This New Disney+ Fee May Cost You Beyond the Upcoming Price Hike – Technologist

If you have been sharing a Disney+ account with family and friends outside your household, I have some bad news for you: The party is likely coming to an end.

Or, at minimum, the party is about to get more restrictive and expensive.

In an effort to cut down on password sharing, Disney+ recently announced details for a new “Paid Sharing” plan.

This new policy means you’ll now have to pay an extra monthly fee to share your account with anyone outside your household. And, as a result, you may have some extra steps to take to use your own account when you’re away from home.

Let’s take a look at the details.

Sharing Plan with Disney+: What You Need to Know

Disney is joining Netflix and other popular video streaming services in cracking down on password sharing to increase profitability.

After months of telegraphing that change was coming, the “Sharing Plan” was unveiled on September 25 for customers in the United States.

How It Will Work

If you have a profile on your Disney+ account that is not someone within your household, you’ll have to pay for that person to continue using their profile at their physical location. These accounts are being termed as “Extra Member” profiles.

It will cost an additional $6.99 per month for Disney+ Basic subscriptions and $9.99 per month for Disney+ Premium subscriptions. You are limited to just one Extra Member profile per account.

Disney also notes that “Extra Member” functionality is not available for Disney Bundle subscribers or for subscribers billed through partners (like Hulu) at this time.

I know what you’re probably thinking. And I’ll confirm: Yes, that is almost the full price of a standalone monthly subscription. (For now… the price is going up on those, too.)

If the potential “Extra Member” on your account doesn’t want to move forward with that sharing plan, Disney is making it possible for you to transfer their profile to an individual account that they can pay for on their own. That way they can keep all their settings and favorites, at least.

What Happens When You’re On the Go?

At this point, you may be wondering: Now that they’re more aggressively tracking IP addresses for my account, what happens if my household is traveling? Or what if they’re in multiple places at once on a temporary basis?

Disney offered the following solution for this situation:

If you’re away from home or on the go, you’ll still be able to watch Disney+ on your supported devices as the account holder or member of your Household.

If you’re on the go and you see the message “This TV doesn’t seem to be part of the Household for this account”, you can mark yourself as I’M AWAY FROM HOME, or select UPDATE HOUSEHOLD if you’ve recently moved and need to reset the Household location for your Disney+ subscription. These selections will require a one-time passcode that’s sent to the email address associated with the account.

The Costs Are Adding Up: A Price Hike Is Coming, Too

Whether you’re sharing your Disney+ account with friends or not, you can be sure that you’re about to pay more for your service in the coming months.

Disney recently notified customers via email that they’ll be following through with previously announced price increases on their streaming products beginning in October.

In case you forgot:

The prices for Disney+, Hulu, Hulu + Live TV and ESPN+ subscriptions will increase by at least $1 per month. Most of the increases are at least $2, though, and the Hulu + Live TV increase is a gut punch at $6 per month. That means the cheapest you’ll be able to stream live TV via Hulu is now $82.99 per month!

Disney will make the price increases effective October 17, 2024.

Here’s a breakdown of the existing and upcoming prices for each impacted service:

Will these latest changes impact your Disney+ subscription choices? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the Clark.com community.

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