Disney Parks TV on your local cable!

[CAS]

Well, not really but it's close. What a cool idea

By Gina Keating
Tue May 15, 3:19 AM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -

The Walt Disney Co. said on Tuesday it was launching a cable travel channel that lets viewers contact Disney vacation planners via their TV remote control.

The travel channel, overseen by Walt Disney's Parks and Resorts division, was expected to initially reach about nine million subscribers on Time Warner Cable Inc. and Cablevision Systems Corp.. Disney plans to add other cable systems as soon as they make the interactive feature available to subscribers.

The channel, due to launch on May 21 on Time Warner and May 29 on Cablevision, carries four original on-demand series that showcase different aspects of Disney resorts or vacations.

As they watch, Cablevision viewers can click a button on their remote controls to request an immediate telephone call from a Disney travel planner during extended business hours.

Time Warner viewers can use their remote controls to request information about Disney vacations via email or regular mail.

Disney travel planners reached through Cablevision will take reservations for its two U.S. theme parks or for the upscale, guided non-park tours offered at Adventures by Disney.

New episodes will be added every three weeks and monitored to see which generates the highest number of viewer requests for information, Parks and Resorts Chairman Jay Rasulo told Reuters.

"We want to start a dialogue," Rasulo said. "That kind of consumer engagement is what our booking process is all about. We think this is a new way to reach tech-savvy parents."

Disney has no stated goals for how many reservations it hopes to capture through the channels, Rasulo added.

The cost of the new program was not disclosed, but Rasulo said it could be absorbed by the division's marketing budget.

[DizNee143]

this sounds pretty darn cool!! ill have to check it out if it ever makes its way to my area on comcast...

[Melanie]

This is already being discussed in the News forum. I'm going close this and direct all discussion there in order to keep things tidy.

New Disney on Demand Channel to Feature WDW!