I signed up for Disney Theatre in Japan the other day to catch up on some Marvel movies before seeing the new Avengers movie. I’ve seen a few comments about ho

I signed up for Disney Theatre in Japan the other day to catch up on some Marvel movies before seeing the new Avengers movie. I’ve seen a few comments about how it’s easy to create and cancel accounts for these services. In this case it was extremely complicated and I almost gave up. Step 1: download the Disney theatre app on my Apple TV. Step 2: After it opens, use the resulting QR code to open the registration site on my phone and create an account Step 3: Link the account to another account for docomo (one of the main cell phone providers and the only way to pay) Step 4: Make a docomo account since I don’t have one Step 5: add payment to the new docomo account Step 6: login to my new Disney account when prompted Step 7: Download the Marvel, Disney and Disney Theatre apps when prompted Step 8: Open the Marvel app on my phone and login with my new Disney account Step 9: Find the movie I want to watch. Oops, it’s not there, find another one. Click on it and it opens the Disney theatre app on my phone, which I have to login to. Here I realize that the Marvel app is for extra content. Step 10: Realize that the app on my Apple TV is not authenticated yet, go back to the authentication site, which allows the app to work Step 11: Find and watch a movie They truly messed up the experience here. First, content here is even more fragmented in Japan and often bundled to mobile provider plans. This was a failure for consumers until Netflix gained enough content to blow the other streaming services out of the water. I suspect the docomo deal was made years ago when it was the norm and someone convinced Disney it was expected. I doubt the equivalent (eg link to your T-mobile account) will be required for payment in the US version. Second, downloading and signing in to multiple apps is a hassle. The extra apps have content such as interviews with actors and... themed cupcake recipes. It feels very corporate and I wouldn’t predict that the potential extra added value will surpass extra confusion. All of that being said, I could probably tolerate HBO and Disney as unique subscriptions, plus Netflix, Amazon and specific sports leagues. Any more fragmentation than 4-5 services and I’m more likely to unsubscribe from all of them.