Everyone remembers Disney Channel. There is no doubt about it. Being a kid born in the late 1990s gave way for me to have the experience of Disney Channel’s Golden Age. In my opinion, this time, was all throughout the 2000s. For many people, this channel was part of our childhood and could easily be argued as one of the highlights. Personally, my family did not have Disney Channel or any non-local TV station. We got it for like a month one summer and then got rid of it. But that month sure was a great one. In order to watch shows like “Hannah Montana” or “The Suite Life of Zach and Cody,” I would have to get up early on Saturdays when ABC Kids was a thing. Sadly, it felt as though episodes were being repeated over again after like a month. Overall, day care was the best place to get my Disney Channel kick, but that was only during the summer. When I was lucky, we would go somewhere to my Aunt’s house or a hotel. You can bet I glued myself to the TV. We finally got legit cable when it wasn’t the cool thing to watch Disney Channel anymore, but I didn’t care. I gobbled it right up.

Even though us 90s kids are getting older, we still get nostalgic for all of the old programs. Whether you will admit it or not, many of those shows are our guilty pleasure. If “Best of Both Worlds” came on your song playlist right now, I’m pretty sure it would be a crime not to sing along. At the beginning of the summer, I watched the entire series of “Hannah Montana.” ‘Cause like, why not? It was the first time I knew I had seen all of the episodes. I’m pretty sure I cried when the last episode came on. Hannah Montana Forever! I bet you can tell I really love “Hannah Montana.” (Notice that love is in the present and not past tense form.) Anyway, Disney Channel came up with some pretty greats shows. “Even Stevens,” “Lizzie McGuire,” “Kim Possible,” “That’s So Raven,” “Phil of the Future,” “The Suite Life of Zach and Cody,” “Hannah Montana,” “Phineas and Ferb,” “Wizards of Waverly Place,” and “Good Luck Charlie” are only a few of the amazing shows Disney Channel has put out. Sorry if I left out your favorite show. As previously stated, these are only a few.

Now, if we are going to talk about Disney Channel, the original movies can never be left out. Many of them are classics just like the shows. For example, there is “Brink,” “Halloweentown,” “Zenon: Girl of the 21^st Century,” “The Thirteenth Year,” “Johnny Tsunami,” “Cadet Kelly,” “The Cheetah Girls,” and of course—the all-time favorite—“High School Musical.” There are also the “newer” ones like “Camp Rock,” “Princess Protection Program,” and “Lemonade Mouth.” Newer means like 2008-2011. I’m not quite sure if you would know many of them after that. If you do, great! If not, don’t sweat it!

I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the 100^th Disney Channel Original Movie came out this summer! Disney Channel’s first production premiered in 1997 called “Under Wraps.” The newest movie to grace cable with its presence is “Adventures in Babysitting.” For twenty years now, Disney Channel has been producing mega hits and delivering smiles to children, teenagers, and adults all across the world. Since the 100^th DCOM (Disney Channel Original Movie for short) is such a big deal, the network decided to air all of its original movies! Cue the nostalgia factor. At college, my friends and I were all excited about it. Some were going to record them on their DVR’s in order to take pleasure in this AMAZING treat! Sadly, at my home, we do not have this feature. (I know. My TV situation is just unbearable. Don’t worry; it’s not that bad.) Thankfully, when I officially went home for the summer, I found out that my Apple TV had all of the movies ready to be watched through the Disney Channel app. Instead of picking out a few classic movies to reminisce over, I decided to watch every single Disney Channel Original Movie made! Now, let that just sink in…

Okay, you’ve thought about it. Good. One hundred movies to watch in two months, how could that even be possible? Let me tell you, I calculated how much time I had and how many minutes/hours/days it would take me to get through them all. All of them are about 90 minutes long, some a little shorter, others a bit longer. It pretty much all evens out. So that’s like 150 hours of screen time. If I were to have watched them marathon style—straight through with no breaks whatsoever—that would have taken me 6.25 days. That was not all too realistic, though. If I could watch three movies in a day, I would be done in little over a month. But other things were going on during the summer like work and vacation with my family. I couldn’t just watch movies 24/7.

Overall, I watched the DCOMs when able. Even my mom and dad joined me on occasion. My mom liked a lot of them. But my dad really wanted something else turned on at times. After work, I would usually turn on one movie. After I got to 50, I realized there were still much more to go, but it felt as though a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Finally, this last week, I was able to watch the 100^th Disney Channel Movie! It was a very exciting time for me.

Through watching all of these movies, I noticed one very important thing: every single Disney Channel Original Movie has an important lesson to share with the viewers. Since I spent practically two months of my summer watching these movies, I will be dedicating a new series of articles that has everything to do with the DCOMs. In the first article, there will be some cool stats about all of the movies, including specific categories I have come up with for all of them. In the next 10 articles, I will share with you a little background for ten of the movies, my overall opinion of each picture, and most importantly, the big takeaway from the DCOMs. Don’t get too freaked out now. I will not spoil the ending for those who want to eventually watch all of the movies. I’ll try not to at least. From there, I’ll just have to see how much thinking I want to put into Disney Channel Original Movies while in college. I’ll probably have to do an overall personal ranking of the 100. In the meantime, Disney Channel will probably come out with more original movies. But that’s okay! Like you can probably tell, I believe the 100 DCOM is pretty AWESOME! Admit it, you love them, too!