Disney World is going virtual. On Thursday, Disney and Google announced Walt Disney World Resort in 3-D.

All four theme parks and more than 20 Disney Resort hotels of the Orlando, Fla., tourist destination have been created and placed on Google Earth. Users, the Disney company said on its Web site, “can zoom down Main Street, USA, fly around Cinderella Castle, explore Spaceship Earth and climb the Tree of Life.”

No Lines

Aside from the joy of visiting Disney World without waiting in line, the online tour is designed to help users plan a vacation. There are menus, descriptions of attractions, event calendars, and hyperlinks to online ticket buying and reservations. The virtual Disney World plus contains small details that heighten the sense of being there, including park benches, merry-go-round horses, minimum rider height for undoubtful rides, and souvenir shops.

To virtually go to Disney, a user downloads Google Earth and selects the Gold Mickey Ears icon.

As befits a company that would, say, create or re-create entire worlds in its Florida park, Disney said its virtual Disney World is the largest effort ever undertaken by any company for Google Earth. About 100,000 photos by eight photographers were used to create 1,500 3-D models of buildings, and there are plus urls to blogs and YouTube videos.

Clicking Mickey?

The effort may be worthwhile, since Disney said about 90 percent of its guests plan their vacations via the Web. Disney Chairman Jay Rasulo said society will now be able to book their vacations while exploring what a specific attraction offers, all with the visit of a mouse. There was no indication whether he was referring to Mickey.

But some observers are suggesting that, in creating such a detailed online planning tool, Disney may be opening the door to virtual trips that take the place of the real thing. For…

Orginal post by Top Tech News