Google Earth Maps Walt Disney World Resort in 3D

Google Earth has created a 3D tour of Walt Disney World’s 4 theme parks and 22 hotels and resorts.

If you have kids, here’s the must-see site: www.disneyworld.com/3dparks. Google Earth 4.3 users can see Walt Disney World Resort in 3D by enabling the “Gallery” folder within Google Earth, or by selecting any of the 3D buildings within the resort.

“You know the phrase ‘next best thing to being there’? Walt Disney World Resort in 3D is going to deliver on that,” said Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, in a statement. “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.”

Disney’s digital mapping project, Walt Disney World Resort in 3D, hopes to become the ultimate online travel guide for Walt Disney World Resort, integrating the Google Earth 3D experience with the planning features of Disney.com.

Whether guests book through the Disney reservation center, a travel agent or online, nearly 90 percent of Walt Disney World guests use the internet to plan their vacations. Walt Disney World Resort in 3D provides the latest Google Earth technology available to enhance that experience.

From Google Earth, guests and travel planners can click on images of their favorite attractions and hotels to purchase tickets, make reservations, and map out the vacation that is right for their families – in 3D and with the click of a mouse.

The depth and vivid detail of Walt Disney World Resort in 3D project promises to makes the site a unique, truly immersive experience within Google Earth. Visitors begin their virtual tour of Disney World with a stratospheric view of the globe, a starting point familiar to anyone who has ever used Google Earth.

A skydive takes visitors past the flatlands of Florida to a view of the Seven Seas Lagoon in the Magic Kingdom. Guests can then fly through the streets and explore in and around the hotels and resorts, down Main Street to Cinderella Castle, from the heights of The Tower of Terror to base of the Tree of Life. To enter the virtual park:

* Download Google Earth 4.3 by visiting www.disneyworld.com/3dparks.
* Launch Google Earth and search for ‘Disney World’
* Click the Gold Mickey Ears to open an info window.
* In the info window, click “Show Disney World in 3D.”

No doubt more resorts and travel destinations will follow Disney’s lead into 3D. Whether their choice is Google Earth or Microsoft Virtual Earth, the big winners are consumers doing research on the Internet.