.jpg)
I promised a preview of the new official Disney site, and today I’m delivering. The new Disney site isn’t that different from the old one, it’s just got a sleek new redesign. The front page is less cluttered than before, and is on a bright white background rather than the previous black. I’m actually a little surprised at how plain the front page is; there are plenty of thumbnail pictures and links, but there’s nothing going on around the edges.
The official Disney site is a good place to go if you’re a general Disney fan, but aren’t really sure what you’re looking for. A little bit of just about every aspect of the Disney company is reflected on the front page. There are links to games (including the popular Swampy), music videos by Disney Channel stars, Disney Channel movies (like “Girl vs. Monster”), information about the parks and resorts, promotions for upcoming movies or films just re-released on DVD, and more.
At the bottom the site has posters promoting current events or other interesting things going on at Disney. Right now it’s featuring the Food & Wine Festival, Club Penguin, The New Fantasyland, Epic Mickey 2, a promo for a Disney gift card, Halloweentime at Disneyland, and more.
One of the interesting bits on the official Disney site is Disney Insider. At first I thought it would be something like D23, but that’s not quite true. Disney Insider is the section on the official site that’s chock full of information for Disney fans (and it does like to link to D23, wanting to promote the fan club). You can read about Disney history, the Disney legends, take Disney trivia games, download the supplement to the “Disney A – Z” encyclopedia, find development art and behind-the-scenes stories from the films, and so much more. If you came to the official Disney site just because you wanted to learn more about Disney in general, then the Disney Insider section is the place for you.
The site’s also full of behind-the-scenes video clips. Sure, you can see bits from and trailers for movies and television shows, but you can also see previews of the new Fantasyland with “Once Upon A Time” star Ginnifer Godwin, watch music videos, and even find full episodes of popular Disney shows like “Good Luck Charlie.”
There are a few strange videos – mostly notably a few-minute clip of a bunch of girls doing everything from dressing up to riding motorcycles, all saying “I’m a Princess” (I’m not really sure what that’s supposed to do but heighten Princess culture, but at least the girls aren’t all twirling in tiaras). There’s even a YouTube section, where Disney selects the best user-uploaded videos from the site that are relevant to the company, so there are things like how to do Cinderella-style nails and people covering Disney songs.
The new Disney site isn’t really that different from the old one. Everything’s still there: learn about music, characters, movies, and more. They’re all just easier to find with the updated main page.
Related Articles:
The Best of YouTube: Disney Edition
Beat the Disney Crowds with TouringPlans.com
Disney Develops Screens with Sense of Touch
Disney Website for New and Expecting Parents
*(The above image by Xurble is licensed by the Creative Commons 2.5 Attribution License).