Is trip planning the MAIN reason you watch/listen to the DIS Unplugged?

[KandyM]

This is a tough one to vote on. It’s not that cut and dried for me. Definitely when I started listening around 2011-ish trip planning was the reason I found the podcast and the only reason I tuned in. It’s certainly not the only reason anymore. Its still the main reason I suppose but it’s more like 51% of the reason now rather than 100%.

The podcast should not be all about trips but could be a bit more about trips maybe. I still want Disney news, the banter, the analysis, the friendly debates around the table.

i guess I kinda relate everything to fake trips I plan in my head and can’t afford to take though. Lol, does fake trip planning count?

 

[BarbLynnM]

I started out listening to the Dis for trip planning, but it morphed into something I would listen to in between trips while doing chores etc. Mainly I listened to Dining reviews if they were on site as opposed to simply discussed at a round table.

Eventually I kind of drifted away when DVC and the DCL became more often talked about.

 

[mamaofsix]

I think a lot of stuff they cover is trip planning and many suggestions in the other thread indicate a lot of people would like to see them do more of that. I was curious how many people actually looked to this show for that purpose. So far it looks like not many.

There are 164,000 subscribers to the disunplugged YT channel, and only a tiny fraction would know about this thread. Unfortunately, I'm not sure the results are accurate.

If there were a 3rd option for the poll - "I listen for both news and entertainment/personal," I would guess most fall into that category.

 

[Oscar_The_Grouch]

There are 164,000 subscribers to the disunplugged YT channel, and only a tiny fraction would know about this thread. Unfortunately, I'm not sure the results are accurate.

If there were a 3rd option for the poll - "I listen for both news and entertainment/personal," I would guess most fall into that category.

Each Tuesday show gets about 30,000 - 50,000 views and about 10,000 - 30,000 for standalone reviews. Compare that to the Tim Tracker who regularly gets over 100,000 for each new video, which he puts out every three days. The poor old WDW Radio show with Lou Mongello, who used to be one of the biggest Disney influencers (about 10-15 years ago), his live show now gets only dozens or hundreds of views at best, I don't know how he can keep going. His live show from yesterday has had 80 views, ten years ago a video on snacks under $5 he put out got 215,000 views. Is there is something about the legacy providers that people don't want to see anymore? I hope that doesn't happen to DIS Unplugged but they've definitely got to evolve somehow. Less politics and fewer reviews of new merch/cupcakes? More humor, maybe newer & fresher onscreen talent?

 

[hertamaniac]

I'm back after a little hiatus. I watch primarily for the dining reviews. It allows me to better formulate my dining plans and target certain meals.

 

[amwhitaker]

I tune in every week for the entertainment factor with some Disney thrown in. I love everything they talk about. I never minded them touching on DCL or whatever was new to report on. I've been watching for years and feel like the team are friends and I want to keep up to date with their lives. I hate to say it, now that I know what a jerk Pete was, but I tuned in for him. Someone made the comment on another thread, he was a character in a show who was very entertaining. At times he was annoying with how he would talk to the team, but I chalked it up to a child having a bad day. Little did the viewers know. He truly got bigger than his britches. He should have stayed humble and appreciative of what he had. I listen to other podcasts and although I like them, they don't have a strong character. I can only take so much syrupy sweetness.

With all that being said, I will continue to watch when they come back. I hope Kevin and John are regulars. I really miss them. Panda was also growing on me and I miss him too.

 

[teruterubouzu]

Looking at the viewing figures and amount of money they pull in off Youtube you wonder how they can afford to pay one member of staff let alone two (Craig & Ryno), so they have to really push the cruises to pay for content. According to Social Blade estimated yearly earnings for all DIS Unplugged Youtube content is $900-$14k. And they are losing viewers, in September 2020 it was 780,000 for the month, in July 2023 it was 320,000. According to Ryno some of his pay comes from the Patreon income, but that will drop off without Pete's solo show. Unfortunately the trend is a steady decline. I wish them all the best but I have a feeling the DUT side of things is now subsidizing DIS Unplugged and you wonder how long that can continue, especially if they aren't going to do a Tuesday show for a while (or ever).

Isn't the main point of the channel to act as lead generation for the travel agency? I think they've always been sponsored by Dreams for that reason. A lack of sales was the reason given for discontinuing regular coverage of Disneyland and Universal for a time.

 

[Yankee626]

Honestly, the main reason I watched the Dis was to see Pete Werner. Everyone else is fine but he was the main reason I tuned in every Tuesday. It was his baby. The same reason I watch Tim Tracker. Tim's personality and style is what makes that Vlog great. You take Jerry Seinfeld away from the Seinfeld show it just doesn't work even though the rest of the cast is great.

 

[Oscar_The_Grouch]

Honestly, the main reason I watched the Dis was to see Pete Werner. Everyone else is fine but he was the main reason I tuned in every Tuesday. It was his baby. The same reason I watch Tim Tracker. Tim's personality and style is what makes that Vlog great. You take Jerry Seinfeld away from the Seinfeld show it just doesn't work even though the rest of the cast is great.

Although we've since found out Pete was an ogre, he was the reason I tuned in for years. Well that was until he started getting jaded about the parks and just banged on about cruises and DVC. At his best (pre 2020?) he was edgy, hilarious and a huge crowd draw. I think the current crew are very good but maybe better suited to the production nook & as sounding boards to a big personality like Pete (all the guys have got great personalities btw!) I've wondered whether Lou Mongello would be a good choice as a guest main presenter, he used to be very popular but his WDW Radio Show seems to be flailing viewer-wise recently, he still has it though. Think about having a rotating main guest presenter position. You could even invite the Trackers on!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Because trip planning is such a huge umbrella to most people?? This seems fairly obvious to me and I would hope the team keeps that in mind as well.

You're asking people on the DIS, most have been to the parks before. They aren't looking for a play by play of everything. But things like going over new products or policies (such as when FP+ was introduced, MP, and now Genie+/LL and like I mentioned on the other thread when Disney reduced the size of allowable strollers and banned wagons), new attractions or shows, new events (including after hour stuff), park reservations (including discussion about Disney removing that restriction for date-based next year), park hopping restrictions (updates on that if that is occurring like when DL adjusted their time), dining reviews, resort reviews, transportation reviews (I remember good discussion about Minnie Vans for example when they came out), navigating the parks depending on one's traveling party, events that Disney puts on (F&W, Flower & Garden), etc all of these can be part of trip planning and of interest to people at various points.

Most people find this stuff out organically, the podcasters are mentioning this stuff and that's how people are learning (if they are tuning into a podcast to begin with).

If you asked people do you enjoy finding out new things about the parks, hearing about a new restaurant or a new menu, how is a refurbishment at a particular resort going, what are the party offerings this year and the dates, and so much more you'd probably get a different answer. You can find several threads on the DIS recently discussing how impactful construction on resorts is to some people either the view or the noise, that is absolutely part of trip planning.

And several posters are absolutely correct, it's hard to answer the question now in 2023 when the discussion shifted away from a lot of things one could consider trip planning in several years past. If you still stuck with listening to them well then yeah you wouldn't be likely consider it a main reason you're watching any longer.

So I'd consider this more like a question that is framed with an intended bias answer pool.

 

[Lashed34]

We've always watched the Tuesday show for news and reaction - trip planning has never been the reason as we use the boards for that. All the youtube channels we subscribe to that feature DW and UO are always for entertainment, new attraction experiences etc, though some do offer a lot of advice on Genie+, which we kinda skip over as we will not be returning to DW while Genie+ is in operation.

 

[embracejg]

Echoing what some other people have said, I tuned into the past for news and reaction. I liked hearing the team's thoughts about news that would affect trip planning -- policy changes to Genie+ or reservations, for example -- and hearing from an agent's perspective that (usually) felt honest.

I tuned out when the show became almost singularly focused on upscale experiences like DVC and DCL and signature dining, at the expense of everything else theme park-related for us average guests. Plus too much rehashed complaining that the parks weren't like they were in the 80s or 90s, it just got tiresome.

 

[glamdring269]

I listen more for news and general discussion. Learning to trip plan via a podcast (or video) is not really the most efficient method for that. If I hear something on the podcast I want to learn more about I just come to the forums and research in detail from there.

 

[mamaofsix]

I listen more for news and general discussion. Learning to trip plan via a podcast (or video) is not really the most efficient method for that. If I hear something on the podcast I want to learn more about I just come to the forums and research in detail from there.

I see the news and general discussion as pretty important in my trip planning process. Need to know what has changed / what's new for planning purposes. News and trip planning go hand in hand in my mind...