Walt Disney World Resort & Google Earth Team-up To Launch 3-D Park Maps

[Figment!]

It's a small world, thanks to Google Earth

By Kitty Bean Yancey
USA TODAY
May 15, 2008

Starting this month, you can tour realistic re-creations of Disney's Florida theme parks and resorts simply by clicking your computer mouse.

In a pioneering partnership aiming to go online Tuesday, Google Earth and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts will make it easy to take a virtual trip to Walt Disney World's Epcot Center, Animal Kingdom, Disney's Hollywood Studios and 22 Disney hotels and resorts.

Computer users will click on maps that show about 1,500 rides, restaurants and attractions in 3-D.
The mega-map, with interactive features, will be available via disneyworld.com/3dparks or Google Earth (earth.google.com) for free.

"It's a virtual walk-through of the whole property … the most amazing virtual tour of any place in the world," Walt Disney Parks and Resorts chairman Jay Rasulo says.

While Google Earth offers a growing number of 3-D images and gives bird's-eye views of theme parks, with links to information about them, the Disney project is the most ambitious and detailed 3-D production yet. It's "truly innovative and unique," says Google Earth maps director John Hanke.

Disney's Rasulo expects the map to serve as a cutting-edge trip planner ("it's one small step from actually being there") and an armchair diversion for legions of Disney World fans. Up to three-quarters of Disney World visitors are repeaters, Rasulo says; about one-third are adults. Disney does not release attendance figures.

The map began with eight photographers who canvassed every inch of Disney World for 10 days. Then their images were rendered in 3-D.

Click on Space Mountain, for instance, and you can view a video of the ride and get information such as height requirements. Put your mouse on the Grand Floridian and a video of the resort pops up. You also can check availability and rates and make a reservation.

For now, the map shows only exteriors. In the future, Web visitors can stroll into Cinderella's Castle or walk into a room at a Disney resort. Photographers are at work to map Disneyland Resort Paris (Euro Disney); other Disney properties may be next.

Disney is just one of many traveler-friendly additions to fast-growing Google Earth in recent months.

In April, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service announced the posting of its digital map of U.S. wetlands there. The information is useful to bird-watchers and fishermen, among others, says Fish & Wildlife Service spokesman Joshua Winchell.

"It's an attempt to make the data more available to (everyday) people," he says. Google Earth "is a figurative sandbox, and anyone can jump in" and play.