DisneyNOW

Whether you are, yourself, a kid at heart, or you need shows full of heart for your kids, finding the best free cartoon streaming sites is a very wise decision. I might get a few dirty looks from the parenting police for saying this, but at the end of a hard day of work when your children are in hyperactive mode and all that you want is 20 minutes of peace, the TV can be your best friend. Just throw on their favorite cartoons and, like magic, you have a moment to breathe.

I know it’s not popular to say this. People are, no doubt, already judging me as a bad parent. I can hear the accusations already, that it’s lazy to ‘use the TV as a babysitter.’ But, hey, to each his own, right? One person says “lazy,” I say “resourceful.” It’s not like I’m sitting my kids in front of the TV for 8 hours a day, every day, never paying attention to them or engaging them in more fulfilling ways. Chances are, though, dear reader, it is not you whom I have to convince. After all, you’re on StreamingSites.com yourself looking for the best cartoon streaming sites. So, I’m willing to bet that you know my struggle firsthand.

Well, you have come to the right place. It can be hard to find a good streaming service for kids, let alone a free cartoon streaming site that is trustworthy, dependable, safe, and full of high-quality content. Today, though, we will be taking a look at a streaming service from the authority in children’s entertainment. That’s right, we’re talking about Disney.

Disney Now is – I’m just going to go right out and say it – probably the best free cartoon streaming site available. There are a few really good ones out there, don’t get me wrong, but, come on, nobody comes close to matching a Disney product. Especially if the sites that Disney is competing with for the number one spot are the myriad random free cartoon streaming sites strewn around the internet. Disney Now is a top-notch free streaming site from the most beloved and trusted kids brand of all time. How could you go wrong?

Then again, though, it is true that we all look for different things in our preferred streaming sites. That is why some people swear by Netflix while others are strictly Hulu families. We all have different sensibilities, of course, and that comes out in our streaming preferences. Then, take into account the vastly different opinions that people have regarding what they want to let their kids watch. That is a beast of a whole different order.

Sure, there is no denying that Disney shows and movies are, more or less, an acceptable form of entertainment if you ask most parents. But not every parent feels that way. In fact, some feel very strongly that their kid should never watch a Disney production. I don’t want to get into the sociological and political motivations that are often behind this here, but I will say that there are some points to be made about the educational value of many Disney TV shows.

There is probably better educational kids’ content out there (in fact, I know there is). But you didn’t come to read a review of Disney Now expecting to learn about how much incredibly intellectually stimulating and educational content the free cartoon streaming site has to offer. You know what Disney is; moreover, what the Disney Channels are like. Disney Now merely combines the content of the Disney Channel, Disney Jr., and Disney XD into 1 convenient site and app (while there used to exist 3 separate entities, 1 for each channel).

Although Disney Now offers plenty of free cartoons and series to stream, the site presents something of a freemium model. A significant portion of the titles are locked. In order to view them, you must log in with your cable provider. If you do not have a cable provider, well, you are going to be limited to the free cartoons that are not restricted. Don’t worry, though, there is an impressive number, nonetheless.

At any rate, the question still remains: is Disney Now the best free cartoon streaming site for you and your family? Is this the free cartoon streaming site that you have wished upon a star for? Well, there is only one way to find out … Let’s take a closer look at the streaming service and everything it has to offer, shall we?

History

Disney launched 3 separate TV Everywhere services in June of 2012 – Watch Disney Junior, Watch Disney Channel, and Watch Disney XD. This came as a part of a new agreement with Comcast Xfinity, including digital rights to the programming broadcast on Disney’s cable channels through authenticated streaming.

In 2017, though, Disney announced that it would be combining all of its children’s TV streaming vehicles into a singular, much larger platform: Disney Now. All 3 services – Disney Junior, Channel, and XD were combined with Radio Disney into a unified library and streaming service: Disney Now. In addition to on-demand and live TV and radio streaming, Disney Now also features exclusive games that are based on programs, parental controls (lock the site to Disney Junior only, if you wish), and a profile system so each child has his own favorites list, permissions, and viewing history.

When Disney Plus launched in 2019, though, Disney Now began gradually removing content from its service, hoping to encourage parents to succumb to pressures from their children and subscribe to Disney Plus (a real evil genius move, if you ask me). Today, though, Disney Now still has a fairly robust catalog of series and cartoons to stream.

Design

In classic Disney fashion, every aspect of Disney Now is top-notch and full of wow. The site design is a great example. There is no question about it, Disney Now presents the best free cartoon user interface of all time. Easily. The site is interactive, fun, bright, engaging, and easy to use. I have never seen a site quite like it, let alone a free streaming site.

The general layout of the site is fairly typical for a streamer. You’ll find a site menu at the very top of the page, a giant banner just below it which automatically carousals featured series and episodes of favorite shows, and then a descending series of menus separated by category, organized into rows. Browse by your favorites, continue watching, what’s trending, what’s new, and various themes, series, and characters.

What really makes this site’s design stand out, though, is its responsive and interactive nature. When you hover your cursor over a thumbnail, for instance, it rapidly jumps up off the page (ever so slightly). When you click on an icon in the site menu bar, it animates and makes a cheerful ding sound along with your click. Everything about this site is fun, easy to use, and enjoyable. You’ll love it just as much as your kids do.

Content and Features

As far as features go, I already touched on a few. But, to reiterate, you have parental locks (to block Disney XD and Disney Channel from the wee ones if you so desire); you have a profile system, so that each kid can have his or her very own Disney Now experience; you can add episodes to your favorites list; and you have tons of fun games that coincide with the free cartoons. The result of all of this combined is a nearly comprehensive, multimedia experience that no other free cartoon streaming site comes remotely close to rivaling. There is no competing with Disney, though, that is no surprise.

Other than all of that, Disney Now is known as the best free cartoon streaming site because of its content as well. There are plenty of free cartoons to stream, sure, classic and contemporary alike, but there are also shows here for kids of every stage, from toddler to teenager, thanks to the site’s tripartite approach to content (Disney Channel, XD, and Junior all rolled into one).

Mobile and Desktop Experience

It would be pretty shocking if Disney’s free cartoon streaming site didn’t have cross-platform compatibility, wouldn’t it? Well, prepare to be not shocked. Not only is Disney Now available in app form on both Android and iOS mobile devices, but they are every bit as sleek and experientially impressive as the desktop site as well. The only bummer is the fact that quite a few users on the Apple App Store report that the app is somewhat buggy at times.

You can also access Disney Now via Roku, select smart TVs, Apple TV, Kindle, and Amazon Fire TV.