Google Earth offers virtual tour of Disney World

by Stevie Smith - Jun 9 2008, 11:10

If you’ve ever contemplated a family trip to Disney World but been hesitant to commit the financial outlay due to a sampling shortfall regarding the theme park’s many wonders, then mapping marvel Google Earth might have just what’s required to secure that otherwise withheld vacation investment.

Specifically, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts has announced it is joining forces with Internet search giant Google Inc. to bring Disney World a little closer to prospective holidaymakers via an interactive, 3D Google Earth tour of the planet’s most famous cartoon park experience.

According to Disney and Google, the “Walt Disney World Resort in 3D” application will help reinvent how people plan their vacations, providing virtual visitors with access to a 3D digital model of the entire park including its four individually themed areas, 22 hotels and numerous resorts.

Further to that, booking will also be made easier and more interactive thanks to the inclusion of direct links to Disney’s online travel-planning tools.

“You know the phrase ‘next best thing to being there’? Walt Disney World Resort in 3D is going to deliver on that,” trumpeted Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. “Guests and travel planners can now explore our world with just a few clicks of a mouse, and they can book vacations while being immersed in what the destination has to offer.”

Compatible with Google Earth 4.3 (which is only a free download away), the Walt Disney World Resort in 3D application functions by providing visitors with access to a full three-dimensional virtual fly-through of the entire park.

Similar to Google’s real-world Street View tool, the vivid 3D re-creation allows users to scrutinise resorts, take a closer look at specific rides, and click on images of any Disney World attraction and hotel in order to purchase tickets, make reservations, and even map out the planned park itinerary that best suits personal vacation desires.

“This is the most detailed 3D rendering undertaken within Google Earth to date,” continued Rasulo. “The work done here will provide a professional counterpart to the wealth of Disney images and 3D models from around the world contributed by thousands of volunteers. The difference Walt Disney World Resort in 3D provides is one of scope and interaction.”

The new interactive experience was created by capturing a total of 100,000 photographic reference images covering every aspect of Disney World‘s layout and detailing, before those pictures were then used to painstakingly construct an estimated 1,500 accurate 3D models representing the park’s complete interior.

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