The good ol' days of Disney Channel have been long behind everyone for years, but that doesn't mean millennials can't reminisce about what used to be. Part of viewers' most formative years, Disney Channel was the place for comedic relief, educational episodes, really good music, and a whole lot of Disney advertisements.
Anyone watching Disney Channel in the 2000s got to see their favorite actors sing classic Disney songs. They got to ring in the new year with their favorite casts and episodes. And they got to see Zac Efron run around a field playing games with his fellow Disney Channel stars.
Circle Of Stars
Established in 2003, Disney Channel Circle of Stars consisted of actors from various hit Disney Channel shows coming together for a performance of a Disney song, typically coinciding with a release of a Disney film.
While the network's final Circle of Stars performance was in 2014 — featuring actors like Sabrina Carpenter, Jordan Fisher and Peyton List singing "Do You Want To Build A Snowman?" from Frozen — the most memorable songs came a decade earlier. The casts of shows like That's So Raven, The Proud Family and Suite Life of Zack and Cody lent their voices to "Circle of Life" from The Lion King and later "A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes" from Cinderella.
That's So Suite Life Of Hannah Montana
Some of Disney Channel's biggest shows in the early 2000's were That's So Raven, Suite Life of Zack and Cody and Hannah Montana. But a day that went down in Disney Channel history was the premiere of the three-episode crossover: That's So Suite Life of Hannah Montana.
Typically abbreviated as TSSLOHM, the night consisted of back-to-back episodes of each show with the characters crossing over into one huge story. The series began with Raven visiting The Tipton Hotel and causing chaos with Zack and Cody until Hannah Montana arrived for her stay. The network attempted three more crossover events years later — Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana, Austin and Jessie and Ally: All Star New Year and Raven About Bunk'd — but no crossover was as successful as their first, earning over 7 million views.
Disney Channel Games
The summer of 2006 wasn't only full of new episodes of hit Disney Channel shows, but it gave viewers one of the coolest miniseries in the network's history. The Disney Channel Games was a summer-long series that brought together actors from every Disney Channel show and movie to compete against each other in challenges.
Once with Zac Efron, Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers as competitors, the stars were divided into four teams and competed in different physical and mental challenges for the coveted prize of a donation to a charity. The show also featured performances from Cyrus, The Cheetah Girls, Demi Lovato, and several others, while also including appearances from animated Disney Channel characters like Kim Possible, Kuzco and Jake Long.
Express Yourself
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Disney Channel has always been known for its vignettes during commercial breaks, and one of the old-school shorts was titled Express Yourself, where current stars of the network would sit down and do as the title says: express themselves.
This series featured some early Disney Channel stars like Hilary Duff, Shia LaBeouf and Kirsten Storms, all the way to late 2000's stars like Miley Cyrus and Ashley Tisdale, who all sat down and spoke in front of a camera about anything from pets, food, secret talents and ambitions.
Disney 411
Disney 411 was a short, mid-commercial break news segment that ran on Disney Channel for two years. The segment typically featured a host talking about the latest Disney news and interviewing famous Disney Channel stars about their current TV shows, movies and music releases.
Its catchy theme tune and familiar hosts changed in 2006 when the segment was replaced with Disney 365, shifting to a new dynamic that featured Disney Channel stars taking trips to Disney Parks as a way of promoting the theme parks as well as the network. The series has aired through fairly recent times, with the last episode airing in 2018.
New Years Bashes
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While adults were watching Dick Clark's Rockin Eve every December 31st, millennials got their own special New Years celebration featuring their favorite stars and shows on Disney Channel.
It all started with Totally Suite New Year's Eve, where viewers got to ring in the new year at The Tipton with the cast of Suite Life of Zack and Cody, featuring a marathon of the show that ended with a brand new episode at midnight. This was preceded by New Year Sing-Along Bowl-Athon, featuring Disney Channel stars singing and bowling their way into the new year while also airing fan-voted episodes of the channel's hottest shows.
Disneymania
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Disneymania was a mixtape of classic Disney songs sung by a mixture of well-known musicians and Disney Channel stars. Advertised as "singing Disney their way," the concept of the albums was to allow the artists to turn notable Disney tunes into different genres, remixes and renditions.
Debuting in 2002, the first Disneymania album featured notable music artists, with only Hilary Duff included from Disney Channel. The six preceding albums primarily featured Disney Channel stars singing Disney classics, including songs by Circle of Stars and songs originally recorded in support of new movie releases. Disneymania concluded in 2010 with its seventh album with songs by Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, Debby Ryan, and more.
Mike's Super Short Show
There was once an infomercial that aired on Disney Channel during commercial breaks that starred Alyson Stoner and Michael Alan Johnson, and it was super short. Mike's Super Short Show was a two-minute-long segment that spanned five seasons on Disney Channel and informed viewers of all the latest Disney VHS and DVD releases.
With Johnson starring as Mike and Stoner playing his little sister Sally, the two would partner up in Mike's bedroom to tell the viewers all they knew about upcoming releases of Disney and Pixar films. The siblings would also often invite guest stars to Mike's room, interviewing stars like Miley Cyrus, Aly and AJ, The Cheetah Girls and several others.
DCOM Intro
The intro to Disney Channel Original Movies evolved over the years, but the original was where it all began. It aired just before the premieres of classic movies like High School Musical, The Cheetah Girl and Jump In, as well as introducing every DCOM that played on the channel.
The original DCOM intro featured a group of kids jumping and flying along a film strip, including that one girl who shot off into the sky like a rocket, while a memorable theme tune played, repeating the words, "Let's watch a Disney Channel movie," over and over.
Radio Disney Top 10 In 60 Seconds
While Radio Disney itself is considered a dinosaur nowadays, it was once a huge part of not only radio, but television on Disney Channel. The network often coincided with Radio Disney, which would play notable songs from the channel's shows and movies in rotation.
One of the most memorable commercial segments from back in the day was Radio Disney Top 10 In 60 Seconds. The segment would be hosted by a Radio Disney DJ who would count down the Top 10 songs of the week on Radio Disney within a minute.