The Best Disney YouTube Channels
Do ever find yourself Disney daydreaming? That’s when you’re sitting somewhere that’s not a Disney theme park, but you’re wistfully imagining yourself at the Happiest Place on Earth. That feeling of escapism is a wonderful way to pass the time. What you may not appreciate yet is that you can pass the time even better by pulling up YouTube. There, you can watch streams of your favorite Disney activities from the comfort of…wherever you are right now. All you need is the right channels. Here are six of our favorite Disney YouTube channels.
Disney Parks
Let’s start with obvious one. Roughly 760,000 people subscribe to Disney Parks, and the reason why is that it’s the place to see the best Disney videos and news. The Walt Disney Company was one of the first corporations to add an official YouTube channel, which explains why the channel has hundreds of videos available. It’s one of the best Disney fan sites too!
Disney Parks chronicles everything that happens at Walt Disney World. You’ll watch lights ceremonies, fireworks exhibitions, celebrity sightings, and you’ll even learn the Hawaiian word of the week.
Personally, I love it for the hotel room tours, the behind-the-scenes footage of park events, and historical videos such as the confirmation of Project X. There’s even a musical explanation of why park guests should stay at a Disney resort. The official park channel does a wonderful job of displaying Disney charm in a way that will brighten your day.
The Tim Tracker
When I watch videos of Disney park visits, I want to feel like I’m a part of the group. The difference in a decent stream and a really good one is how much it offers a vibe of inclusiveness. When a broadcaster gets the tone right, it’s like I’m at Disney with them, and that’s critical to my enjoyment.
The Tim Tracker is one of the best YouTube channels for making the viewer feel like part of the proceedings. That’s why it’s such a popular stream, with roughly 270k subscribers thus far. All of these people love watching Tim and his wife, Jenn, wander the various Florida theme parks, giving special attention to Walt Disney World.
Photo Credit: https://twitter.com/thejenntracker/status/837006410286264321
This channel is eight-years-old, long enough for Tim to grow and cultivate the type of moustache usually reserved for silent movie villains as they prepare to tie damsels to train tracks. The couple’s earliest blogs weren’t about Disney, though. The first one of those didn’t appear until 2010, at which point their site traffic spiked dramatically.
They got the hint and gradually became theme park-focused with their videos, all of which show the charm of a couple that’s really good together. In fact, their channel chronicles their courtship and engagement. It’s all quite charming in a Hallmark Movie kind of way, and I always enjoy their park day videos.
DIS Unplugged
As far as I can tell, this channel is the broadcast arm of WDW Info, a wonderful site for Disney theme park news. Several members of their team visit Walt Disney World regularly. They make solo, duo, and group videos of these outings, many of which are quite entertaining.
To their credit, DIS Unplugged was extremely early on the YouTube bandwagon. They have videos that date back ten years. Their first two popular videos were a lighting of Cinderella Castle exhibition and, more importantly, the now-defunct The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights.
Photo Credit: https://www.facebook.com/disunplugged/
As far as depth and quality of content, DIS Unplugged is the gold standard right now. Due to its prolific updates, this stream functions as a visual history of recent Disney shows, special engagements, and attractions. This channel also features a frequent news brief and restaurant reviews, both of which are invaluable. Video producer Craig Williams and his wife, Kylie, are an adorable couple whose love of Disney is readily apparent. This makes them extremely appealing streamers.
Attractions Magazine
Anyone who follows Disney theme parks at all has at least a passing familiarity with Attractions Magazine. This periodical has developed an impressive online presence in recent years, and their social media updates are universally terrific.
Unsurprisingly, their YouTube channel, AttractionsMagazine, is also terrific. The central appeal to me is their camerawork in filming attractions. Their playlist section divvies up all the theme parks into sections, allowing you to “visit” each one as if you were there.
They also do special updates such as low-light settings and lights-on versions of popular attractions. This site and SoCalAttractions360 are my go-to channels for on-ride videos. I didn’t list SoCalAttractions 360 as its own section simply because it’s Disneyland-exclusive.
Sarah Sterling
Some people love all things Disney so much that they become cast members. In fact, if you asked most cast members why they work at a theme park, this is likeliest explanation. In the case of Sarah Sterling, her passion for Disney ultimately led to her career. She’s now a broadcaster with 68,000 YouTube subscribers.
I’m not 100 percent clear about the timeline, but Sarah started a Tumblr page in 2012. She may or may not have still worked as a cast member back then. Her YouTube channel goes all the way back to 2011, making her one of the first and most frequent personal Disney streamers.
What’s great about Sarah Sterling the channel is that her love of Disney shines through in everything she discusses. The stream features quick histories of various Disney animated movies, videos of theme park visits, and guides for planning Disney vacations. I actually used her as a resource in plotting a Disneyland trip. She’s the rare streamer who understands that brevity is important so as to avoid overwhelming the viewer with too much information.
This broadcast has offered some rare footage for a Disney channel. Sterling has traveled to Shanghai Disneyland, hired a Tour Guide, and eaten at Club 33, sharing these experiences with her viewers. She also participates in a joint channel called Thingamavlogs with other Disney fanatics/YouTube streamers.
ResortTV1
Our friends Josh and Jenna are relatively new to the serious YouTube scene. Their channel has existed for nine years, but almost all of their videos are from the past two years. That’s when they became one of the most useful Disney streams in the world.
This happy sibling duo performs some thoughtful services like posting those informational videos that Disney resorts show in their hotel rooms. They also offer rare Disney videos such as a 1994 park tour (!), A Disney Institute tips video, and a Magic Kingdom souvenir video that they sold back in 1991. Their stream provides a treasure trove of these classic clips that will entertain you for hours as you recall childhood park visits.
Of course, the classic videos are only a part of what ResortTV1 does. Every Friday night – and sometimes other nights – they host a livestream. It’s quickly become one of the most popular livestreams for Disney lovers, something that the YouTube thumbs ratings will confirm. They’re overwhelmingly positive, which anyone who uses YouTube knows is rare.
Josh and Jenna are so delightful that the hours fly by as they roam the various theme parks. My favorite clips aren’t from the parks, though. They also post clips where they spend half an hour or so walking around Walt Disney World resorts.
Their recent visit to Disney’s Polynesian Resort is one of the few videos I’ve ever favorited on YouTube. I absolutely love that they stream in 4k, which helps me to feel like I’m walking with them through my favorite Disney resort. I can almost smell that delightful fragrance in the lobby of the Polynesian as I watch the clip. They’ve also explored several other resorts such as Disney’s Contemporary Resort, Disney’s Beach Club Resort, and Disney’s Wilderness Lodge. For the purposes of Disney daydreaming, these videos are the best on YouTube right now.
In fact, MickeyBlog likes ResortTV1 so much that we recently became their first sponsor! We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial partnership with a YouTube that is soaring in popularity this year. We definitely recommend that you subscribe!
Thanks for the great write-up on our Channel! (From Josh and Jenna at ResortTV1)
We are happy to partner with you!
We love the live streams and videos!!