WEB-DL from Disney Plus (Educational Guide)

An educational guide on downloading WEB-DL quality streams from Disney Plus using L3 Widevine decryption. For personal backup and archival purposes only.

⚠️ IMPORTANT LEGAL DISCLAIMER:

This guide is provided for educational purposes only and covers techniques for backing up content you have legally purchased or subscribed to.

Legal considerations:

• Circumventing DRM may violate the DMCA (US) and similar laws in other jurisdictions
• This is intended for personal use and fair use purposes only
• Distributing copyrighted content is illegal
• Always review your local laws regarding DRM circumvention
• This guide is for archival/backup of content you legally access

The author assumes no responsibility for misuse of this information. Always respect copyright laws and terms of service.

Overview

This tutorial covers WEB-DL (Web Download) from Disney Plus, which captures the stream as it’s delivered, not screen recording (RIP). WEB-DL provides:

• Original quality (up to 1080p with L3, 4K video requires L1)
• Lossless audio (including Dolby Atmos if you bypass the 1080p limit)
• Subtitle tracks
• No re-encoding

Important terminology:

• L3 Widevine: Software-based DRM (allows up to 1080p decryption)
• L1 Widevine: Hardware-based DRM (required for 4K, cannot be decrypted with this method)

Requirements

Software

Disney Plus Account

You need an active Disney Plus subscription to access content.

Step 1: Setup Extensions

Install Browser Extensions (Developer Mode)

1. Download extensions as ZIP files:

   • Stream Detector
   • Widevine L3 Decryptor

2. Extract both ZIP files to separate folders

3. Enable Chrome Developer Mode:

   • Navigate to chrome://extensions/
   • Enable Developer mode (toggle in top-right)

4. Load extensions:

   • Click Load unpacked
   • Select the extracted Stream Detector folder
   • Repeat for Widevine L3 Decryptor folder

5. Verify installation:

   Should look like this:

   

Step 2: Setup Tools

Organize Tools Folder

Create a working directory (e.g., C:\Disney-DL\) and place:

• N_m3u8DL-CLI_v2.9.7.exe
• ffmpeg.exe
• mp4decrypt.exe
• mkvmerge.exe (extract from MKVToolNix installation directory)
• disney.bat

All tools must be in the same folder.

Step 3: Capture Stream URL

Play Content and Extract Playlist

1. Open Chrome and navigate to Disney Plus

2. Open Developer Tools before playing:

   • Press Ctrl + Shift + I or right-click → Inspect

3. Keep Developer Tools open and start playing the movie/show

4. Click Stream Detector extension (top-right corner):

   

5. Copy the URL starting with ctr-all

   Example:

   https://disney.cdn.example.com/.../ctr-all.m3u8?params=...
   

Step 4: Download Stream

Run the Batch Script

1. Run disney.bat

2. Enter file name (without extension):

   Enter filename: Movie_Title_2024
   

3. Paste the M3U8 URL you copied:

   

Optional: Higher Quality Audio

To get Dolby Atmos audio (at the cost of 4K video encryption):

Remove everything after .m3u8 in the URL:

Before:

https://.../ctr-all.m3u8?Policy=...&Signature=...

After:

https://.../ctr-all.m3u8

Note: This gives you highest quality audio (Atmos), but 4K video will be L1-encrypted (cannot decrypt). 1080p video remains accessible.

Step 5: Select Audio and Subtitles

The script will show available tracks:

Audio tracks:

1. English (Dolby Atmos)
2. Spanish
3. French
...

Select your preferred language

Subtitle tracks:

1. English (SDH)
2. Spanish
3. None
...

Select subtitles (or choose “None”)

Download begins automatically:

Step 6: Extract Decryption Keys

Get Keys from Console

1. Go back to Chrome Developer Tools

2. Switch to Console tab:

   

3. Find the Widevine keys:

   WidevineDecryptor: Found key: a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8i9j0k1l2m3n4o5p6 (KID=0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef)
   

4. Copy both the key and KID:

   • First part: a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8i9j0k1l2m3n4o5p6 (KEY)
   • Second part: 0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef (KID)

5. Paste into the batch script when prompted:

   Enter video decryption key: <paste KEY>
   Enter video KID: <paste KID>
   

The script will decrypt and merge the video, audio, and subtitles automatically.

Step 7: Retrieve Final File

The finished file will be in:

C:\Rips\Rips\

Format: .mkv file with video, audio, and subtitles muxed together

Troubleshooting

Issue: No decryption keys in console

Cause: Content didn’t start playing or Widevine decryptor not working

Fix:

1. Ensure both extensions are enabled
2. Refresh page and start playback again
3. Check Console tab is showing “WidevineDecryptor” messages

Issue: Download fails with “403 Forbidden”

Cause: Stream URL expired or invalid

Fix:

1. Stream URLs expire quickly - recapture URL immediately before downloading
2. Ensure you’re logged into Disney Plus
3. Don’t modify URL beyond removing query parameters (if doing Atmos trick)

Issue: Audio/video out of sync

Cause: Incorrect FFmpeg parameters or stream timing issues

Fix:

1. Use latest FFmpeg version
2. Re-download with fresh URL
3. Check batch script is using correct merge commands

Issue: Can’t find mkvmerge.exe

Location: MKVToolNix installs to:

• Windows: C:\Program Files\MKVToolNix\mkvmerge.exe
• Copy to your tools folder

Advanced: Manual Process

For those who want more control:

1. Download M3U8 Stream

N_m3u8DL-CLI_v2.9.7.exe -H "User-Agent: ..." "<m3u8-url>" --workDir "output"

2. Decrypt Video/Audio

mp4decrypt --key <KID>:<KEY> encrypted_video.mp4 decrypted_video.mp4
mp4decrypt --key <KID>:<KEY> encrypted_audio.mp4 decrypted_audio.mp4

3. Merge with FFmpeg

ffmpeg -i decrypted_video.mp4 -i decrypted_audio.mp4 -i subtitles.srt \
  -c copy -c:s mov_text output.mkv

Quality Comparison

Ethics and Legal Reminder

This guide is for:

• Personal backups of content you legally access
• Archiving content you subscribe to
• Educational understanding of DRM systems

This guide is NOT for:

• Piracy or illegal distribution
• Circumventing DRM for unauthorized access
• Sharing copyrighted content

Always respect content creators and copyright holders. Support the services you use.

References

• Stream Detector GitHub
• Widevine L3 Decryptor GitHub
• N_m3u8DL-CLI GitHub
• FFmpeg Documentation