Starting in March 2020, all six Disney theme parks around the world were closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Which is definitely something I never thought that I would see in my lifetime, yet here we are. (Though, luckily we’ve started to see one re-opening at Shanghai Disneyland and Disney Springs in Orlando, FL). As I am sure most of you are, I am missing the Disney parks. I am a massive Disney parks fan and have always followed park news, trends, and updates. Now that the parks are closed, those things aren’t really happening anymore. And since I can’t leave my house anymore, I need to find a way to enjoy Disney at home instead.
There are many ways to enjoy Disney at home including: virtual park visits through Youtube, copycat recipes for your favorite Disney treats, Disney crafts, and more. You don’t have to leave the house to enjoy Disney magic, you just need to be a little creative!
In this post I share all of my favorite ways to enjoy Disney at home. And what I have been doing during the park closures to get my Disney fix. Keep reading for all of the best ways to bring the Disney magic right to your house without stepping foot outside!
Relive Disney At Home With YouTube Vloggers and Creators
Even before the madness of the coronavirus pandemic, watching Disney vloggers on YouTube was my favorite way of bringing Disney home with me. A vlogger is someone who films themselves, in a much more casual way than an official Hollywood production, and then uploads those videos to YouTube. Of course, these vloggers are not able to post new videos of the parks, with the current closure, but you can binge all of their old videos in the meantime!
Here Are Some Of My Favorite Disney YouTube Channels:
- Walt Disney World
- The Tim Tracker
- Tim and Jen from the “Tim Tracker” channel live in Orlando and visit the Walt Disney World theme parks often. They typically upload one video per day so there are countless past videos to binge.
- The DIS Unplugged
- The Dis Unplugged is a great Disney overview channel. They do in park reviews, ride throughs, and podcast style news shows.
- Disney Food Blog
- AJ from Disney Food Blog is weirdly a very soothing voice to listen to, which I often have in the background while I’m working. She gives all of the best Disney food tips and reviews, and has countless videos to binge too.
- The Tim Tracker
- Disneyland
- Fresh Baked Disney
- Fresh Baked is a bit different from the Walt Disney World vloggers because David, the host, often is a bit more laid back in what he chooses to film. With Fresh Baked, you really get more of a sense that you’re just visiting the parks with an old friend and enjoying the day. Whereas the other vloggers on this list typically focus on one specific topic for each video.
- Fresh Baked Disney
You can click on the links above to be taken directly to their YouTube channel to enjoy. And below is one of my favorite videos from the Tim Tracker to enjoy as an example of what Disney fun awaits on YouTube.
Take A Virtual Disney Ride or a Virtual Walkthrough the Parks
Did you know that you can take a virtual ride on almost any Disney park attraction? Or a virtual walk around the parks? Thanks again to YouTube, you can!
This is along the same lines of watching Disney YouTubers in order to bring the Disney magic home. Any Disney ride that you want to relive, there is a POV video on YouTube for it. Simply search for the ride’s name + POV, ex. Splash Mountain POV. SoCal Attractions 360 is a great channel for Disney ride throughs, but there are several others to check out as well.
In addition to ride POVs on YouTube, you can also take a virtual walk through the parks as well. Some of my favorite of these are from Fresh Baked and his atmospheric Disneyland walkthroughs. Another good channel for walkthroughs, especially for Walt Disney World parks, is 4K WDW. They post full park walkthroughs of all four WDW parks, as well as Disney resort walkthroughs.
Besides ride throughs and walkthroughs, you can also find recordings of all Disney entertainment shows as well. Nightly Happily Ever After fireworks showing at home? No need to say more…I’m on it!
Bring Disney Home With the Best Disney Copycat Recipes
With all of the new stay-at-home orders throughout the US, I am sure that you have more time than ever to do some cooking or baking. Why not make a copycat version of your favorite Disney meals or treats to keep some of the Disney blues at bay? This is something that I love to do at home after a trip or whenever I’m missing the parks.
Many people might not be aware, but when you’re dining at a Disney restaurant, you can feel free to ask the waiter for the recipe of your favorite items! Some restaurants have pre-printed recipe cards to give out to guests on the spot. And other restaurants will offer to email you the recipe instead. Either way it comes, these are recipes direct from the Disney chefs that make them. So you can be sure that you can recreate the recipe at home with success.
The Best Sources For Disney Recipes At Home
- All Ears Recipe Database
- The largest database of official Disney recipes, sourced directly from Disney via park guests. Almost every Disney recipe is here, from the Disney resorts to the parks themselves. This is the go-to Disney recipe resource!
- Disney Hungry
- Jenny from Disney Hungry is a true Disney recipe copycat pioneer. She is most known for her copycat recipes that she designs herself. Her most recent creation is the Disneyland Monte Cristo sandwich, and it looks simply divine. While All Ears specializes in Walt Disney World recipes, Disney Hungry has all of the best Disneyland recipes.
Disney Memories at Home with Disney Throwback Videos or Disney Movie Nights
Of course, the most obvious option to bring the Disney magic home with you is to watch Disney movies or TV shows. Go ahead and raid your old DVD collection, or binge watch Disney+ all day long. Or you could even take it a step further and set up a themed Disney movie night. For example, you could watch Lady and the Tramp and have a spaghetti dinner. Maybe now is also a good time to go through all of your old Disney photos and videos from past trips too?!
However, my favorite thing to do is watch Disney throwback videos on YouTube. This is definitely my guilty pleasure. My favorite thing to watch is the old Disney Sing-Along videos. In particular my favorite is the Disneyland Fun Sing-Along episode which I have linked below. I watched this video on VHS so much as a kid and I still remember the words to all of the songs today. Watching this episode gives me all of the good happy feels and it is exactly what I need in a time like this.
How do you like to enjoy Disney at home? Let us know in the comments below so that all of our readers can try them out as well!
