Disney Movie Club, All yon need to know (great movies, cost, offers etc…) 4 movies 1$
Is It Still Worth Joining The Disney Movie Club?
If streaming on Disney+ isn’t your thing, you can find many of your old favorites on Blu-ray exclusively at the Disney Movie Club
I have always liked the concept of “instant gratification,” and it’s a concept that works for just about any sort of retail therapy.
Be it clothes, shoes, toys and collectibles, movies discs, nothing compares to browsing and picking up objects, finding a treasure, and leaving with it that very day. With dwindling support for physical media at brick and mortar stores, many are shifting shopping habits to online venues.
In the past six months, my local Best Buy cut their movie selection by 90%, Target by 50%, and Walmart by 33% or more, it certainly sends a signal loud and clear, it might be time to shop elsewhere for titles that are not new releases.
Customer feedback to these stores’ corporate offices will likely go unanswered, their decisions have already been made and it is doubtful anything will change that. You still have smaller boutique shops that may suit your needs, but many of us are not lucky enough to live close to one.
How does Disney Movie Club work?
With all the online shopping choices available, why join the Disney Movie Club (DMC) in this day and age? What sets it apart from other merchants? For starters, the club is a membership, so it does require a purchase commitment, but it is relatively easy to complete.
The initial out-of-the-box introductory offer is that you purchase 4 movies for $1, be it 4K, Blu-ray, or DVD, with free shipping. The standard offer requires the purchase of an additional five movies at the regular price (starting usually at around $19.95 per title) over two years.
As a bonus, you can opt to purchase your first commitment title at a reduced price with that first introductory order. After the initial order, shipping is $3.95 for the first title and $1.49 for each additional.
About every 4 weeks you get a physical mailer in your mailbox or an email with the current featured title with a response by date. If you do not respond, it will automatically be sent and billed to your account. If you don’t want that title, you can mail it back for a refund.
How much do Blu-rays at Disney Movie Club cost?
Let’s touch on price first because to some, that is the single most important factor. New releases almost always have the same price (within a couple of bucks) as other online or physical shops. What’s different here is when you buy a regular title, not only does it count as one unit towards your membership commitment, there is almost always an option to buy additional titles at reduced prices.
Sometimes you even get new releases a week or two earlier than the normal street date. There is no limit to the number of additional titles you can buy at the reduced price, they just do not count towards the final membership commitment.
If you factor in the initial order of five titles (four for $1, plus the first commitment title at a reduced price) and the bare minimum prices of the four titles to fulfill your membership obligation, you still come out ahead financially. Once you’ve completed the membership commitment you gain VIP Member status. VIP members get offers throughout the year and some don’t require a regularly priced purchase.
In the past, one such offer was 50% off all TV Series, no additional purchase required. This is how I completed my Once Upon a Time collection. As an extra bonus, featured titles usually include a lithograph or charm trinket of some sort, and the additional title discount can go as high as 60% off the list price.
Disney Movie Club isn’t just for new releases. There are Club exclusive titles too!
Disney Movie Club exclusives are the biggest reason I have maintained my membership over the years. DMC offers movies with exclusive slipcovers on them, and there are also titles that are only available from DMC’s store.
Similar to what Warner Archive Collection releases, these are smaller, less popular movies and shows made in smaller batches of discs. These titles also usually have minimal extras, what we consider barebones releases, but the only other way to see these shows in HD is on Disney+ and sadly usually at a lower quality.
Classic favorites exclusive to Disney Movie Club
Disney is best known for its animated titles. Here are some exclusive highlights of the Disney Movie Club you might not know are on Blu-ray.
Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure: The Complete Series
Valiant
Pooh’s Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin
Melody Time
Black Cauldron
Disney is best known for its animated output, but how about a live-action family comedy to brighten the day?
Freaky Friday (1976) and (2003)
Jungle 2 Jungle
Holes
George of the Jungle
Do you remember as a kid sitting down to the Wonderful World of Disney broadcast on ABC TV or going to the theater in the eighties? Here are some true classics that you can’t find in stores on Blu-ray.
Something Wicked This Way Comes
The Black Hole
Treasure Island
Flight of the Navigator
Escape to Witch Mountain / Return from Witch Mountain
Do you love exclusive packaging? Or do you have the need to own every release of a favorite title? Here’s a sample of a couple of the exclusive slipcovers available from DMC.
New releases often arrive with exclusive DMC slipcovers so check them out before you run off to Best Buy or check out Amazon.
Club exclusives initially were not very different from your normal store releases, just editions of movies that included a digital code while the same movie bought from Best Buy or Amazon did not have it, then they evolved to a random classic Disney movie.
Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure: The Complete Series on Blu-ray marks the first “modern” TV series release from DMC. Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers – The Complete Series was initially announced as DMC’s second animated series blu-ray release, but that one has now been updated to be a standard release available everywhere.
Just don’t expect to see Song of the South any time this century as a DMC exclusive. I would lean towards never, but there is still a vast trove of movies and TV shows within the Disney vault that could potentially make it to Blu-ray. I still remember an obscure series titled The Wuzzles from the eighties that will probably never see the light of day, but I do have them on SVHS somewhere as well as the stuffed animals themselves.
There are so many others that are begging the be put on Blu-ray. From Duck Tales to Darkwing Duck to the Aladdin TV Series, Talespin, Gargoyles, Timon & Pumbaa, Disney Junior titles like Lion Guard, Doc McStuffins, Sofia the First, and Elena of Avalor – there’s some great stuff that would make awesome additions to the collection.
Bottom line, whether you’re looking for the lowest prices or club exclusives, DMC is sure to satisfy both desires. Be aware though, if you look around you might find a promo code that entitles you to an even better deal for your initial order. If you are a member and refer a friend, there’s a deal for that too.
A few months ago the 20th Century Fox library was also added to DMC’s catalog drastically increasing their selection of titles. Disney might be trying to prop up their Disney+ service, but as long as there is a market for discs, there’s little doubt they will continue to produce them and DMC may just be the best – or only – place to buy them.
Click the $4 movies for $1 banner to be directed to DMC.
