Google and Disney have worked together to produce something which is sure to help Disney fans while away the hours - a 3D view of Disney World in the ever fascinating Google Earth. Instead of the usual flat satellite images, you can now tilt the view and see the castle (and most of the ride buildings) in spectacular 3D view. We zoomed in on the Magic Kingdom to see how it all looked and were blown away by the detail. This will will no doubt be a great tool for people planning vacations but even more so for fans who just want to remind themselves of what they are missing when they aren’t at the parks.

(A high level view of the Magic Kingdom area)

Disney has posted a video (See the official page) of how it all works and how you might use it. You can also find “placemarks” in Google Earth with more information (video, audio, and fun facts) about the parks and the hotels. Included are complete 3D models and information of the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and Disney’s Resorts. Best of all, as you might expect from Disney, the 3D models look great - including not only the rides and buildings - but, also trees, statues, benches, posts, banners, hotels and more

(Zooming in a little closer, you start to notice the detail)

Want to try it for yourself? Make sure you have Google Earth - you can download it here:

Then fly to “Disney World” in Orlando in the Google Earth “Fly To” search box, make sure you have the “3D Buildings” layer turned on.

(An up close tilted view shows you just how amazing the 3D models really are)

We’d love to hear your thoughts about how this might be used to plan your next vacation or how you’ll use it to arm-chair imagineer the next great Disney attraction.

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