When I was asked if I would like to review the new app launched by Disney, I was very excited! With a trip planned to Disneyland Paris in February, I thought this would be the perfect addition to our trip (and something to keep the children quiet on the Eurostar)! DisneyLife offers Disney’s biggest collection of entertainment, including movies, books, music and TV episodes all in one place.
The app is designed to be used by all ages. You can stream instantly over WiFi or temporarily download hundreds of movies and books. There are also TV episodes and tons of music to check out too! My children were both incredibly excited that Frozen Fever was on there as we missed it at the cinema as we were stuck in traffic!
We were given a six month membership to try out. Setting up an account is very straightforward and all it needed was confirmation of my email address. I downloaded the app to both my phone (android) and ipad with ease and logged into my account on the app. You can set up more than one profile, which is wonderful if you have two children who have differing views on their favourite Disney shows.
My initial frustration occurred when I discovered that for some reason I couldn't chromecast the app from the ipad to the TV, but I don't know if this is a problem with the chromecast or the app! Although I can chromecast other apps (such as YouTube kids) without problems. I had no problem casting straight from the app on my phone to the TV though, but I found it a bit frustrating as I then couldn't use my phone whilst the children were watching a film!
When I first installed the app it worked well, running quickly and smoothly. However each time since that I have used the app it has shut itself down, or timed out or said there was an error. In order to rectify this, I have had to uninstall and then reinstall it. Since the first time I used it and we all watched Tangled on the TV from my phone, I have been unable to manage to get anything on to the television. The chromecast is working with other apps on my phone, so I don't think this is the problem.
Books and music are working well on the app and both children have enjoyed listening to their favourite Christmas classics sung by their favourite Disney characters! The books have been a little disappointing though and it would be good if they had a read along option as we have with other apps of books on the ipad (Winnie The Pooh springs to mind). I would far rather sit and read an actual book to them than sit and read the ipad to them but perhaps that is just me!
You can download content when you're online to watch later. This is a great feature and is perfect for those long car journeys. Make sure you leave plenty of time to download the content before you set off on your journey. Keep your fingers crossed that the app doesn't log you out in the middle of your children watching a film on a long journey too.
Another bonus to the app is that there is no contract, you are free to cancel at any point. There are also parental controls built into the app which enable you to place time limits on children's profiles. I haven't tried out the element of the app yet so cannot comment on this aspect.
I really didn't want to be disappointed by this app, but sadly I am. The concept is brilliant and if there weren't so many glitches in the app then I would happily pay £9.99 a month for it. There is a huge amount of content and it is all relevant to my children. I think that as this is a brand new app, there will be many more updates to come and it will no doubt improve. Currently I couldn't recommend the app though.
Available at www.DisneyLife.com, the App Store and Google PlayTM, families and fans can sign-up now for a free one month trial. A multi-user account for families comes as standard, for a monthly price of £9.99.
Disclosure: We were provided with a six month trial for the purpose of this review. This had no impact on my post, which is honest and fair.
