What would you like to see in the new era?

[Bri K]

All of this introspection has made me think about what I'd love to see in the new era as it relates to the podcast and content... so this might be a way to channel all of this in a positive way.

For my part, I'd love to see something like the Daily Fix come back. I don't always remember to check Disney Parks Blog or all the other social media sites that post the headlines... so I would love to see a quick 5-10 minute daily update to stay on top of announcements and news. That would open up the weekly show to just focus on a couple things and keep it a little tighter. This could even be a Patreon offering - none of the other content has inspired me to support via Patreon but a daily news update would get me (I'm a news junkie).

What would you like to see? Let's keep this productive, please... there's enough negativity right now.

I recently just found “the Trip” episodes on the Dis, and love it! Our whole family has been binge watching it! We love the realness and how much they make us laugh. Wish something like that would come back! We also love Ryno and Craig taking turns hosting, since they are so different in their styles! We do miss J & K not being on as much as they use to!

We like the more realness that you all come to the table with! Stay positive during this time. We support you all! And love you guys! We’ve got well over a couple hundred people tuning into your shows every week! It brings a little sunshine into our week! You all are inspirations! Keep holding your heads up! Don’t let the negativity get to any of you. Whatever you come up with, we’re sure to love!

 

[dmaxphil]

A few random thoughts. I've watched/listened to the show from the beginning. I really enjoyed the roundtable format with John, Pete, Kevin, Bob, Dustin, Corey, Shaun, Steve, JL, Theresa, Kathy etc. John, Kevin and Pete together on a show were comedy gold. The show lost something when .. 1) Talented people left 2) John and Kevin stopped appearing regularly. 3) Pete lost his park enthusiasm soon after the parks banned smoking. From there the show became something else. Video production was high quality, but for content it seems like the crew just started going through the motions.

Also, for years the overwhelming attitude on camera from Pete has been that if you disagree with he or members of the staff that we, as viewers, should simply stop watching. That we were not needed. Pete could pull this off - as you know he's sort of a snarky B. But when the other members of the team display the same mentallity - it comes off differently, more off-putting.

I like the current staff, but don't see how they can carry it alone. I won't get into my personal opinions of each member but I feel like the cast needs an infusion of personality to really improve the show or keep it going succesfully. Perhaps I'm wrong. Maybe the current team will reinvent themselves under new guidance/management. Time will tell.

 

[Yankee626]

Honestly I've been watching the Dis for years and enjoying it , but your going to have to step it up if you want to stay in business. There are some great Vloggers out there like Tim Tracker, PC DEV, Mr. Morrow, Ann Laforge, Tom Corliss, Justin Scarred and others who are way better. They go out into the Resorts ,Parks and Restaurants and give way more in depth reviews and information than the DIS. Pete and the DIS were first but you have fallen behind the rest. I will say that the Kriegers and their DVC reporting is absolutely the best on DVC INfo. Other than that I suggest that you watch these other Vloggers and see how hard they work to put out quality videos every day and look in the mirror at what your doing to make an honest evaluation on needed changes.

 

[Jfsag123]

A few thoughts on some of the things being discussed from a long-time listener.
1. The non-local perspective: I get that it probably wouldn't be feasible to have random non-local panelists come on and talk about their trips. However, I agree that the current content is way too skewed for locals. Craig and Ryno do acknowledge that they are speaking from the perspective of locals from time to time and that awareness is appreciated, but I do find myself getting irritated sometimes when they just completely brush off topics that have no relevance to them as locals, but would potentially matter to someone coming as a tourist. Years ago they did a segment where Theresa was given a budget and had to plan a trip. I think this would be great to see again with the current crew. Then actually complete that trip like someone there on a vacation would - make dining reservations at 60 days for hard to get places, get up at 7:00am for G+, use WDW transportation to get around - and document that. It could be done at multiple times of year with different resort types/levels. Of course, this would be a big undertaking. At the very least, I agree with others who have noted that the current crew could do more to step outside that local's perspective and consider covering things in ways that would be helpful/engaging for tourists as well.

2. The "wellness checks:" I don't mind them for the most part, but I think it does feel like kind of a disconnect from the rest of the content for me. This is not a channel that strongly features the personal lives of the vloggers. Some folks like the Trackers and PCDev share aspects of their personal lives on their channels and make videos dedicated to that. Paging Mr. Morrow doesn't typically make dedicated personal vlogs, but does talk about his life/show his family and his home a fair amount. Then there are folks like Molly/Mammoth Club, where the videos are almost solely dedicated to whatever travel content is being shown. It would feel weird for Molly to start one of those with a wellness check and then jump into explaining G+. The DISunplugged has typically skewed more toward the latter style of videos. It's never been just 100% about the theme parks, but the focus has also not typically been on letting us into the personal lives and homes of the panelists.

3. The news/politics: In the earlier days of the podcast it was nice to get news from them. Now in the days of social media and instant news alerts on your phone it's not really necessary. However, I think a lot of people (myself included) continued tuning in to hear the news, especially when there was a big story. Why? Because we want to hear this team's take on and discussion of that news. This is why Pete's rants were so popular. We don't need a dry reporting of what has happened related to Disney in the last week. We heard that 5 days ago. What is additive is hearing the team discuss it. This is a big part of why having more diverse view points on the panel would be a big plus IMHO. I'm not looking to see fights, but "discussions" are much less interesting when it's an echo chamber. And for those saying leave politics out of it, well much of the Disney news recently has been political in nature. To have any sort of opinion-based discussion people are going to have to actually, you know, talk about their opinions. Otherwise we're back to just a dry reporting of the news, which no one needs.

Sorry for the novel!

 

[SusieQ93]

I will say that the Kriegers and their DVC reporting is absolutely the best on DVC INfo.

I really enjoy the DVC show and the Kriegers (as well as all of the other personalities on that show). I think they do a good job of giving honest opinions without it coming off completely negative. There’s just so much negativity in our world, I don’t need it from Disney content.

I will say I listened to a DVC show recently where Craig said he was not allowed to be unreachable to Pete ever and that’s why he liked cruising because he could truly unplug. That is not ok and super toxic. Employees need to be able to take PTO and during that time, their employer should not be demanding to be in contact with them. I was pretty floored by what he said, and he said it in a way that made it seem so conditioned that he wasn’t really realizing how messed up that is.

 

[Strimp]

A few thoughts on some of the things being discussed from a long-time listener.
1. The non-local perspective: I get that it probably wouldn't be feasible to have random non-local panelists come on and talk about their trips. However, I agree that the current content is way too skewed for locals. Craig and Ryno do acknowledge that they are speaking from the perspective of locals from time to time and that awareness is appreciated, but I do find myself getting irritated sometimes when they just completely brush off topics that have no relevance to them as locals, but would potentially matter to someone coming as a tourist. Years ago they did a segment where Theresa was given a budget and had to plan a trip. I think this would be great to see again with the current crew. Then actually complete that trip like someone there on a vacation would - make dining reservations at 60 days for hard to get places, get up at 7:00am for G+, use WDW transportation to get around - and document that. It could be done at multiple times of year with different resort types/levels. Of course, this would be a big undertaking. At the very least, I agree with others who have noted that the current crew could do more to step outside that local's perspective and consider covering things in ways that would be helpful/engaging for tourists as well.

2. The "wellness checks:" I don't mind them for the most part, but I think it does feel like kind of a disconnect from the rest of the content for me. This is not a channel that strongly features the personal lives of the vloggers. Some folks like the Trackers and PCDev share aspects of their personal lives on their channels and make videos dedicated to that. Paging Mr. Morrow doesn't typically make dedicated personal vlogs, but does talk about his life/show his family and his home a fair amount. Then there are folks like Molly/Mammoth Club, where the videos are almost solely dedicated to whatever travel content is being shown. It would feel weird for Molly to start one of those with a wellness check and then jump into explaining G+. The DISunplugged has typically skewed more toward the latter style of videos. It's never been just 100% about the theme parks, but the focus has also not typically been on letting us into the personal lives and homes of the panelists.

3. The news/politics: In the earlier days of the podcast it was nice to get news from them. Now in the days of social media and instant news alerts on your phone it's not really necessary. However, I think a lot of people (myself included) continued tuning in to hear the news, especially when there was a big story. Why? Because we want to hear this team's take on and discussion of that news. This is why Pete's rants were so popular. We don't need a dry reporting of what has happened related to Disney in the last week. We heard that 5 days ago. What is additive is hearing the team discuss it. This is a big part of why having more diverse view points on the panel would be a big plus IMHO. I'm not looking to see fights, but "discussions" are much less interesting when it's an echo chamber. And for those saying leave politics out of it, well much of the Disney news recently has been political in nature. To have any sort of opinion-based discussion people are going to have to actually, you know, talk about their opinions. Otherwise we're back to just a dry reporting of the news, which no one needs.

Sorry for the novel!

BINGO

 

[yorkieteacher]

I’ve been pondering why Pete’s rants were so popular. True, they were entertaining and frequently took how I felt about things up several notches. They also frequently vehemently criticized anyone who didn’t agree with him or had been critical of the show. PP mentioned no current team member could possibly get away with that without a drop in viewership, and I agree. I’m sure I can actually be fine without those rants. I do like the fact that this team had the only members of any popular vloggers who out and out said a food/ride/restaurant was terrible in their opinion without sugar coating it with things like”not my favorite” or “could be a bad day.” I did like their policy of not accepting Disney freebies so they could be honest in their criticism If need be.

 

[Teleclashter]

Thank you so much to everyone who already shared their thoughts and feedback on what they'd like to see moving forward. I've read through everything and I've been taking notes, and hopefully, we will be able to find a formula that works.

This process will take time. We have to break down everything we've done before. For years, Pete would tell us that our team has an audience of one, and if he doesn't like what we're doing then it won't be popular or well-received. I believe that was even stated on shows many times over the years. While we've had some creative flexibility and have been given opportunities to try new formats, we've never had the true freedom to think about the audience as we were producing for an audience of one.

Most of the discussion in this thread has been centered around the "Tuesday Show" and that will be our biggest focus beyond the rebranding of the DIS Unplugged. I don't expect whatever the "Tuesday Show" becomes to be back up and running for a couple of months if it even remains necessary at this point.

While we are working on the branding and flagship content, we will continue to produce some of our current content like dining reviews and the Universal Show, and maybe even bring back a show like Off the Rails AND produce more and better content from inside the theme parks.

We don't have a current timeline, so please continue to share your thoughts and discuss what you'd like to see because this will be a work in progress for a bit of time.

 

[MonaMN]

A few thoughts on some of the things being discussed from a long-time listener.
1. The non-local perspective: I get that it probably wouldn't be feasible to have random non-local panelists come on and talk about their trips. However, I agree that the current content is way too skewed for locals. Craig and Ryno do acknowledge that they are speaking from the perspective of locals from time to time and that awareness is appreciated, but I do find myself getting irritated sometimes when they just completely brush off topics that have no relevance to them as locals, but would potentially matter to someone coming as a tourist. Years ago they did a segment where Theresa was given a budget and had to plan a trip. I think this would be great to see again with the current crew. Then actually complete that trip like someone there on a vacation would - make dining reservations at 60 days for hard to get places, get up at 7:00am for G+, use WDW transportation to get around - and document that. It could be done at multiple times of year with different resort types/levels. Of course, this would be a big undertaking. At the very least, I agree with others who have noted that the current crew could do more to step outside that local's perspective and consider covering things in ways that would be helpful/engaging for tourists as well.

2. The "wellness checks:" I don't mind them for the most part, but I think it does feel like kind of a disconnect from the rest of the content for me. This is not a channel that strongly features the personal lives of the vloggers. Some folks like the Trackers and PCDev share aspects of their personal lives on their channels and make videos dedicated to that. Paging Mr. Morrow doesn't typically make dedicated personal vlogs, but does talk about his life/show his family and his home a fair amount. Then there are folks like Molly/Mammoth Club, where the videos are almost solely dedicated to whatever travel content is being shown. It would feel weird for Molly to start one of those with a wellness check and then jump into explaining G+. The DISunplugged has typically skewed more toward the latter style of videos. It's never been just 100% about the theme parks, but the focus has also not typically been on letting us into the personal lives and homes of the panelists.

3. The news/politics: In the earlier days of the podcast it was nice to get news from them. Now in the days of social media and instant news alerts on your phone it's not really necessary. However, I think a lot of people (myself included) continued tuning in to hear the news, especially when there was a big story. Why? Because we want to hear this team's take on and discussion of that news. This is why Pete's rants were so popular. We don't need a dry reporting of what has happened related to Disney in the last week. We heard that 5 days ago. What is additive is hearing the team discuss it. This is a big part of why having more diverse view points on the panel would be a big plus IMHO. I'm not looking to see fights, but "discussions" are much less interesting when it's an echo chamber. And for those saying leave politics out of it, well much of the Disney news recently has been political in nature. To have any sort of opinion-based discussion people are going to have to actually, you know, talk about their opinions. Otherwise we're back to just a dry reporting of the news, which no one needs.

Sorry for the novel!

Even many of us who are Disney nerds and keep up with the news don't get there frequently. We live in Minnesota so going to Disney requires a flight (or a significantly longer trip to drive, which is not really an option for us). We usually only do one big trip a year. Very different than locals who can go see and do all the new stuff whenever it shows up.

I think using the boards, Facebook, and other social media allows for polls and other feedback/discussion that could help... and there have to be many people who would be willing to be occasional out-of-town correspondents. Even some of the writers for the website could be options.

 

[Obi-J Kenobi]

Thank you so much to everyone who already shared their thoughts and feedback on what they'd like to see moving forward. I've read through everything and I've been taking notes, and hopefully, we will be able to find a formula that works.

This process will take time. We have to break down everything we've done before. For years, Pete would tell us that our team has an audience of one, and if he doesn't like what we're doing then it won't be popular or well-received. I believe that was even stated on shows many times over the years. While we've had some creative flexibility and have been given opportunities to try new formats, we've never had the true freedom to think about the audience as we were producing for an audience of one.

Most of the discussion in this thread has been centered around the "Tuesday Show" and that will be our biggest focus beyond the rebranding of the DIS Unplugged. I don't expect whatever the "Tuesday Show" becomes to be back up and running for a couple of months if it even remains necessary at this point.

While we are working on the branding and flagship content, we will continue to produce some of our current content like dining reviews and the Universal Show, and maybe even bring back a show like Off the Rails AND produce more and better content from inside the theme parks.

We don't have a current timeline, so please continue to share your thoughts and discuss what you'd like to see because this will be a work in progress for a bit of time.

Thank you for this information. It is appreciated. Continued best wishes moving forward. I'm cheering for all of you.

 

[disneysteve]

Thank you so much to everyone who already shared their thoughts and feedback on what they'd like to see moving forward. I've read through everything and I've been taking notes, and hopefully, we will be able to find a formula that works.

This process will take time. We have to break down everything we've done before. For years, Pete would tell us that our team has an audience of one, and if he doesn't like what we're doing then it won't be popular or well-received. I believe that was even stated on shows many times over the years. While we've had some creative flexibility and have been given opportunities to try new formats, we've never had the true freedom to think about the audience as we were producing for an audience of one.

Most of the discussion in this thread has been centered around the "Tuesday Show" and that will be our biggest focus beyond the rebranding of the DIS Unplugged. I don't expect whatever the "Tuesday Show" becomes to be back up and running for a couple of months if it even remains necessary at this point.

While we are working on the branding and flagship content, we will continue to produce some of our current content like dining reviews and the Universal Show, and maybe even bring back a show like Off the Rails AND produce more and better content from inside the theme parks.

We don't have a current timeline, so please continue to share your thoughts and discuss what you'd like to see because this will be a work in progress for a bit of time.

Thank you for everything you're doing, Craig, and the rest of the team too. And you had the whole Disneyland trip to manage right in the midst of this.

I'm sorry to hear the Tuesday show won't be back for a while, and could possibly not return at all. I totally understand why, most notably the lack of a studio. I hope that you'll continue to keep LISTENERS in mind going forward even if we aren't a big portion of the audience.

One suggestion I'd make is to have some sort of central location for content so that we don't have to subscribe to multiple channels to find things to listen to. It was so much easier when it used to all be one or two feeds and I could just scroll down the list and pick and choose the shows I wanted to hear.

Hang in there. We look forward to seeing the new improved safe-space for all that the DIS will become.

 

[MrsDanielle]

As much as I enjoy the current group, I’d love to see a more diverse panel.

Plus, I’d appreciate it if the panel made fewer references to political issues - it’s a Disney podcast after all.

 

[WGCFV]

I would like to see less burping during the podcasts. Pete was constantly burping due to his heavy smoking and Coke Zero consumption. Not sure which was worse, the visual or the sound of it. Suggest a no burping policy on the podcasts moving forward.

 

[JimmyV_2.0]

Most of the discussion in this thread has been centered around the "Tuesday Show" and that will be our biggest focus beyond the rebranding of the DIS Unplugged. I don't expect whatever the "Tuesday Show" becomes to be back up and running for a couple of months if it even remains necessary at this point.

A word on this, if I may. I've been around since the days of the pre-taped "audio only" podcasts, and then to the "Live" audio only podcasts all the way through to the Live Video Tuesday show. Each new iteration seemed proper and organic at the time, but I am coming around to the point where I think that the Live show was done because it was possible to do it, not because it was necessary. I could live without the "Live" aspect of it. I don't know the metrics, but I imagine that it gets far more "watches" in its recorded state than in its live one. That said, what I find so valuable about the show that other Disney YouTube channels do not present is analysis. Discussion. Debate. Videos from inside the parks are great for what they are, but there are limits to what can be done in that format. A studio gathering (even if everyone is remote like we saw during Covid) where people discuss and analyze is so critical to what you all do. So I could actually care less if there is another Tuesday Live Show. But I would care greatly if there were never any more roundtable discussions of events, strategies, tips, reviews, etc. Being live is a cute feature, but not the main purpose. And trying to do a live show probably presents more trouble than it is worth. A thunderstorm or scratchy throat can cause a cancelation. I say scrap the live show, but don't give up on the format where you all get together to bounce things off of one another and let us listen in. Yeah, you lose the real-time Chat input, but would that really be a loss?

So "Yes" to more in the park videos. But also a big "YES" to coming back to the sutdio to record a show about what you just experienced, what went well, what could be improved upon, and what we as visitors might expect. Props, Craig. I think you have a very good handle on all of this.

 

[BarbLynnM]

I’m going to repeat myself here, but would like to expand on a point I made up thread.

@Teleclashter I liked a lot of your work which included your short form news cast. I liked this in addition to the long form Tuesday shows. The news in a 5/10 minute format depending. I don’t speak for anyone but myself, but I don’t actually see any short form news casters online; they may be there but if so, they don’t come up in my youtube suggestions.

I especially enjoyed the dining reviews. I appreciate that Erica focuses on a lactose/dairy free menu item, as I am lactose intolerant.

I like that there were separate videos (I think done by Ryno?) for Disney shopping. I’m not a shopper, so I usually skip those segments, though I know others enjoy them.

One of the funniest, most enjoyable videos I saw on DU was your “Off the Rails” where you all were talking about creating a pizza joint venture. Loved it.

I always tuned into the Tuesday shows as I worked. I enjoy the banter and hearing opposing viewpoints on various topics. I’d like to see it more conversational, expanding on news but not necessarily a “news cast” as such. I’d personally want some structure but not being locked into a rigid format. Introducing an overarching theme like ‘improvements at Epcot (just for example), and what it means from a local pov, the distant visitor pov, etc. But expanding on that in whatever way the individual would like. I don’t know, that thought is a work in progress.

 

[Karin1984]

If one good thing came out of all of this... very good and very thorough feedback on the product, all in one thread.

Now for the team to go back to the drawing board.

 

[Bri K]

We do love off the rails and liked to hear more of your personalities and personal lives and live discussions. I think that if you brought more content like that where we get to know you all even more, it would feel more inviting. I didn’t like that Pete thought his opinion was the only one that counted.

 

[JimmyV_2.0]

We do love off the rails and liked to hear more of your personalities and personal lives and live discussions. I think that if you brought more content like that where we get to know you all even more, it would feel more inviting. I didn’t like that Pete thought his opinion was the only one that counted.

This right here. One of the issues I have (or had) with the overall direction of the video content was that there was too much of it in too many different places. And perhaps that was a function of Pete having too much control over the Tuesday content. (But even after he "retired" from the show, the issue persisted.) Or maybe the wide swath of content was purpose-built for revenue gereration. I don't know. But it seemed as if on the Tuesday show, the team was not allowed to say what they really wanted to say or needed to say, and hence was born the "Patreon Aftershow" and "Off the Rails." If the podcast show is less restricted in terms of opinions and direction, then there wouldn't be a need for either of those other shows. It can all be bundled into one show in one place where people speak their minds and show off their true personalities. Condense the content so that it is easy to find and digest. Perhaps when I am retired I can watch 15 hours a week of new DIS content. (Podcast. Walking with Walt. Off the Rails. Dining Reviews. Shopping Shows. DVC Shows. DCL Shows.) But until then, speaking on behalf of all those who are NOT retired, concentrating the content into fewer videos would be great. It might mean less wellness check-ins, discussion of cupcakes and updates on what Lex Luthor is up to. But in the end, it will be worth it.

 

[New England Eeyore]

Thank you @Teleclashter for the honest and Informative update!

I was a listener from day one and faithful watcher for the majority of the run of the podcast but have fallen off in recent years because of a combo of two things - I could no longer stand listening to Pete and the Tuesday show felt stale. In today‘s day and age we’ve already seen all those news stories a dozen different places by the time Tuesday rolled around. I think that format has run its course and I love to hear that you’re considering putting your time and resources into different endeavors.

But, Off the Rails was my favorite show and I never missed an episode! A thousand times yes to bringing that back!

I’m not a creative type - I have no ideas to suggest but I am so so excited to think that you all (who are very talented!) will now have free reign to “cook” and create content that you are passionate about! I trust you and look forward to seeing what the new era of the Dis Unplugged will look like!

 

[MonaMN]

This right here. One of the issues I have (or had) with the overall direction of the video content was that there was too much of it in too many different places. And perhaps that was a function of Pete having too much control over the Tuesday content. (But even after he "retired" from the show, the issue persisted.) Or maybe the wide swath of content was purpose-built for revenue gereration. I don't know. But it seemed as if on the Tuesday show, the team was not allowed to say what they really wanted to say or needed to say, and hence was born the "Patreon Aftershow" and "Off the Rails." If the podcast show is less restricted in terms of opinions and direction, then there wouldn't be a need for either of those other shows. It can all be bundled into one show in one place where people speak their minds and show off their true personalities. Condense the content so that it is easy to find and digest. Perhaps when I am retired I can watch 15 hours a week of new DIS content. (Podcast. Walking with Walt. Off the Rails. Dining Reviews. Shopping Shows. DVC Shows. DCL Shows.) But until then, speaking on behalf of all those who are NOT retired, concentrating the content into fewer videos would be great. It might mean less wellness check-ins, discussion of cupcakes and updates on what Lex Luthor is up to. But in the end, it will be worth it.

One of my favorite true podcasts does a full podcast twice a week for anyone to listen to, then they have two other types of content for their premium channel (Patreon and Apple subscription). They sometimes also add other extras - live shows for one reason or another, or in person events. But the combination works really well. The premium content is both more regular for new topics and more in depth - so more history/context about something talked about in the main show, for example. Nearly all of it just lands in my podcast feed.

A model like this could work well because those Patreon/Apple supporters are critical for a consistent revenue stream. Plus, the Patreon supporters are kind of their own little mini-club - great conversations in that channel.