Disney Plus Stumbles Out of Gate With Users Reporting Glitches, Error Messages, Blank Screens

Snafus and confusion crossed categories, with the streaming service relying on ISPs, device makers and content to all work together for a successful debut. Those three didn’t always come together, we found.

As a customer of Verizon FiOS and Verizon Wireless, we were perplexed by the different approaches to customer incentives using the Disney offering as bait. FiOS was offering a free yearlong Disney Plus subscription only to new customers, not to customers already contracted in its pricey internet-TV packages. Verizon Wireless was more accommodating, giving its unlimited data plan customers a year of the fledgling Disney service.

Disney Plus retweeted CNET Tuesday, saying, “Reminder that if you're a Verizon customer, you can get a year of #DisneyPlus for free," giving part of the picture. When users clicked through to CNET, they saw a more accurate headline: “Verizon gives some customers a year of Disney Plus.”

We signed up for the streaming service on Verizon Wireless, then went to the TV to plug in our user name and password using Roku. Setup was seamless with Roku, Disney Plus and Verizon negotiating the required behind-the-scenes handshakes; we were able to log into Disney Plus in seconds.

Though signup was seamless, service wasn't. We headed straight to Star Wars, one of five channels offered on Disney Plus -- along with Disney, Marvel, Pixar and National Geographic -- planning to queue up Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menaceas we prepare watch all Star Wars movies before The Rise of Skywalker arrives in theaters Dec. 20. Apparently, a lot of other Star Wars fans had the same plan, and we saw a black screen following some teaser graphics. An hour later, the slate of Star Wars titles showed up.

National Geographic, unavailable mid-morning, showed up just before noon. Marvel was still a blank slate.

We had company. Early birds eagerly awaiting their Disney Plus fix vented on Twitter Tuesday morning. @LAlexandrovitch_ was hoping just before 9 a.m. EST to enjoy Disney content but tweeted instead: “Waiting for my #DisneyPlus to work after connection issues.” @DustyW88 replied at 9:38 a.m. EST that for him, the service was working earlier when everyone was asleep, “but now everyone is on it causing problems.”

@BLACKKNIGHT25 showed some empathy to Disney but posted an “unable to connect” screenshot saying: “This is all I get. I understand glitches and stuf[f] on day one but for a multi trillion dollar company that's about to buy out everything they should have prepared better.” @travelfan22 posted a screen shot saying “Unable to connect to Disney+.” and @tudorbeste said, “Seems to work for me, but too many bugs.”

Numerous Twitter users reported error messages, and some took tech support into their own hands. @thedontcorner advised: “just go to search and it works.” @Lownotes1 tried to get support through Comcast, but the ISP’s sales and support staff wasn’t familiar with the new streaming service: “I just spoke with tech support and Sales at @comcast” and “NEITHER had heard of #disneyplus," he tweeted.

At 10:43 a.m., Disney acknowledged issues and turned the situation into a plug, tweeting that demand for the service “has exceeded our highest expectations. We are so pleased you’re excited to watch all your favorites and are working quickly to resolve any current issues. We appreciate your patience.”

It was confusing for some customers trying to determine who was responsible for connectivity issues. @JM_Doherty tweeted at Disney that he hoped the streaming company was working with Vizio “to resolve the Chromecast incompatibility on its SmartCast TV. We're getting this error message: "Disney+ is not available on this Chromecast device." @jaas666 interjected, saying, “Nothing to do with Disney. This one is entirely on Vizio for keeping their Chromecast version so out of date. Current Chromecast is at 1.42. Disney plus requires 1.36 ... Vizio has 1.34.”

Vizio and Google didn’t comment on the issue directly. A Google spokesperson emailed he would check into it, “but in the meantime can confirm that Disney+ is compatible with Chromecast, Chromecast built in, and Android TV.” A Vizio spokesman emailed: "While we don’t have anything to announce at this time, VIZIO is constantly adding new apps to SmartCast Home."

Apple played it low key in the week after it launched the competing Apple TV Plus. When we went to download the Disney Plus app on our iPhone early Tuesday, we found it fourth down at the App store after a search for Disney Plus. Apple TV, its streaming player, was more accommodating, tweeting: All the classics and your new favorites, including #TheMandalorian are streaming on #DisneyPlus! Watch Disney+ now on the Apple TV app."