Disney Plus (or Disney+) has now been globally released in the US, Canada and The Netherlands.
Although the UK has now been confirmed to get Disney+, it will sadly be four months until it’s officially available, meaning that all the British Disney fans will be left in the lurch.
Or will they? We here at Tech Advisor have done some digging to see if you can use the same workaround for accessing streaming sites from abroad to watch channels like The CW, HBO or The Criterion Channel.
If you’re in a country that has Disney+ and already have an account, the method below should also work if you’re travelling outside of the country.
Watch Disney+ using a VPN
The best way to access Disney+ from the UK would be to use a VPN. VPNs block your IP address, which means not only do they protect your data by erasing your online footprint, but they can also make it appear as if you’re browsing from another country.
There are numerous VPNs that you can choose from for streaming, but our top choice would be NordVPN, as it offers a very seamless user-experience and numerous servers to choose from – all of which at a competitive price. If you’d like another option, we’d also recommend ExpressVPN, though this is slightly more expensive than NordVPN.
You can take a look at other options in our list of recommended VPNs for Disney Plus. There are also free VPN options if you’d like to save some cash. However, these are less reliable and secure than the paid versions. We recommend trying a number of different servers if you can’t get through to the sign-up page straight away.
Once you’ve downloaded your preferred VPN, you’ll need to select your server of choice. To access Disney+ this will be either the US, Canada or The Netherlands. Once you’ve done that, you can head on over to the Disney+ homepage and choose the plan you’d prefer (i.e. paying monthly or annual).
We’ve spent time trying and testing using a VPN, and we initially hit a roadblock when it came to the payment info. Thankfully, we’ve managed to find a workaround through creating a US iTunes account.
How to sign up to Disney+ with a US Apple ID
Note that to use this method, you’ll need an iOS device to initially set up a Disney+ account, and that doesn’t include Macs – just iPads, iPhones and Apple TV. We’ve successfully created a new Apple ID that’s tied to the US, loaded it up with a USD gift card and then signed up for Disney Plus on an iPad using a VPN. Once you’ve done all that, you can watch it on any other device, still using a VPN.
There’s a full guide here on creating a US Apple ID, but here’s a summary of the steps:
- Open the App Store or iTunes and log out of your store account.
- Scroll to the bottom of the window until you find the flag icon. Click on that, or alternatively selected ‘change country’ to switch to the United States.
- Create a new Apple ID, but be certain to not include any payment information, as this is not how you’ll be paying for Disney+.
- Load up your account with credit by purchasing a digital USD iTunes gift card, which can be done via Best Buy. The cheapest one is $15, and we got the redemption code a few minutes later.
- Log into your new US Apple ID and go to account settings in the App Store to redeem your gift code.
- Finally, use a VPN to connect to a US server on an iPhone, iPad or Apple TV. Download the Disney+ app from the app store and install it.
- Within the Disney+ app, create an account and use your gift card credit as the payment option, and you’re good to go.
From this point on you should have a Disney+ account that works on any iOS device or your browser, provided you have a working VPN server.
If you have an Android device (or Fire TV), this is still in theory possible, but even more complicated. You’ll have to sideload the app itself before you can sign in, but a warning that you should only attempt this if you’re confident in what you’re doing.
You can then sign out of the US Apple ID, returning your iOS device back to its normal account. It’s worth noting that once your account is created you’ll only be able to top the payments up using the gift card credit, so once Disney+ eventually drops in the UK, you’ll probably want to make an entirely new account with your standard payment information.
Accessing Disney+ using US bank details
If the method above isn’t possible, there is another way that involves getting hold of US payment details.
If you aren’t fortunate enough have the bank account or credit card you need, then you should be able to borrow the details of someone else who does – an American, Canadian or Dutch friend – to use during the initial sign-up process.
To be clear, we think that they won’t be charged at all, as Disney+ offers a seven day free trial. In theory you should be able to sign up using their bank details, and then change your payment information to your UK bank once your account is locked in. We’ll be testing this shortly to confirm if it’s true – watch this space.
How else can I get US payment information?
If you can bear to wait a few days, you can try setting up a TransferWise account, as this will give you a US debit card. You can convert your money to USD, and then get a physical card delivered to you. Of course, the downside to this is that you definitely won’t be getting Disney+ straight away, and as a word of caution, we haven’t tested it ourselves.
There may also be a loophole with gift cards – something that you can use to sign up for Hulu. You can purchase a gift card from anywhere in the world, load it up with money and then create an account with this. Disney don’t currently sell Disney+ gift cards, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed that this may change in the future.
Is there any other way to watch Disney+ in the UK?
At this current time, no. Unfortunately, VPNs don’t work without the correct payment information, so we may have to wait until March after all.
However, if you’re one of the few people who wants to simply watch classic Disney content and aren’t bothered about Star Wars or Marvel, then we have some good news for you.
DisneyLife – which costs just £4.99 per month – is still an active streaming service in the UK at the moment. It includes classic films like The Lion King, as well as most of the content that aired on The Disney Channel. Sure, it’s not Disney+, but it might fill that void for the next few months.
What can I watch on Disney+?
Though Disney+ is late to the streaming game, it’s still got a ma-hoo-sive library of content to choose from. It’ll please superhero fans to know that most of the MCU films are available, including 2019’s additions, Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame. Fans of The Simpsons can also catch every single episode, seeing as Fox is the latest pawn in the Disney game.
For brand new content, you can watch The Mandalorian – the new Star Wars spin-off show created by Jon Favreau. Other shows available upon launch include The World According To Jeff Goldblum, High School Musical: The Musical and Forky Asks a Question.
There’s also a lengthy list of content planned for the service post-launch; many of which are shows that will contribute to Marvel Phase 4, tying in with the cinematic releases. If you’d like to know more about Disney Plus and the shows available, then take a look at our Disney+ news article.