T-Minus 263 Days: Disney YouTubers

 

In 2011, I used a video streaming service named LiveStream. With this service, I could use my cell phone data plan and the camera on my cell phone to broadcast live events where ever I wanted to.  I used it for various things, but something important I used it for was our 2011 trip to Disney World. 

 

I live-streamed my wife and I renewing of wedding vows from atop the train station overlooking Mainstreet USA. I live streamed walking around Frontierland at the Magic Kingdom and watching a parade go by. And I live-streamed the Disney fireworks.

 

The audience wasn’t very big - just a few friends. But that was OK. Just the idea of being able to share Disney World from across the Internet with other people was mind blowing.

 

Fast forward a few years...

 

In 2013, YouTube started opening livestream. Shortly thereafter, Disney introduced free Internet Wifi to their parks. Today, there is a flood of “you tubers” broadcasting live from the parks every day. Some have a few hundred viewers and some have many thousand. In fact, just about anytime you are feeling some Disney withdrawal? You can probably follow along with some YouTube as they explore the park. 

 

ResortTV1 is my favorite and is, in my opinion, the leader. Here, a brother and sister take turns visiting the parks, sharing their adventures, answering questions, and providing trivia. 

 

There are others including the CrazyDisneyLady, WD News Today, Corey Meets World, Earsom Emporium, Drew in the Moment, and more.

 

If you visit Disney World, it is likely you’ll see someone walking around holding a camera and seemingly talking to themselves. In actuality, they are talking to hundreds of people. Those people show their appreciation by replying with “Super Chats”. This is money that fans send to the Youtubers to help support their work.

I'm not trying to say that I was the first Disney Youtuber. I'm sure there were others broadcasting live from Disney before me. But I'm sure I was one of the first because I was doing it before YouTube streaming and before the park had Wifi. Regardless, I love this trend. If I have a bad day at work, or, just need a pick-me-up? I stream something from Disney and it almost feels like I am actually there.