In May I received an email from the people behind the video series Disney Parks asking me if I’d like to review their latest videos. Of course, I said yes! I’d seen parts of them on television and always taped them. My kids love them and they’re fun to watch when you’re missing Disney, as I often do. Since I wasn’t blogging at the time and because I had a lot of obligations in the last few months, I didn’t review them right away because I couldn’t give it the time it deserved, but since things have slowed down a bit, I’ve had a chance to watch all of them and I can’t recommend them enough.

I loved this series, which includes six DVDs showing secrets and highlights from the parks. My sons especially loved the one on Animal Kingdom, which they watched every single day for a two week period. I found myself humming the tune all day long (if you’ve seen the video, you know it; it’s kind of catchy). The writers had access to Disney Imagineers, executives, and cast members, so you’re really getting the story behind the attractions. The interviews alone are worth the price of the video. The video quality is excellent as is the sound.

I’d recommend this to first-timers to get a general idea of what’s available in the parks. Sure, you can read a guidebook. They’re indispensible. But having that visual to go along with it is really useful and fun. Even if you’ve been to the parks a lot, I think this series is worthwhile for the stories. It’s also nice to reminisce between trips. I know that sometimes at the end of a hard day, I like to pop one of these videos in the DVD player and just relax. Finally, my kids really liked them. I mean, that’s kind of an understatement. It was their video of choice all summer, which says a lot I think, given that they don’t get a lot of television so they have to choose carefully when they do. Although they’ve been to the parks a lot, the little ones don’t really understand the whole picture, but after watching the videos, they really seemed to get it better. At one point, my younger son pointed to something in the store and said “Animal Kingdom!” and like any good Disney-obsessed mom, I thought to myself “Good. The indoctrination is working.” Seriously, I’m counting on that one to push me around the parks in my old age.

I’ve seen these videos discussed a lot in online Disney forums and from what I can tell, you can get them the cheapest from Amazon.   Some of the videos contain footage that you may likely have seen on the Travel Channel, but some of it is new and it’s all commercial free.  I also like having it all in one place.

Disclaimer: Other than the free videos, I haven’t received anything from the company, so my opinion is completely unbiased. I could have said I didn’t like them and I would still have the videos in my hot little hands!!  If you’ve seen the videos and want to share your opinions or if you have any questions, please let me know in the comment section.