Disney+ is launching new perks for its streaming subscribers this Christmas. Through January 31, 2024, an active Disney+ subscription in the US will unlock special discounts and offers from across Disney and other partners, taking audiences from their home to theaters to Walt Disney World and beyond!
This post rounds up all of the special offers that are or will be available for Disney+ streaming subscribers starting today (November 30, 2023) and continuing into 2024. Obviously, since this is a Walt Disney World fan site first and foremost, we’re going to devote extensive commentary to that special offer, but let’s quickly run through the rest of them first.
D23: The Official Disney Fan Club is giving Disney+ subscribers the opportunity to enter for a chance to win a vacation for a party of up to 4 on the Maiden Voyage of the Disney Treasure, the newest ship from Disney Cruise Line. Experience immersive dining, spirited entertainment, and Broadway-style shows inspired by Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Disney Parks attractions.
Ubisoft is giving Disney+ subscribers 20% off of any PC edition of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. The game is a first-person, action-adventure game set in the open world of the Western Frontier of Pandora.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is an anxiously-awaited video game that’s coming to PC, Playstation 5, and Xbox. I’m pretty excited for it and think it’s basically going to be Avatar Flight of Passage meets Zelda Breath of the Wild meets Far Cry. But being a Ubisoft title, it’ll probably be half-off by February. So I’ll be waiting for a better discount than 20% off (also, I don’t play games on PC, so it’s irrelevant to me).
Here’s a rundown of all the other offers:
- Experience Disney Animation’s all-new film, Wish, in theaters – Get a $5 Fandango Promo Code to use toward a movie ticket to experience Disney Animation’s newest musical comedy, Wish.
- Enjoy early access to special collectibles at shopDisney – Bring two of your favorite stories to life with early access to the Star Wars Kanan Jarrus Hilt from 11/30/23 at 8:00am PT through 12/2/23 at 11:59pm PT and the Frozen 10th Anniversary Key through 12/31/23 at 11:59pm PT, while supplies last.
- Enjoy over 30 free Marvel digital comics – Experience the Avengers’ stories that inspired your favorite Marvel movies and series with over 30 free Marvel digital comics.
- Save 50% on a D23 Gold Membership and access other special offers – Includes access to member-only events, offers, gifts, and much more. Also, enjoy other special discounts, just for Disney+ subscribers!
- Claim your free gift from Disney Emoji Blitz – Disney+ subscribers can now enjoy a free, rare Disney character emoji in-game! To redeem your gift, click the link on a mobile device with the Disney Emoji Blitz app installed.
- Save 15% on Disney-inspired products at Funko – Disney+ subscribers receive 15% off of Funko, officially licensed pop culture collectibles inspired by your favorite worlds, characters and moments. Tap into inspired products from your favorite Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars movies and series. Use code DISNEYFUNKO15 at checkout to claim your offer.
- Save 15% on Disney-inspired merchandise at Loungefly – Disney+ subscribers receive 15% off of Loungefly, including officially licensed accessories, apparel, and more. Build your fandom into your lifestyle with inspired products from your favorite Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars movies and series. Use code DISNEYFUNKO15 at checkout to claim your offer.
- Save 20% on Disney Dreamlight Valley: Cozy Edition at BestBuy.com – Enjoy a 20% discount on the retail offering of Disney Dreamlight Valley: Cozy Edition and live magically alongside Disney and Pixar friends in a Valley you can call your own. Get a unique voucher and apply it at checkout when making an online purchase for Disney Dreamlight Valley: Cozy Edition at Best Buy.
- Redeem free, exclusive digital rewards with Disney Movie Insiders – Disney+ subscribers can now redeem and download free, exclusive digital rewards, including a Loki digital key, activity sheets and special Disney+ holiday gift tags, photo frames, and more! Also, link your Disney Movie Insiders and Disney+ accounts to earn points every month to use toward additional rewards.
- Save 15% on vinyl and collectibles from Disney Music Emporium – Disney+ subscribers receive 15% off unique and collectible music products from Disney Music Emporium. Use code DISNEYPLUS23 at checkout to claim your offer.
Finally, a special offer is coming to Walt Disney World Resort, just for Disney+ subscribers. Check back here on January 3, 2024 for details.
Note the adjacent image Disney+ used in promoting this perk–a couple sitting at the best character dining experience at Walt Disney World: Topolino Terrace’s Breakfast a la Art.
It could be a random photo chosen to illustrate the upcoming discount, but we suspect it was purposeful–that a dining discount of some sort is dropping for Walt Disney World.
Earlier this week, our feature post offered 2024 Free Dining Deal Date Predictions. There’s exhaustive commentary about when Walt Disney World is most likely to release Free Dining and potential travel dates, along with the why of it all.
In a nutshell, we think it’s more likely than not that Free Dining will return in 2024. The biggest questions are whether it’ll be back in January or Spring 2024, will be released in waves, and whether the full breadth of travel dates (on par with 2019) will be available.
This tease of a Disney+ subscriber special offer for Walt Disney World doesn’t really change the equation. Given past precedent, we already knew deals were coming in early January 2024. I would’ve guessed that they’d be released on January 2 or January 4, so landing on the day between is a bit of a switchup, I suppose.
Even without the Topolino’s Terrace tease, I would’ve also guessed that there’s about a 75% or higher chance of a dining-related discount in January, with about equal odds on “real” Free Dining or on an extension of the “Free” Disney Dining Card Deal for 2024 and/or 50% Off Tickets & Dining Plans Discount for Kids in Spring & Summer 2024.
While possible that the Disney+ deal drops on January 3 and other targeted and general public promotions are released on the next day or the following Tuesday, we’d expect everything to be released at once. Whenever the dust does settle, there will almost certainly be multiple room-only discounts and at least one unique offer. Travel dates will likely be staggered, with some deals ending in July and others in September. We’d be surprised if anything goes beyond early Fall 2024.
One scenario is that Disney+ subscribers get a distinct discount that isn’t available to anyone else. That has happened in the past, but we’re skeptical of it occurring again. To the best of my recollection, that last occurred during the Chapek regime when pent-up demand was running hot for Walt Disney World and there was still a desire to juice D+ subscriber numbers.
Instead, we’d expect Disney+ subscribers to have access to a variation of other available deals. If it’s a room-only discount, this would mean savings that are 5-10% better than the general public–perhaps on par with Annual Passholders, Florida residents, or Disney Visa cardholders. Resort tiers might also be slightly different, as might room availability.
If it’s a dining discount, we could see the date range differing. Walt Disney World offered an extended date range for Free Dining to Disney Visa cardholders on countless occasions, so it wouldn’t be the least bit surprising to do the same with Disney+ subscribers. Doing that is somewhat akin to a bounce-back in that it is more restrictive than a general public offer, and makes it easier for Disney to offer certain dates that are borderline in demand and hotel occupancy to a subset of the general public.
In 2016-2018, Disney Visa cardholders were able to book Free Dining for travel dates in early to mid-August, whereas the general public couldn’t travel until mid-to-late August. This is notable because early August (was) still part of the summer tourist season–but the tail end of it–whereas late August was off-season. In 2019, Free Dining began for everyone in early July, but that was an anomaly due to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.
It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if part of October 2024 is deemed to be “borderline” this go-round. August is now slow enough across the board that I’d expect a general public offer for the duration of the month. (This reasoning applies whether the promo is real Free Dining or a different unique discount.)
Regardless of what the discount ends up being–and we won’t know for sure until January 3 (unless there’s a leak, which usually happens with Free Dining since a lot of people need to be given a heads up to properly prepare)–we would strongly recommend sorting out your Disney+ status before then. In fact, that ‘heads up’ is the main motivation for this post!
I can’t say any of the above with complete confidence, but there are two things I can say with certainty:
- The January special offers are, historically, the highest-demand discounts of the entire year. Walt Disney World’s official website typically uses a virtual queue for these offers.
- If there’s a unique dining-related discount (Free Dining or otherwise), demand will be even higher.
- Some Disney+ subscribers have had problems booking past subscriber-exclusive special offers on DisneyWorld.com
If you are serious about a potential Disney+ special offer for Walt Disney World, our strong advice would be to subscribe to the streaming service by late December. (Even if you don’t want Disney+ for whatever reason, you only need to subscribe for 2 months–the one of booking and the one of travel. You will absolutely come out ahead, monetarily, if you book the discount even after accounting for the cost of Disney Plus.) In a perfect world, you’d use the same email address for subscribing as your My Disney Experience account.
Regardless of how you sign up, go to your My Disney Experience profile and check your “Membership and Passes.” You should see Disney+ there. If not, you should be able to go into your Disney+ account and update the email address associated with that to match your My Disney Experience account. In both cases, should is the operative word, as this won’t always work. If it doesn’t, try calling Disney+ customer service at 888-905-7888.
The bottom line is that you want all of this squared away before January 3, 2024 because it’s likely to be a competitive discount drop day involving virtual queues and in-demand dates, resort and room combos going quickly. Don’t let fumbling around with Disney+ be what gets between you and a great deal. Lose out the old fashioned way–because others are hoarding resort reservations! 😉
Finally, we’ll end with a plug. We will be closely monitoring the 2024 Walt Disney World discount situation, keeping our ears open for more news about a return of Free Dining. Should something–anything–be released or rumored, we’ll send you an alert if you sign up for our FREE Walt Disney World newsletter.
Longtime readers might also recall that we offered a heads up before Free Dining was actually announced most years up to 2020. Unlike other special offers, these unique dining-related ones are more complicated, which means more people internally and externally are looped in…which increases the likelihood of leaks.
Failing that, we’ve notified subscribers about discounts early in the morning–while they were live but before Walt Disney World officially announced them–on countless occasions in the last decade. All of this may not seem like much, but a heads up of even a day or a few hours can be the difference between successfully booking or not–or at least not being stuck in a virtual queue for hours!
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think will happen–will Free Dining be released for the general public on January 3, 2024? Will Disney+ subscribers have access to an extended set of dates for that, or an entirely unique special offer? Agree or disagree with our predictions or commentary? Any questions? Hearing your feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts or questions below in the comments!
