Disney Story Central app review: an excellent Disney books platform

Introduction

The best iPad apps for Disney world

The Disney Story Central app is no longer in iTunes but you can find an alternative cartoon app on our iPhone list. You can also find all the top iPhone apps on our applists. We have also reviewed these cartoon apps or check out our iPhone app reviews:-

Nick jr app, Photo sketches app, Picotoons app, Cartoon Network app

Disney Story Central is an iPad and iPhone app put out by Disney to digitally present the majority of their readers. There are over a hundred books to choose from, and the titles are appropriate from birth to independent readers, including leveled readers. All the princesses are here, as are the heroes, and there are several books to choose from each movie.

One Free Book, Then it Gets Expensive

Disney Story Central knows how to hook you in. Don’t let your child see this app until you are ready to spend some money! You initially get four tokens, but each token is $3.99, and 25 is $24.99. You can save a bit of money by getting the starter packs, but they are only for one character, so that may not work for you.

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An example of a starter pack is the Frozen Cool Collection. You get five Frozen stories and a free Disney book token for $7.99. This is much more reasonable. As is the DocMcStuffins Boo-Boo Bundle which also comes with five Doc McStuffins Stories and a free token.

Great Stories

As with anything else Disney does, Disney Story Central has great stories. Because they are presented on the iPad or your iPhone, they have the opportunity to animate, provide read-along, and more. I explored the free book, Inside Every Book. I put it on Read to Me, and let it read through. The reader was not too fast, and not too slow, and each word was highlighted as it was read for the new reader to follow.  I then let my two-year-old try it out, and she quickly became frustrated. She figured out how to turn the page, and skipped the whole story. She earned two reading awards, however: book scout and page turner. I guess if you flip back and forth enough you get these awards!

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When I read it through on Read to Me or on Read by Myself, I earned three star tokens. I initially thought I might be able to earn enough stars to buy a new book. This doesn’t appear to be the case, but it is great that there is a reward for the kids to earn.

Each book has a preview option. Often times for younger kids, the few sample pages are enough to entertain them, have reading time, and get your little one interested in reading.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Free
• Sample book to get you started
• Great selection of paid literature
• Each book has four to six sample pages for you to read with your child
• Star reward system
• Reward trophies to earn
• Syncs to your Disney account so purchases are never lost

Cons

• Books must be purchased for tokens
• Tokens are expensive
• Bundles are available for a price, but not more reasonable than the tokens

Final Thoughts

As with anything Disney, the Disney Story Central app for iPad and iPhone was put together very well. Both the easy to navigate layout, and the colorful menu keep kids coming back. It is expensive though, and even though it is for books, not all parents are willing to pay this much for a digital copy of something. It does sync to your Disney account, so there is limited risk, and I would consider getting digital books for my kids for special occasions such as holidays, birthdays, and special rewards.