Disney Plus Chromecast Not Working: How I Fixed It

Last week was just not my week. Work was difficult, my house was a mess and I wanted to do nothing more than just stay home with my dog all day. To make the week a little more bearable, I decided to rewatch The Lion King for the 100th time. It’s my comfort movie and is always cathartic for me.

Disney Plus and Chromecast, however, just added to my list of annoyances. I was not able to get Disney Plus to cast onto my TV. The app worked just fine on my smartphone and computer. But when it came to casting, it simply wouldn’t work.

Two hours with the Disney Plus support team and another three hours reading online forums later, I finally found a fix. Here’s how I fixed my problem:

If Disney Plus is not working with Chromecast, update your Disney Plus app and re-login using your email and password. Alternatively, restart your Chromecast device by switching it off and switching it on 30 seconds later.

Confirm your problem

Before embarking on any troubleshooting, it is best to ensure the root cause of the problem. Try switching to another show or movie and casting it. In case the other show streams properly, the root cause is the current show you are watching.

The fix for that is to wait while the problem resolves itself or contact the Disney Plus support team.

If the same issue occurs with the other TV shows as well, check if Disney Plus itself is running properly.

Check the Disney Plus servers

Disney Plus is prone to outages like any other entity on the internet. Check whether the Disney Plus servers are up and running before performing any fixes.

The official Disney Plus Twitter account is the best source for information about any widespread issues the service is facing. Alternatively, you can also use third-party services like Down Detector to check for any server outages.

If there are no server outages and Disney Plus is still not streaming on Chromecast, it might be time to troubleshoot on your own. Here’s how you can fix Disney Plus not working on Chromecast:

Restart the Chromecast

Restart the Chromecast to fix any minor errors that might be occurring. To do so, unplug your Chromecast device from the power source and wait for 30 seconds. Restart your Chromecast device. Once the Chromecast is up and running, try casting again.

If restarting doesn’t help, try logging out and logging in to your Disney Plus account. Outdated account information can lead to errors which are fixed by logging in.

Re-login to Disney Plus

To log out of the Disney Plus account:

Open the Disney Plus app on your Chromecast device
Go to your Avatar > Account > Log Out > Log Out of All Devices
Wait for 2-3 minutes before logging in

To re-login to your Disney Plus account:

Open the Disney Plus app on your Chromecast device
Enter your email ID and password to sign in
Try casting Disney Plus on Chromecast now

If logging in doesn’t get your Disney Plus casting again, try deleting the app cache. Corrupted cache files can cause casting and playback errors. Refreshing your app cache may solve this issue.

Clear the Disney Plus app cache

To clear the cache, go to Settings on your Chromecast device
Select Apps > Disney Plus > Clear cache and Clear data.

Attempt casting after deleting the app cache. If your Disney Plus is returning an error, check for app updates. Outdated app software leads to limited functionality. This can affect the ability to stream on Chromecast. Updating the Disney Plus app can fix this issue.

Updating Disney Plus

Ensure that you are using the latest version of the Disney Plus app on your Chromecast device.
Go to the App Store or Play Store of your Chromecast device.
Go to Disney Plus and check for any available updates. If there is an update available, install it and try casting again.

If none of the above fixes works, you can try to uninstall and reinstall the Disney Plus app. Any residual errors with the Disney Plus app will fix themselves once the app is reinstalled.

Reinstalling Disney Plus

To uninstall the Disney Plus app:

Open the Google Home app on your Chromecast device
Go to Settings > Device Settings
Select Apps > Disney Plus > Uninstall
Restart your Chromecast device

To reinstall the Disney Plus app:

Go to the App Store or Play Store
Find the Disney Plus App > Install
Sign in to your Disney Plus account with your email and password
Stream Disney Plus on Chromecast

Despite all this, are you still unable to use the Disney Plus app on your Chromecast? The problem may then lie with Chromecast rather than the Disney Plus app. To troubleshoot Chromecast, do the following:

Update your Chromecast firmware

Outdated Chromecast firmware can lead to app incompatibility and affect casting. Make sure your Chromecast is up-to-date with the latest firmware updates.

To check for updates, go to the Google Home app on your device and select the device you want to update
Select Settings > Device Settings > More > Check for Update
If an update is available, install it and try casting again.

Change any special characters in your Chromecast device name

Disney Plus does not recognise special characters. Therefore, if your Chromecast device name has any special characters, the device will not be detected by Disney Plus. Removing any special characters in the name can make your device visible again and allow you to cast Disney Plus.

To change any special characters in your device name:

Go to the Google Home app > Devices > Settings
Select Device Info > Name
Enter a device name without any special characters. Try casting again

Use a browser for Disney Plus

If your smartphone app is facing trouble with Chromecast, you can try casting from a browser. Open Disney Plus on a browser on your computer and try casting from there.

Alternatively, you can use your smart TV’s browser instead of Chromecast to stream Disney Plus. Go to your TV’s app store and download a search browser like Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome. Log in to Disney Plus on the browser and stream your shows.

Factory Reset Chromecast

If nothing works, you can try factory resetting your Chromecast. Returning the Chromecast to its default settings can solve the issue you are facing.

However, a factory reset will delete all saved data and settings from your Chromecast. Ensure any important data is saved before performing a factory reset.

To factory reset your Chromecast:

Go to the Google Home app > Devices > Settings
Select Reset > Factory Reset > Follow the directions on the screen
Set up your Chromecast again following the instructions and try casting Disney Plus again

If troubleshooting your Disney Plus and Chromecast doesn’t work, check your internet and network settings. A slow internet connection or a VPN might be preventing your Disney Plus from working on Chromecast.

Check your Internet Connection

Disney Plus recommends an internet speed of 5 Mbps for normal streaming and 25 Mbps for Ultra HD and 4K streaming. Perform a speed test on your device to check for your internet speed. If your internet speed does not meet the Disney Plus requirements, you may have trouble streaming.

To resolve this, power reset your router by switching it off and switching it on 30 seconds later. Alternatively, you can try using an Ethernet cable for improved internet speeds. If your internet speed does not improve, consider contacting your ISP for support.

Disable VPN or Proxy servers

Sometimes, a VPN or proxy server can cause a conflict with the Chromecast and prevent it from working properly. Disable any VPN or proxy server settings on your device and try casting Disney Plus again.

Disable the IPv6 protocol on your Chromecast device

The IPv6 protocol on your Chromecast device might be causing network incompatibility with Disney Plus and preventing it from casting. Switching to only an IPv4 protocol might resolve this issue.

To disable IPv6 on Chromecast:

Go to the Google Home app > Devices > Settings
Select Wi-Fi > Wi-Fi Preferences > Advanced
Select IP Settings > Static > IPv6 > Disable

Back to streaming Disney Plus

Watching your favorite TV show on a big screen enhances your viewing experience. Hence, it’s a pesky, annoying thing when casting doesn’t work. While spending hours with the Disney Plus support team can prove fruitful, it’s a cumbersome process.

Getting your Disney Plus working on Chromecast again requires very simple steps. Restarting your Chromecast firmware regularly or naming your Chromecast device without any special characters are small steps which take less than a minute. Their implementation, however, saves you a ton of time troubleshooting.

So let’s keep Disney Plus and Chromecast up-to-date and enjoy uninterrupted streaming. Now that I have gotten my Disney Plus back to casting again, excuse me while I finish my 101st rewatch of The Lion King.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I use Disney Plus on Chromecast?

To stream Disney Plus using Chromecast:

Open the Disney Plus app and select the content you wish to stream
Tap on the Cast icon in the top right corner of the screen and select your Chromecast device from the list of available devices

Why is Disney Plus not working in a different region?

Disney Plus is geo-restricted due to licensing and copyright agreements. Disney Plus might not be available in the new region you are in or the content you wish to watch might be region locked. To access Disney Plus in a different region, either download the content you wish to watch before traveling or consider using a VPN or proxy server.