Is the Disney Channel Worth $40 a Month to You???

If he watches it that little I think he would be just fine watching the DVD's. At that young my kids watched the same things over and over again. I woudl cancle it.

Haven't had cable for five years. We only watch Netflix streaming and an occasional movie. That's all.

I just joined the crew of cuting out cable. My bill went from almost $200 to $55 for just internet. The blockbuster up the road was going out of business so i bought TONS of kids movies and shows for $1 & $2. I didn't know about the disney on line but its worth a try. My kids watch 1/2 hr while DH is getting ready for work. We rent movies from Redbox on weekends and stream through Netflix when possible. I will say that cutting cable has forced me to do other things around the house so besides cutting cost it has been a real motivator. good Luck

I absolutely do not think the Disney Channel is worth it. I have my personal opinions of how Disney has changed, sucking in tweens into teen situations and so on. But minus that, PBS has fantastic toddler and preschool shows that are fun and very educational compared to the Disney Channel. Go online to PBS and look up the kids shows they have. Super Why is very popular for starters. I'm sure your child will adjust easily. My granddaughter is 3 and was hooked on Mickey as well, until I had her here for 2 weeks watching more learning shows. She's now hooked on the other learning shows and actually learning things! You can always get him some Mickey DVDs. Nick Jr has Team Umizoomi which is a great learning show for math, which you don't see math shows very often. Go to http://pbskids.org/ for a long list of shows that are great for kids and learning! You can record them on DVR and watch them when you want. Word World is great, so is Sid the Science Kid and Dinosaur Train. You can always depend on Sesame Street. There's a list at http://pbskids.org/findit/index.html

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets

We haven't had cable in over 10 years. We don't miss it. And disney.com frequently updates their site and you can watch full episodes on there. If you are truly only using the tv for an hour or so each day and you want to save some money, then by all means do it. If you will miss it, even for an hour each day, then it may be worth the expense to you. When we completely cut out cable, we missed if for about two weeks. THen slowly we didn't miss it at all. NOw it seems like it would be a nuisance and distraction.

Nope, not worth it. We got rid of cable two years ago and don't miss it a bit. My DD loved PBS sprout shows... guess what she didn't miss them a bit. Instead she would watch Sesame Street on PBS kids (over the air/free).
We have a pretty tight lid on TV for our DD who is 4.5 now, only an hour a day on weeksdays, up to two hours a day on weekends (these are mostly in the morning) between PBS and Netflix there is plenty for her to fill this time with.
Good luck!

I would cancel cable from an economic point of view.

For $40 a month you can buy the dvd's from a number of good shows, like Disney produces, but also Little Einstein, signing time, and all kinds of kids movies. Then you become the programmer and can show what you want when you want.

$40 per month is almost $500 per year. You will spend much less than that on kids programming. The rest you can put in your pocket or invest it for later.

Good luck to you and yours.

I believe you can get the full episodes at disney.com, so if you really are only watching the one channel, then you can probably cancel the dish.
http://disney.go.com/disneyjunior/videos-episodes/full-ep...

Although, another way to think of it is that it's $1.40 a day (before taxes) for your son's entertainment.

M.

That’s a lot for one channel unless it was something that everyone watched all the time. Can he watch Mickey on the web? I would check their website and see if you can get some episodes through there.

No.

My husband loves several series on HBO. We can only watch those shows on HBO. No other way to get them. It costs $15 a month. I really struggle with that! Is it worth $15. Yes, because he loves several hours a week of the programming. But if push comes to chove, that's the 1st thing going!!!

Do you have a local library where you could check out DVDs? Then you wouldn't be watching the same ones over and over, and you could find out if he likes other shows besides mickey mouse clubhouse. (My son is 10, and still watches it during breakfast because it is soothing to him)

Not worth it. Just put his favorite DVD in instead - kids will watch the same one 300 times and not get tired of it!

I think he would adjust, same as kids had to adjust when Nick Jr screwed up their lineup and suddenly removed Moose and Zee. If it's a matter of finances, and he only watches it sometimes, then I'd get rid of it. There are plenty of things on Netflix he could watch and little kids like the same thing over and over. $40/month is $480 a year. That can buy a lot of DVDs or other things the family needs.

I pay $10 for cable (local channels only) and honestly I wouldn't pay that if I could do without it (we get NO channels with an attenna, and I need the local news for weather updates, especially during tornado season) My toddler find plenty to watch on PBS, and I definatly wouldn't pay $40 for a channel that only one person really watches.

Your toddlers will also love the morning PBS shows. There is no need to pay for television. We don't, and we have plenty of things to watch on the regular digital stations (there are over 10 regular, non-cable stations available in this area).

Honestly, those same Disney show's are on NetFlix, especially since they now have what my son calls the "white box NetFlix", which is only child appropriate shows. HTH

I am on the "trying to figure out how to have the channels we want" boat to. I am trying to decide how to afford any satellite tv. I don't get to watch what I want most of the time, but the girls love many of the show on nick Jr. Is the $40 a month worth it for Kia-Lan, Dino Dan, Dora, Diego, Yo Gabba Gabba and the rest? Where can I sqeeze that money out of the budget? If I move out of state, what happens to the contract (two year min. to lock in the lower rate)?
If dimwit (almost exhusband) would actually get a job and contribute, or if I had the heart to totally lop him off the family plan of the health insurance I pay for, I could swing it and I think it is worth it. Watching my girls dance to Doras 'We Did It Song' cracks me up.
Go for it! (if it's in the budget)

About 2 years ago I cut our DISH network down from $50 to $15. The great thing was I still get some of my favorite channels, TLC, food network, and the kids still get to watch PBS or the HUB.

My kids used to love Disney & Nickelodeon and still do (the Grandparents still have the channels). But, they never complain about not having it at home. (Most the time they are off playing together anyway) They are also very content with PBS or the HUB when they do want to watch something.

My kids LOVE Disney Channel, but we've never had it at our house. We do NOT think the price of cable is worth it. We pay 8.00/month for basic cable. When my kids were younger, they watched PBS kids. Disney Channel was a special treat, they only see it when we travel, or we are at Grandma's house. Now we have netflix, so they get to use that to watch instantly many of the Disney shows on weekend nights if they want to see them. For us, getting the whole cable package would be another 68.00/month, not worth it to me.

Not worth it. We've been living sans cable for over 6 months & honestly, it's been a joy not having it. No more worrying about what to watch, flipping through channels, etc. We have an HD antenna hooked up in our attic above the TV & we get all our local channels, several PBS channels, Ion, which has a children's station called Qubo, which has nothing but wholesome kid's programming. It's enough for when we want to watch it, but not too much. Cut the cable, I promise you won't be disappointed.

I haven't had cable tv in about 14 years and my kids didn't miss a thing. They never even knew it was gone - PBS and Qubo have some great shows. Your toddler will never remember that he didn't have the disney channel.

$40 a month. No way. I wouldn't pay that much for one channel.

We completely cut cable about 5 months ago! Never happier! We have an almost 5 year old, 3.5 year old, and 11 month old. We hit the library once a week and get out Dora, Thomas, and a movie for movie night. They do not watch tv every day but rather about 2 evenings a week for a 1/2 hour and then a movie night (usually Friday) before bed with an age-appropriate movie we all sit through while I make air-pop popcorn. We save $80 a month without our cable bill! We still get PBS etc through our analog VCR (and every other basic channel except CBS) hooked up to our digital TV since we have a cable high-speed internet hook up!

NO! Cancel the Disney channel. There are tons of great videos/dvds you can purchase for a fraction of that price.

Just want to put in another vote for PBS. GREAT shows, and kids love them all. Get a few videos of mickey mouse clubhouse in case he asks about it at first, but before you know it, he will have faves on PBS!

NO WAY!

Since he's still little, get rid of it now and he won't even miss it! Put PBS on in the morning, they have a ton of cute shows for little kids.

No but the sanity the Disney channel brings does :)