How to Watch Disney+ From Abroad

*Yesterday, November 12, 2019, Disney+ had its official release to the public. The streaming service was even more popular than The Walt Disney Company expected, and it ended up breaking the internet. Firstly, users were not able to find the app in the App Store, so watching it on their mobile devices was out of the question. Anyone who could log in was met with an error message reading “there seems to be an issue connecting to the Disney+ service.” 

Customers will have to wait a few days for Disney+ to get itself together, then hopefully the streaming service will run smoothly from there on out.

Disney’s plans to create its own streaming service will have Netflix fans all over the world in a bit of a quandary. Will they opt to board the magic carpet and explore the House of Mouse, or will they stick it out, remaining loyal to Netflix in the hopes that the Mouse House will fall?

Disney announced its intention of creating its own world of online movies and entertainment a couple of years ago but now there are just a few months remaining before the much-anticipated Disney streaming service release date. Let’s see just what upcoming Disney channel shows will have to offer, how you can watch it using a VPN and whether or not it will have the nous, as well as the mouse, to stand up against streaming giant Netflix.

What is Disney+?

One of the biggest feathers in Disney+’ new cap is Star Wars. As if they did truly exist in a galaxy far far away, the Star Wars movies are notoriously difficult to find online, with Netflix having just two available. Inevitably, as Disney+ gets up and running later this year, Star Wars fans will be forced to cross over to the dark side as Netflix will see Luke Skywalker and his friends depart will all their other LucasFilms and Disney companions.

In addition to Star Wars, Disney+ will be showing the latest Marvel movies as well as animation from Pixar, the past 30 seasons of The Simpsons, and original content such as The Mandalorian which promises to take Star Wars fans even deeper into space.

During its first year of service, Disney+ plans to stream 10 original movies, as well as 500 other films, 25 original TV series and 7,500 episodes of past and present TV shows.

Where Will Disney+ Be Available?

To compete with the likes of Netflix, Disney+ has to be compatible with a wide range of devices, and it is. Disney+ has confirmed its app compatibility with PlayStation and Roku, but we can expect to see it launch apps for all tablets and smartphones, Smart TVs, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One. The app has a user-friendly interface along the same lines as other streaming services so will look familiar to anyone who has used Amazon, Hulu, or Netflix.

As with other streaming services, Disney+ will be subject to copyright restrictions, and, at present, its schedule is for the US only. This means that, if you’re outside the US, you won’t be able to access any of the Disney+ content. Or will you? Keep reading and find out.

When is the Disney Streaming Service Release Date

Disney+ will be available in the US from the 12th November this year. According to Disney, the plan is to roll out the service globally from the beginning of 2020.

How Much Will Disney+ Cost?

The Disney streaming service will cost $6.99 per month, making it slightly more expensive than Hulu but a few dollars cheaper than Netflix’s basic package which sets users back $8.99 per month. Disney is pricing its service in the right ballpark while making it competitive enough to entice viewers away from established services.

How To Watch Disney+ From Abroad?

Although Disney has announced plans to roll out Disney+ on a global scale next year, before it does so, it will need to regain the necessary distribution rights. While Netflix has the approach of varying its content according to its distribution rights in each country, it seems Disney isn’t so keen on this method and plans to roll out its streaming service only once full distribution rights have been secured. This means it could be a while before viewers in Europe or Africa get to see the latest Disney offerings.

Of course, there is a way around such limitations and that’s by making Disney+ believe you’re in the US even when you’re actually on the other side of the world. Each time you connect to the internet, your IP address identifies your device and your geographical location. This affects a few different aspects of your browsing experience, including limited access to certain content. A VPN can give you a fake address in any country where it has a server so, to watch Disney+ from abroad, all you have to do is connect to a server in the US and away you go.

Furthermore, by encrypting your traffic, a VPN makes it impossible for your internet service provider to know exactly what you’re doing online, so it can’t throttle your bandwidth just because it sees you streaming.

Although a VPN has many advantages (you can read about some of them here), not all of them are capable of providing a fast or reliable enough a connection to allow you to stream a movie for example. That’s why we’ve spent some time investigating the nuts and bolts of the various VPN services available and come up with the four we believe will be the best VPNs for streaming Disney+.

Top Four VPNs for Streaming Disney+

#1: ExpressVPN – The Blockbuster

Versatile and fast with a deep respect for user privacy, ExpressVPN is notoriously hard to beat. When it comes to streaming movies, especially in high definition, speed is key and ExpressVPN’s capacity to consistently produce high-speed connections from multiple global locations makes it one of the best VPNs for streaming available.

One of the reasons ExpressVPN is so fast is because it has so many servers. If you think of a server like a toll booth and all the traffic has to pass through it, you can understand that having a limited number of servers would impact negatively on the connection speed. With over 30 servers in the US alone, ExpressVPN users will always be able to find one with a light load and a high speed.

Even if you only really want a VPN for streaming, the added benefits of its online security are undeniable, especially with a service as privacy-focused as ExpressVPN. Based in the British Virgin Islands, ExpressVPN doesn’t keep any records of your online activity, the IP addresses you’ve used, your traffic destination nor your DNS queries.

ExpressVPN goes beyond the call of duty with its commitment to online privacy, supporting non-profit organizations like The Internet Defense League, and teaming up with the Center for Democracy and Technology to improve VPN transparency and trustworthiness.

ExpressVPN is reliable and affordable, offering three months’ subscription for free if you sign up for a year. With a user-friendly interface and outstanding customer support, ExpressVPN is like a Marvel character –strong with hidden depths and special powers. Find out more here.

#2: Surfshark VPN – Critic’s Choice

While ExpressVPN has been around since Luke Skywalker was in nappies, Surfshark VPN is a newcomer to the scene, having launched in 2017. So far, so good, however, Surfshark VPN has proved itself to be both fast and effective when it comes to streaming services like Netflix. Like Disney+, Surfshark has kept its pricing extremely competitive while it builds up a solid customer base so, for those looking for a budget VPN for streaming Disney+, Surfshark could be the answer.

The only real drawback to Surfshark VPN is that it has less than a third of the number of servers that ExpressVPN boasts and just 12 in the US. While Surfshark has, so far, produced impressive speeds, the fear is that, as it gains more subscribers, so its servers will become overloaded and cause speeds to slow down.

Backing the underdog certainly isn’t a bad option and Surfshark has everything we would expect from one of the best VPNs, including military-grade encryption, a strict no-logging policy, headquarters outside the intelligence sharing alliances, and a range of advanced security features.

The simple user interface may be uninspiring but it works effectively, making it easy for users to select a specific location to connect from, change their security protocol or apply the Clean Web adblocking feature. One of the biggest benefits of Surfshark VPN is that it allows unlimited simultaneous connections which, compared to ExpressVPN’s limit of three, is extremely generous and ideal for large households with multiple gadgets.

If you’re hoping to catch the new subterranean documentary Dolphin Reef on Disney+ later this year, Surfshark will be a great way to dive in and enjoy it from wherever you happen to be at the time. You can find out more here.

#3 ProtonVPN – Security Guaranteed

ProtonVPN might not have as many servers as the competition, but the 500 servers in 42 countries it does have are divided equally among subscribers, and it also offers features that are not available in some of the biggest names in the VPN industry. The people behind ProtonVPN are also the ones that established ProtonMail, the world’s largest encrypted emailing service.

The company is based in Switzerland, meaning that it has to adhere to some of the strictest laws when it comes to user privacy. “The only information we keep about the user is a single login timestamp which contains the username and time when the user logged into their account. This is done only as a security measure in order to protect accounts from brute-forcing. We do not log, track, or record any other information.”

Security and privacy are at the top of ProtonVPN’s priorities. It manages and owns all of its servers, which means that it connects to the internet solely by using its own network. In terms of security protocols, ProtonVPN has some of the best in the business boasting AES-256, highly secure IKEv2/IPSec and OpenVPN and none of the ProtonVPN servers use the less secure PPTP or IPSec.

ProtonVPN comes with a freemium option that allows users to connect to servers in the United States, Japan, and the Netherlands. That service is only available on one device, but it comes with no bandwidth regulations which is very rare for free plans.

If you want to tune in to the Mandalorian sooner rather than later, you can use ProtonVPN to do so. Every payment plan comes with a 30-day guarantee and there is also a free seven-day trial available. Find out more here.

Bottom Line Regarding Disney Streaming Service

Disney+ certainly has plenty to draw viewers in but those outside the US may have to wait a while before the latest Marvel movies and Star Wars offerings become available in their regions. In the meantime, a VPN is the best way to watch Disney+ from abroad, especially if you opt for one as robust, fast and versatile as ExpressVPN.

With Disney investing billions of dollars into its new streaming service, it seems Disney+ will offer both the quality and diversity of content that Netflix users have come to expect. Whether it will be able to produce enough engaging original content to lure subscribers over from its competitors remains to be seen. The Mouse House itself remains confident that the Disney streaming service will have attracted somewhere between 60 and 90 million viewers by 2024. Make sure you’re one of them and get yourself a VPN that will give you the ability to watch Disney+ from abroad.