We all remember the days of Disney movies in the back of cars, magical love stories of princes and princesses, and the anticipation of the timer counting down to the premier of a Disney original movie. 

Since then, the magic has lost its touch. We dream of success and money rather than true love and happy-ever-afters. Disney movies aren’t all that accessible, and we often go in search of violence, tragedy, and drama, over the simplicity of a wholesome Disney channel musical.

This has changed.

Disney+ has brought an onslaught of teenage-funded subscriptions. Nostalgia has taken hold over many as they scroll through classics that had previously been lost in the tragedy of growing older.

The Power of Nostalgia

Surveys tracking the popularity of Disney+ among different age groups have found that the new streaming service is most popular among households with children, and 18-24 year olds. That first demographic is not surprising; kids will always love Disney movies, and that magic that I talked about never fails to amaze young minds.

That second demographic may be a little bit more surprising. While Disney+ does have some movies geared towards older audiences, such as National Geographic documentaries and Star Wars, the majority of the website’s content is animated fairy tales and cheesy high school love stories. 

College students aren’t immune to the lure of reliving their childhood, in fact, it can be a breath of fresh air.

Many shows in our current political and social climate aim to serve a message. We seemingly can never escape news headlines, and we are bombarded by the beliefs and opinions of others.

Don’t get me wrong, I think that the media is one of the most powerful ways to convey a message of love and unity in such a polarized climate, but sometimes an escape is just what we need.

Disney+ provides an extremely effective way to do so.

Disney+ is so powerful because it relieves stress in one of the easiest ways possible. Had a long day? Pull out your laptop, pull up some Disney+, and pop on some High School Musical for your daily dose of Zac Efron.

Additionally, Disney+ starts out at a mere $7 dollars a month, as opposed to one of their biggest competitors, Netflix, which goes for $13 a month. Although it is likely that Disney+ will be relatively quick to increase their prices, the initial draw is strong.

The Site Itself

Despite these tempting lures to purchase a subscription, the site and app itself are plagued with bugs and error messages. Disney accredited this to use of the site that surpassed their expectations.

Though this may cause some frustration and annoyance, this is most likely not a major turn-off for the site’s users.

Speaking from experience, I know that the technology problems will not last forever. While they may make the site a little bit more difficult to use, it does not completely impede users from reliving their childhood through watching their favorite childhood TV shows and movies.

Additionally, Disney+ makes up for the glitches with their original content and marketing towards their targeted audiences.

Disney’s new, original live-action Star Wars series called Mandalorian has drawn a lot of audience attention and has lured many hardcore Star Wars fans towards buying a subscription.

Disney+ isn’t only good for old Disney channel favorites. Like I mentioned earlier, they also carry Marvel movies, Star Wars, and National Geographic. This allows for a broader range of audience attention and a way for teenagers (like me) to convince their parents to invest in a subscription. 

In asking my parents if we could get a subscription, I told them that Disney+ not only has my favorites, like High School Musical and Beauty and the Beast, but also theirs, like award winning documentary Free Solo.

Take Aways from my Free Trial Week

So do I recommend it? Absolutely. Maybe I’m just sentimental, but logging on for the first time brought back some memories of childhood-kingdoms that I would love to recreate. Scrolling through the endless rows of movies and TV shows, I recognized movies that I haven’t seen since I watched them in my living room as I ate my peanut-butter sandwich.

The nostalgia sucked me in, and so far, has not disappointed.

My new Disney+ subscription certainly has me in for some good movie nights.