Disney aims to sell trips via TV remote

Couch potatoes rejoice: Now there are even fewer reasons to put down the remote control.

Walt Disney Co. said Tuesday that it was launching travel-focused, video-on-demand programming that would let some cable television subscribers push a button on their remote and within 15 minutes get a call from a Disney reservation agent to book a vacation.

Disney’s Travel on Demand, which will be available to 9 million Time Warner Cable Inc. and Cablevision Systems Corp. digital customers this month, follows several other recent interactive TV trials.

In some ways, the Travel on Demand channel is a 21st century version of the 1950s “Disneyland” show on ABC that was hosted by Walt Disney and introduced viewers to the new Anaheim theme park.

The programming will take people behind the scenes via four shows, with new episodes every three weeks. “Making the Magic” is an “American Idol”-like reality series that follows an entertainer in his quest to become an elite performer at Walt Disney World Resort. “Disney Fact or Fiction” will examine urban legends about Disney parks. On “Dream Makers,” unsuspecting guests can win various Disney experiences; and “Disney Travel Insiders,” hosted by Elisabeth Hasselbeck of “The View,” will offer travel tips.

If viewers like what they see, a reservation is close at hand, although travel agents won’t be available in the middle of the night.

“One of the things that we always think about … is how innovative Walt was when he launched Disneyland and used what was then the high-tech and parent-savvy new media — which was television,” said Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. “In many ways, this really continues on that tradition.”

Disney Travel on Demand will air on its own Cablevision station, Channel 650. On Time Warner Cable, it will be part of Journey TV, which will also include programming from the National Park Service and Busch Entertainment, which owns Busch Gardens and Sea World parks. But they will not have push-button reservation features.

kimi.yoshino@latimes.com