Disney+ users frustrated over watchlist layout change—again

It’s happening again, folks. Disney+ has brought back the much-maligned redesign of its Watchlist layout. If you’ve logged in recently, you might have noticed that your neatly tiled Watchlist grid has been replaced with a single horizontal row. Scrolling endlessly left and right to find your favorite shows? Not exactly the magic users were hoping for.

This isn’t the first time this problem has popped up. Reports of the layout change first emerged back in September, right around Disney’s big announcement of four streaming channels like Hits and Heroes and Throwbacks. Users quickly voiced their displeasure at the time, calling the change inefficient, tedious, and downright unusable — especially for parents whose kids relied on the grid’s visual layout to pick shows. For a short while, Disney+ seemed to have fixed it, restoring the beloved grid layout. Crisis averted… or so we thought.

Fast-forward to now, and Disney+ users are once again grappling with the same horizontal watchlist layout. Whether this is a deliberate rollout or an accidental slip remains unclear. But the complaints are pouring in. A Reddit thread that originally reported the issue has been reignited with fresh grievances. New threads have also emerged. From parents dealing with toddler meltdowns to frustrated adults lamenting the extra time it takes to find their favorite show, Disney+ users are calling on the House of Mouse to bring the grid back.

To make matters more confusing, a Disney+ subscriber shared a screenshot of a recent interaction with customer support. When asked about the watchlist woes, a representative allegedly confirmed that Disney+ is aware of the issue. The response was polite but far from satisfying: while the feedback is being passed to their team, there are “no current plans” to change the layout.

Given that Disney+ has been rolling out other major platform changes like the first-ever Christmas channel and a lineup of always-on channels, some users speculate that the Watchlist debacle is tied to these updates. After all, Netflix and YouTube have also been experimenting with redesigns in recent months, with similarly mixed reactions. Maybe streaming platforms should just stop ‘fixing’ things that aren’t broken.

Frustrated fans aren’t sitting quietly. Many are taking to Disney’s feedback page to demand the return of the grid layout. Still, it’s unclear whether this change was intentional or Disney+ developers are testing the waters for a new design. Back in September, the grid layout was restored within days, so users are hopeful history will repeat itself. But with nearly two weeks passed since the issue reappeared, the silence is starting to feel deafening.

Add this to other recent grumbles — like Disney allegedly limiting “away-from-home” requests to four per year — and some subscribers are starting to wonder if Disney+ is prioritizing its platform’s user experience.

For now, frustrated fans will have to stick to scrolling — and scrolling — while they wait for Disney+ to fix what wasn’t broken by restoring the grid watchlist layout.