DISNEYLAND PARIS LANDS ON GOOGLE EARTH
MARNE LA VALLÉE, France (May 25, 2009) – Disneyland Paris is harnessing the power of Google Earth to build an interactive, three-dimensional tour of the Marne la Vallee-based resort destination that brings clients one step closer to a true park experience. With direct links to Disney’s online travel-planning tools, Disneyland Paris in 3D will re-invent how agents help people plan and book vacations.
Following the successful launch of Google Earth for Walt Disney World Resort last summer, Disneyland Paris is the first European Theme Park to be featured on the platform.
As part of Mickey’s Magical Party—a year-long celebration of everyone’s favorite Mouse—Disneyland Paris guests and travel agents can use Google Earth, a program which offers a 3D digital model of the world, to virtually tour Disneyland Paris’ two theme parks, its seven hotels and Disney Village Entertainment Complex.
"This partnership marks the first of many technology initiatives that will enable our guests to plan for and maximize their time while vacationing at Disneyland Paris," said Norbert Stiekema, Senior Vice President of Sales and Distribution, Disneyland Paris. "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."
"This is the most detailed 3D rendering undertaken within Google Earth to date," said Randy A. Garfield, CTC, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Sales & Travel Operations, Disney Destinations, LLC and President of the Walt Disney Travel Company. "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 Disneyland Paris in 3D provides is one of scope and interaction and demonstrates our continued effort to provide innovative planning tools to our travel agent partners."
"I have seen many amazing 3D models in Google Earth, but when I saw the new Disneyland Paris, I was blown away by how realistic it is. Disney's artists have really outdone themselves. They have taken virtual tourism to a new dimension and are leading the way for photo-realistic 3D models in Google Earth," said Brian McClendon, Engineering Director, Google Maps, Google Earth, and Sketchup.
The depth and vivid detail of Disneyland Paris in 3D project makes this a unique, truly immersive experience within Google Earth. Visitors begin their virtual tour of the Resort
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 French countryside to a view of Sleeping Beauty Castle at the heart of the Disneyland Park. Guests can then fly through the streets of The Walt Disney Studios, the entertainment offerings of Disney Village and around each of the seven hotels and back Main Street, U.S.A..
You can explore Disneyland Paris in 3D by visiting http://earth.google.com/.
and enabling "3D buildings" in the "layers" panel within Google Earth and searching "Disneyland Paris" in the "Fly to" bar. The most current version of Google Earth is required to see Disneyland Paris in 3D. Existing Google Earth users can check they have the latest version of the application by selecting "Help > Check for updates online".
In order to bring the magic of the Resort and Google Earth together in 3D, two photographers worked for 20 days to shoot all the visible surfaces of Disneyland Paris, including every building façade. A total of 85,000 photos were taken in all which became the start for some 1,587 3D models that populate the virtual tour. Disneyland Paris 3D creates a new level of usability for vacation planners and makes detailed information about one of the world’s foremost destinations available to Google Earth’s 400 million users, furthering the Google Earth team’s goal of recreating the world as it really is.
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