Does Disney Plus Have Parental Controls?

‍Watch our new video explaining these wonderful changes!

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Disney’s streaming video service, Disney Plus, is here (also available as an app for iOS or Android)! Endless Star Wars, Marvel, The Simpson’s, Pixar, all of your Disney favorites, and more. And it’s inexpensive, with many people taking advantage of early sign-up promotions or deals through other services, like Verizon.

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Although many of the movies are kid friendly, there are a good number in the Star Wars and Marvel universe rated PG-13, which some parents might not want their kids viewing quite yet. The Disney+ parental controls can prevent all PG and PG13 titles from being watched (but can’t be locked in).

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In order to enable Disney+ Parental Controls, follow these steps:

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1. When logged into your Disney+ account from any device, tap on the current profile icon. For example, on an iPhone, that’s the profile picture in the lower right.
2. Select Edit Profiles.
3. For an existing profile, tap the one you want to change and skip to step 6. If you want to create a new profile, choose Add Profile.
4. Next, select an image for the new profile.
5. Type in a Profile Name.
6. Toggle Kids Profile on (this disallows PG and PG13 content for the profile).
7. Choose Save in the upper, right corner.

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Note that the built-in Disney+ controls don’t prevent children from bypassing these controls by switching to a profile that enables all content. We hope Disney figures this out soon.

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When using a kid profile, only content that’s rated G, TV-Y, TV-Y7/Y7-FV, or TV-G will be available.

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I received this message from a mom related to G-rated documentaries:

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In Disney Plus, there are documentary films rated G (nature videos etc) that contain animal sex scenes that parents may or may not want their little ones watching. There is NO warning given about this content and because it’s animals, it’s still rated G. I may sound like a prude, but the way it’s presented without warning to little kids is inappropriate. Thought you may want to tell parents about this. Even all the best parental controls on the world can’t replace a parent previewing material first sometimes. I was shocked and my kids were really uncomfortable – it really upset them.

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Just another aspect of the content to be aware of.

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In Fall 2020 due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, Disney created a GroupWatch feature. You can send the link to up to 6 other accounts and watch content together. GroupWatch can’t be accessed from a kid’s profile. From a regular account, users just select the title they want to watch, click the people icon, and then copy and share the link with others who also have a Disney+ account. Once invited, users click on the link and can view from mobile or website. They can also view from a television but will have to access the link via mobile or website first. Then the television app will sync up.

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If you want to see the parental control steps in video format, please watch this:

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Enjoy!

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P.S. If you’re also a Netflix family, is it time to check your Netflix settings? This post might help.

What if I have more questions? How can I stay up to date?

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Two actions you can take!

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1. Subscribe to our tech trends newsletter, the PYE Download. About every 3 weeks, we’ll share what’s new, what the PYE team is up to, and a message from Chris.
2. Ask your questions in our private parent community called The Table! It’s not another Facebook group. No ads, no algorithms, no asterisks. Just honest, critical conversations and deep learning! For parents who want to “go slow” together. Become a member today!

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