Super annoying Disney Plus problem

[kelleybp]

My 3 year old daughter loves all the classic princess movies on Disney+ (Cinderella, Little Mermaid, etc.) but I've run into a very frustrating problem that I can't resolve. Hoping someone here can help.

Whenever a movie ends and runs through the credits, the app automatically queues up the sequel to the film that was just watched. This in and of itself is fine, but the problem occurs when you try to re-play the original movie again. Instead of re-starting the finished film, ATV resumes play from my last session -- the end of the movie -- and then forces me to the landing page for the sequel.

In other words, when I click to play the OG Little Mermaid, after a few seconds I'm on the landing screen for Little Mermaid 2, with no opportunity to pause/rewind to go back to the beginning of the original film. The result is that I'm essentially locked out of the original movie with no option to watch what I want to watch. Switching user accounts does not fix the problem.

I've run into this routinely. Seems the only way to fix is to wait a few days for the app to "lose" my position at the end, then I'm given the chance to re-start the movie I want to watch. I'm on Apple TV 4k, latest software and latest app update.

 

[PilotC150]

I've run into a problem similar to this, so the fix might be the same.

What I've found is that the first place I'll see something that I recently watched is in the "Continue Watching" section, unless I watched through to the end of the credits. When I select an item from that row, it goes directly into the video, rather than taking me to the description page for that movie or show. So instead of being able to choose "Resume" or "Restart", it default to resuming, assuming that's what I want.

What I need to do then, is find the content somewhere else, either by Search or Watch List or somewhere else on the dashboard. This way it opens up the description page for that movie and I can choose to start it over.

I understand why they do it. They figure if you want to continue watching, then it should take you straight to the movie. It's just a poor UI design, though. With Plex, for example, they force one extra click for you to choose "Resume" or "Start at the Beginning", which is a much better experience.

 

[Meuti]

I know it's not a perfect solution, but have you tried force quitting the app? Maybe it will reset the viewed movies. Press the top right button (the one with the screen logo) twice and then swipe up on the touchpad to force quit the app (just like on the iPhone).

 

[kelleybp]

I know it's not a perfect solution, but have you tried force quitting the app? Maybe it will reset the viewed movies. Press the top right button (the one with the screen logo) twice and then swipe up on the touchpad to force quit the app (just like on the iPhone).

Yes, I should have mentioned in the post that force quitting doesn't have any effect.

What I need to do then, is find the content somewhere else, either by Search or Watch List or somewhere else on the dashboard. This way it opens up the description page for that movie and I can choose to start it over.

I'll give that a try!

 

[morningsong]

All the services that auto-start are annoying...or cut out before end of credits.

I watch shows to go to sleep...if it's on one of the auto-start streamers...sometimes it will go all night and then I have to think where I was in the series. Give me the option to stop after the current episode! Netflix does this right. Now that I've written it, they will likely change to be like everyone else!

 

[waw74]

I've complained to them about the same problem, but it affects me a different way.
it's not really an auto-start problem, it's has to do with how they keep track of where you are in a show.

all of their series (Mandalorian, wandavision, etc...) have close to 10 minutes of closing credits between the regular credits, and the ones for all of the voice overs in multiple languages.
When going back to do a re-watch, I'll start at episode one, but it starts playback at the end credits, so have to manually rewind to the beginning, Once I finish that episode, it correctly queues up the second episode, but once again it's starts playback at the end credits.

They need to add a timestamp marker in their system for "the end of the main part of the show." And anytime the system sees a time after that, it would automatically re-start the show from the beginning instead of at your last played position.
They would need to set this individually for each episode or movie, but they already do it for the skip buttons for the recap and opening credits.





Back to the original question.
there is a way to make it work without having to wait for a few days. (I'm sure your 3 year old does so patiently)

If you go to the disney+ app, and use the app's search function , it will bring up the page for that movie, and you should see 2 buttons, one for resume and one for restart.

You need to use the search page in the disney+ app, as opposed to any of Apple's searches.
Good

• "typing" the name into disney+ search, (scrolling letters with the siri remote, or the keyboard on your phone)
• using siri to dictate in disney+ search, (your cursor must be on the letters where you would type, you'll see a bunch of animated vertical lines as you speak)
• manually navigating to the page in the disney+ app ( for Little mermaid, either through "movies -> animation", or "Disney -> WD animation studios")

Not Good

• siri anywhere else. If the "siri blob" shows up, it will take you to the wrong place.
• anywhere in the TV App.

 

[kelleybp]

Back to the original question.
there is a way to make it work without having to wait for a few days. (I'm sure your 3 year old does so patiently)

If you go to the disney+ app, and use the app's search function , it will bring up the page for that movie, and you should see 2 buttons, one for resume and one for restart.

You need to use the search page in the disney+ app, as opposed to any of Apple's searches.
Good

• "typing" the name into disney+ search, (scrolling letters with the siri remote, or the keyboard on your phone)
• using siri to dictate in disney+ search, (your cursor must be on the letters where you would type, you'll see a bunch of animated vertical lines as you speak)
• manually navigating to the page in the disney+ app ( for Little mermaid, either through "movies -> animation", or "Disney -> WD animation studios")

Unfortunately this does not work. The issue comes up when the movie is played all the way through the end of the credits (I'm often not in the room while she's watching, and when the movie is over she gets up and walks out without touching the remote). So when I pull up the movie splash page, the only option I have is to play (i.e., no resume or restart). When I click play, I get taken to the last frame of the end credits rather than the beginning of the movie. I'm then instantly transferred to the splash page of the sequel.

 

[bluespark]

All the services that auto-start are annoying...or cut out before end of credits.

I watch shows to go to sleep...if it's on one of the auto-start streamers...sometimes it will go all night and then I have to think where I was in the series. Give me the option to stop after the current episode! Netflix does this right. Now that I've written it, they will likely change to be like everyone else!

I agree that auto-start is super annoying. I'm one who always likes closing credits, mostly because that's often where the film composer gets to really create a cohesive piece of music. It drives me crazy when a streaming service forces me out of that in favor of something else (or requires me to click into a new window to return to the film I was *already watching*). The credits are part of the film/show, and should be treated that way.