewing
- Dolby Atmos audio
- More than two simultaneous streams
Is It Worth It?
For £1.99 per month, it’s difficult to argue this isn’t good value – especially with major releases like Snow White, Ironheart, and The Bear lined up. That’s less than the price of a coffee for a month of entertainment.
The Standard with Ads tier still gives you access to everything in Disney+’s extensive library, from Marvel and Star Wars to FX shows and Disney classics. The only real downside is having to watch adverts – something many of us thought we’d left behind when we cut the cord.
That being said, a saving of £12 (across the full four months) isn’t exactly a huge deal – but if you were planning to get a taste of Disney+ anyway, this is a good chance to jump on board.
Just remember to set a calendar reminder for when the promotional period ends in October. At that point, you’ll need to decide whether the regular £4.99 monthly fee for the ad-supported tier still represents good value for your viewing habits.
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Its a good little incentive for 4 months, but lets be honest here, Disney+ has come under alot of flack with what they produced in terms of the new Star Wars series and obviously, its best not to advertise the more recent ‘Snow White’.
With live sports, obviously, its up to the viewer if they choose to watch this content with or without a TV licence, but I imagine its the same with YouTube, someone, somewhere is going to broadcast this. I have YouTube, but I don’t have a tv licence, but I am happy to watch recorded content, regardless if I have access to live content. I have no intention of breaking any law in terms of this, because I do feel very strongly against the BBC.