Product Review: Disney Club Removes Worry of Joining a Monthly Club

If you want to become a Disney Movie Club member, but you are afraid that it is too good to be true, I've got good news for you.

I've been told the horror stories of joining book or movie clubs. Once they get you started, they hold you in with fine print. You thought you were only obligated to buy certain things for a given length of time, and then when you go to cancel your subscription they won't let you. That may be true, and is true, for some monthly subscription clubs. Even joining on a trial basis for free can catch you unaware of other obligations that quickly kick in. With much trepidation I took the bait with the Disney Club.

Disney is not without its tricks. So many of Disney's productions are in the vault, only released at certain times and only for a limited time. But if you haven't built up a significant collection of Disney movies and you are interested in doing so, the Disney Movie Club is the way to do it. When you look over an advertisement, for example, offering 4 DVDs for 99 cents and a 5th one at regular price as an introductory bargain for joining the club, that is a pretty good deal all by itself. Of course, as clearly stated, the catch is that you are now obligated to monthly purchases. It's not a monthly fee per say, but you will need to be ready to buy a movie of your choosing each month. Keep track each month or Disney will send you their feature, usually a generic second or third movie in a series you don't want, unless you opt out of that choice by making a choice of your own. No worries, there are several good movies to choose from. And then another rule is that you must make purchases for a given amount of months before you can cancel the club altogether. I found that I wanted to buy much more than I was obligated to each month, and I think Disney has full confidence that their product is good enough to have this affect on more than just me. By the time I had my collection built up, they were likely just as satisfied as I was. They had no problem letting me opt out once I had met the terms, and there was no fine print or other twist to it. Just be sure you don't allow your year membership renew, unless you want it to, or else you will find yourself repeating the terms for another year.