A Disney Park Channel?

[princessmelinda]

I always get so excited when there is anything Disney Parks related on either Food Network or Travel Channel and I love watching the channel when I'm at Disney that goes through all the parks! I would definitely watch this channel!

 

[fireman17]

You guys are in my brain I just spoke to my DW about this the other night. I would love to see an all Disneyland, Walt Disney World channel I know it couldn't be on a basic cable channel but have it on demand for us to choose.
They could highlight different areas of each park have a what's new segment, keep us up to date on refurbishments and so on. The problem is that I would never have the channel off and my family would be putting me in the basement with my own TV.
But, that may not be a bad idea!!:ROFLOL:

 

[Susan Savia]

I would love a show like that...It would be fun to see the old Spin and Marty episodes, original Mickey Mouse club shows and news from inside the parks and attractions. I mainly watch the Christmas Day parade for the scenery...

 

[sparky03]

If the Florida Keys can have its own travel and information station( http://keystv.com/ ), surely WDW could have one. I would love to have daily updates from the parks, maybe something similar to those channels you get when you're staying onsite at the resorts. As long as it's not too repetitive.

Live webcams would be cool too, although I doubt Disney would ever allow that. Nothing substitutes actually being at the parks and any kind of image or news I can get about them via TV or online usually only serves to whet my appetite toward making another trip down for a visit.

 

[jonnyc]

It would be amazing. Maybe they could strike up an adversting agreement with Appliance Direct?

 

[IheartWDW]

There was a on demand disney parks channel a while ago. That helped at least for a quick fix everynow and then. But that also seems to have been taken off.

Does anyone know why they took that off?:shrug:

 

[Dads 2 Boys]

This has so many possibilities that it's scary!!!! :sohappy:

As much as most of us would like it specifically for WDW, it would have to include all the parks including the ones outside the US. They could do specials based on certain attractions, historical shows and even highlight a specific resort each day.

An hour long daily style program giving park updates, refurbs, closures, etc... (title it Disney Parks Today) would be fabulous.

They could broadcast lots of ESPN the Weekend, the marathon, etc...

The possibilities are endless and I'm sure cable companies would pay for it but it would have to go on a digital tier (which I have no issue with).

There could be an hour of shopping (since the merchandise is online which I'm not fond of but...).

I could go on but I'm at work and would run out of time here if I kept going.:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[fireman17]

Okay, now that the ball seems to be rolling on this idea and it seems to be getting great reviews I wonder where we could start to make this happen?
I might talk to our local cable TV customer service or maybe email Disney directly and put a bug in their ear.
Who's with me?

 

[Victor]

The new Mickey is such a sissy. It's really sad. What was wrong with the traditional Mickey?

I really hate what's become of Mickey. He's recognized now as a kid friendly corporate symbol, as opposed to the mischievous (and entertaining) little runt he used to be. We had some adult shirts at my Disney Store featuring Mickey with an angry scowl on his face. They didn't sell, nobody liked seeing Mickey angry.

 

[richiericher22]

Any other option aside from the two crap channels they have now. What the Disney channel has become is a disgrace. Every single time I scroll past, they are playing some form of suite life, or hannah. It is regoshdarndiculous. Toon Disney had some potential, but now that channel is crap as well.

There is a disney travel on demand option, but it is hardly ever updated, and the shows are of a poor production quality.

I miss donald duck and mickey mouse. The wimpy CGI versions do not cut it.

Toon Disney was doing quite well up until "Disney XD" they had Mickey's House of Mouse which was pretty cool, I liked it. Even some of those older shows like That's so Raven, and Lizzie McGuire had some sort of Disney magic in them, now it's all crapola! Have you seen Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon Lately? It's become total trash!

 

[_Scar]

I really hate what's become of Mickey. He's recognized now as a kid friendly corporate symbol, as opposed to the mischievous (and entertaining) little runt he used to be. We had some adult shirts at my Disney Store featuring Mickey with an angry scowl on his face. They didn't sell, nobody liked seeing Mickey angry.

Mickey has been the same Mickey for over 60 years. Walt essentially created the family friendly version. Bash him. :lol::lookaroun

 

[richiericher22]

I would love to see some of the classic Mickey cartoons, even if he is a little runt! That shows he has a bit of human in him! xD

All the classics, like they can show some of the old family movies like Cinderella, Snow White, The Lion King, etc. They can go way back to the beginning of Disneyland, and how that small project, turned into a worldwide sensation, witch over 4 parks worldwide! (I even here they're making another park somewhere, but idk.)

I would love to see the Samantha Brown Disney specials, it would be pretty cool if she could host her own show on the channel considering she's absolutely amazing!

It could have shows that go behind the scenes of the ride, not like how they did in Modern Marvels with a few rides, but each episode could be of a few different rides, like the mechanics of the Tower of Terror, and how the T4 system works, the beginning of the monorail.

 

[Victor]

Mickey has been the same Mickey for over 60 years. Walt essentially created the family friendly version. Bash him. :lol::lookaroun

Oh c'mon, Mickey and friends have been watered down. The last good thing featuring Mickey was Runaway Brain.

 

[disneydork23]

I agree with a previous poster who mentioned Vault Disney. Even to bring that back at all would be such a delight! I remember when I was younger staying up just to watch some footage from the park and of course, Walt.

Ok, so even if there is too much competition and it's a dying form of entertainment due to Tivo and the internet and all that, then can we get some more Park dvds?! I have completely maxed out. I get the free dvd, the 5 pack that they charge you an arm and a leg for and the Disneyland Treasures dvd. I know of very little official dvds outside of these mentioned.

 

[Mr.EPCOT]

I have to agree with most of the sentiments expressed here. Disney is really missing out on having quite the successful little collection of channels.

-The Disney Channel: the original basic cable channel would cover the wide range of Disney offerings just like it used to do. This would essentially be the channel with something for everybody, as it should be. An advantage to this would be easily plugging the other channels when there's similar content aired.

-Vault Disney: more or less what the overnight programming block used to be. This channel could easily be filled out plenty with the inclusion of material from the 80s and even early 90s.

-Toon Disney: all Disney and Pixar animation, all the time. Isn't there more than enough of it already out there to make this more than viable? Throw in some original programming, and this should be a winner.

-Tween/Teen Disney: essentially what the Disney Channel is now. I could see this replacing ABC Family and fusing it with their programming. That should finally turn Disney's fairly large purchase of the Family Channel into a worthwhile and successful basic cable channel.

-Playhouse Disney: preschool and elementary school childrens programming, an expansion of the morning block off of the Disney Channel. If I remember right, this one might actually come to pass, I seem to remember an announcement about this.

-Destination Disney: the original topic of this thread! Covering the physical real world realms of Disney; Walt Disney World, Disneyland Resorts in Anaheim, Tokyo, Paris, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Disney Vacation Club Resorts, Adventures by Disney, Disney Cruise Line, and so on. There could even be specials every once in a while on the working facilities of Team Disney, the Studios, Imagineering, etc. I would probably buy a TV just to leave this channel on all the time.

-The EPCOT Channel: you can't tell me that with the ever-expanding network of channels between Discovery, History, Learning, National Geographic, etc., that Disney couldn't blow this one out of the water? With Disney's vast resources behind it, this could damn well easily lead to its own collection of channels that leave History and co. in the dust. The World Showcase Channel, anyone? Horizons Channel?


These are just a few ideas from a reasonably intelligent enthusiast, ones with relatively little risk. What if they tried something really new and exciting?

 

[piratetreasure]

i have to agree with most of the sentiments expressed here. Disney is really missing out on having quite the successful little collection of channels.

-the disney channel: The original basic cable channel would cover the wide range of disney offerings just like it used to do. This would essentially be the channel with something for everybody, as it should be. An advantage to this would be easily plugging the other channels when there's similar content aired.

-vault disney: More or less what the overnight programming block used to be. This channel could easily be filled out plenty with the inclusion of material from the 80s and even early 90s.

-toon disney: All disney and pixar animation, all the time. Isn't there more than enough of it already out there to make this more than viable? Throw in some original programming, and this should be a winner.

-tween/teen disney: Essentially what the disney channel is now. I could see this replacing abc family and fusing it with their programming. That should finally turn disney's fairly large purchase of the family channel into a worthwhile and successful basic cable channel.

-playhouse disney: Preschool and elementary school childrens programming, an expansion of the morning block off of the disney channel. If i remember right, this one might actually come to pass, i seem to remember an announcement about this.

-destination disney: The original topic of this thread! Covering the physical real world realms of disney; walt disney world, disneyland resorts in anaheim, tokyo, paris, hong kong, shanghai, disney vacation club resorts, adventures by disney, disney cruise line, and so on. There could even be specials every once in a while on the working facilities of team disney, the studios, imagineering, etc. I would probably buy a tv just to leave this channel on all the time.

-the epcot channel: You can't tell me that with the ever-expanding network of channels between discovery, history, learning, national geographic, etc., that disney couldn't blow this one out of the water? With disney's vast resources behind it, this could damn well easily lead to its own collection of channels that leave history and co. In the dust. the world showcase channel, anyone? horizons channel?


these are just a few ideas from a reasonably intelligent enthusiast, ones with relatively little risk. What if they tried something really new and exciting?

^^^^this

 

[Honest John]

I'd love a Disney channel similar to what is available on the resort TV... I'd love them to just advertise their parks, history, resorts and new movies to me, some of the behind the scenes specials about the parks and movies... for a buck or two a month I'd probably buy it.

I don't think the channel would "make it" on normal cable tv... The channel would have to be a infomercial sort of channel and people don't generally like to pay to be advertised to.

Most TV channels are being funded and supported solely by the ad time they sell, right now, a number of channels are struggling to continue selling their ad time, as more and more viewers are being lost to internet based television, DVD rentals and Tivo are stiff competition... The commercials don't get the impact or viewership as they used to, hence their depreciation in value. I don't know if Disney would sell ad time to support the new content development for their channel or ifl they'd be able to sell much of it... Let's face it, most people who watch the Resort TV channels about the parks and such are the adults, who are looking for specific information... I don't think Disney would accept most of the advertisers that would appeal to that Resort TV audience base (like Viagra, Budweiser or Victoria's secret) based upon the products or the advertisements content and the association between Disney's wholesome family values and aforementioned products and commercial content...

Sorry, I've digressed all over the place... I would pay for a Resort TV channel at home... It would be a pleasant vacation from the everyday... It would probably be a lot of reruns and such, but it's the sort of stuff I could watch a lot.

I agree. I don't think a channel many people are describing here has a broad enough appeal for mass cable distribution. There just isn't a large enough market.

Having said that -- and I'm surprised no one mentioned it yet given the medium we're all communicating on ...there's a perfect place for this kind of content people like us are clamoring for. The internet!

Here's an article from Jim Hill Media on this very topic:

And when it comes to capturing this demographic, one idea that keeps getting floated in-house is a subscription service. Which would allow The Company to sell premium content online and then give its fans unprecedented access to the Disney vault.

As one Mouse House insider recently explained it to me:

​

“We currently have hundreds of thousands of hours of material that we’re never ever going to put out on DVD or Blu-ray because its appeal is far too narrow. Only the truly diehard Disney fan would ever want to see stuff like this.
But if we were ever able to set up an encryption system that would allow us to safely stream this material online, we’re talking about a goldmine. Think about all the stuff we could make available for downloading.”​

As noted above, the cable television industry is dying. It will be a slow death; you'll still have a cable service for the next decade or longer, for sure. But sometime soon, and probably sooner than you might expect, all content is going to be distributed via the internet. And no longer will media companies like Disney with HUGE 'vaults' of content that lack mass-consumer appeal (but which still have niche appeal...like old cartoons, in depth shows about the theme parks and the resorts and the history of them, etc.) need to worry about their mass appeal. They'll be able to distribute the content on the internet right to the audience that wants it.

 

[captainkidd]

The new Mickey is such a sissy. It's really sad. What was wrong with the traditional Mickey?

He's not a sissy. He's just dumb as a stump. And not in the least bit funny anymore.

 

[_Scar]

Oh c'mon, Mickey and friends have been watered down. The last good thing featuring Mickey was Runaway Brain.

The cartoon shorts aren't exactly as popular as they were before, so why blame not having a short in a while to Mickey having no personality?

He's not a sissy. He's just dumb as a stump. And not in the least bit funny anymore.

Mickey never was exactly meant to be the funny one... And what exactly makes him dumb?

 

[puntagordabob]

yes I agree....somethink like this would be as Mickey says "WOULD BE SWELL!!!"