We’ve been covering this issue since we launched a couple months ago but today, as expected, marked another round of reminders that Disney Plus project managers haven’t figured it out yet.
After a 7-month hiatus, Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse returned for the 2nd half of its first season. Episodes 11 and 12 were added to the title page, as you can see.
Oh wait, you probably *can’t* see, can you? That’s because Disney continues to not follow the standard set by Netflix or other services which is to promote these new additions on the title pages themselves. As such, who would know they were newly added and not the same episodes that had been there since December? Weirdly enough, Disney+ Japan (a rebranded version of Disney Deluxe, a precursors to Disney+) has this common sense feature.
Well, at least we can tell from the home screen and menus…
Oh wait, no we can’t. This screenshot is actually super frustrating. First, we have two brand new series: Chip n Dale: Park Life and Turning the Tables with Robin Roberts. Next, we have Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse with episodes 11 and 12 dropped into the existing season 1. Finally, we have Turner & Hooch (2021) with episode 2 having just dropped into the title page.
NOT. ONE. OF. THESE. TITLES. SUGGESTS. IT’S. NEW. OR. UPDATED.
Why is this still a thing?
Did you know that on Wednesday, July 28th, 2021 at Midnight Los Angeles time, Disney+ added episodes 9-13 of Sydney to the Max? No, you didn’t. But they did.
Not only should the episodes have NEW indicators on them, the title pages themselves should follow Netflix’s industry standard and mention “NEW EPISODES NOW STREAMING.” See the “Play” button in the image below? Right above that is where the “COMING TO DISNEY+ ON THIS DAY” messages go on title pages.
There’s no reason they couldn’t use that same section to say “Episodes 9-13 Now Streaming” or “New Episodes Now Streaming” or something. Look at the next image. Just imagine that “Coming Soon” text area being utilized when new episodes drop in!
I will continue to harp on this because it hurts the viewership and engagement with tv series. It is bad / incomplete design. It is frustrating to people involved with series that the service doesn’t do enough to promote. Even when things like this should be incredibly easy to add. It’s not like they don’t exist elsewhere…
No, this type of basic feature has not been invented yet…
I have to believe they’re working on something like this… but it should have been added a long time ago. The thought that their team prioritized GroupWatch (added almost a year ago) over this or basic features like “Remove from Continue Watching” (present on literally every single other streaming service) is confusing…
Oh well, there’s always Friday when High School Musical the Musical The Series season finale is added or The Mysterious Benedict Society episode 7 is added for the feature to appear.
Or next year…
Or never…?
And as a closing note… can we get a message on Diary of a Future President that says “Season 2 Coming August 18?” We can’t? Okay.
Drew Ryan is a film, TV, and Disney geek. He has degrees in English, Student Personnel Administration, and Library & Information Science from Lawrence University, Concordia University-Wisconsin, and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Interested in the minutia and licensing of streaming service content, he is always publishing lists, suggestions, and advocating for Disney’s missing library to be added to Disney+. Drew subscribes to Disney+, Hulu, Netflix, HBO Max, and Paramount+. You can find him waxing nostalgic over classic Disney Channel or geeking out over Marvel, CW shows, & Disney on Twitter.
