To get a Fastpass ticket, simply insert your park ticket in one of the Fastpass machine that stand outside the attraction you want to visit. So, if you want a Fastpass ticket for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster you have to go to the machines outside that ride. You will need to do this for each person who wants to a Fastpass ticket. When you put your park ticket in the machine it will give you something similar to the Fastpass below…

So you can see on that ticket that it has a return time of between 11:05 AM and 12:05 PM. So you must return to the attraction between these times and give the ticket over to the cast member who will let you join the Fastpass line. Yes you read that right… Fastpass line. You may still have to wait in line, but the wait will be much shorter than the standard line.

The eagle-eyed among you will have noticed that there is another time on the ticket telling you when the next Fastpass ticket is available. So if you put your ticket in a Fastpass machine before this time, you will not be given another ticket.

Another thing to note  is that there is a limited amount of fastpass tickets available for each attraction. For most rides at most times of the year this isn’t an issue. For example, Star Tours – The Adventure Continues rarely runs out of tickets. The same can’t be said for Soarin’ or Toy Story Mania. These rides often run out of tickets so it is still advisable to get fastpasses early for the ride you most want to visit.

Disney and Verizon have also announced that they will be bringing further services to visitors to the park. Some examples have been delivery of up-to-minute news about what events are going on around the parks with updates sent direct to your cell. I guess one thing that would really excite me would be fastpass updates and ride wait times that I could check on the fly. Any other suggestions, then drop them in the comments.

November 12, 2008 – Marking a first in both the travel and mobile industries, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and Verizon are teaming up for a multi-year relationship designed to enhance the guest experience – before, during and after guests arrive at Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort. This alignment allows guests to have a personal tour guide right in their wireless phones along with reliable new services at the parks. Early next year guests will also use Verizon Wireless’ technology when experiencing Disney’s Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure, an ultra-interactive attraction coming to Epcot in Walt Disney World Resort.

“With more than 90 percent of families bringing a mobile phone into our Parks, our objective was to enhance the magical Disney experience through innovative wireless technology,” said Jay Rasulo, Chairman, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. “Imagine receiving up to the minute tips on special Park activities with just the touch of a button or receiving a call from Buzz Lightyear welcoming you to the Magic Kingdom.”

Beginning next year, guests will be able to access an array of features on their Verizon Wireless phones while at the Walt Disney World or Disneyland Resort to help them make the most of their Disney experiences. Planned services include an exclusive mobile application that will give guests with Verizon Wireless service the ability to easily locate shows, restaurants and the Disney characters anywhere inside the Parks; get real-time attraction availability information; access mobile games; receive messages from characters and more. Verizon Wireless is also continuing to invest in its wireless network from coast to coast, and the relationship with Disney means the wireless users will benefit from further enhancements to the Verizon Wireless network in the Parks.

John Harrobin, senior vice president of digital media and marketing for Verizon, said, “All of our efforts focus on one goal: making the Disney experience even better for our customers. There are few life experiences that are more memorable than visiting a Disney Park, and now guests with Verizon Wireless service will unlock even more magic from their visit – by navigating the Parks easier and faster with instant access to key information such as ‘Where’s Mickey now?’ and other special features – even when they travel home and share their experiences with family and friends.”

In addition, guests visiting Epcot in Walt Disney World Resort in early 2009 will be among the first to experience Disney’s Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure. An ultra-interactive attraction, Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure invites guests of all ages to team up with members of Team Possible to save the world from various comical villains and their mad inventions. Armed with an official Verizon Wireless “Kimmunicator,” guests will use these handheld devices to help maneuver through the mission. The interactive wireless theme park game was inspired by Disney Channel’s Emmy® Award-winning animated series, “Kim Possible.”

While Verizon Wireless customers will have exclusive access to an array of enhanced features, Disney and Verizon are also working to ensure that some mobile information such as dining locations, show times and locations will be available to all Parks visitors, regardless of their wireless company.

Additional details will be available next year as the companies expect to add a suite of services and functionalities to help guests at Disney Parks have the most magical experience. For more information about Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, visit www.disney.com. For more information about Verizon, visit www.verizon.com.

Disney Parks and Resorts – Taking Guests to New Frontiers

The agreement between Disney and Verizon is another step in a series of new initiatives that highlight the latest technologies from Disney Parks and Resorts with a continued focus on improving guest experience and providing immersive entertainment. Disney Parks and Resorts continue to exemplify how technologies can be used to build new connections and redefine how guests plan and enjoy their vacations. From the time guests begin planning their vacation using Walt Disney World Resort in 3D on Google Earth or tuning into Disney Travel on Demand, the experience is designed to make their lives easier. Guests can take their vacation experience to a new level with Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure, an interactive wireless theme park game for families, and by personalizing and sharing their Disney experiences when they return home, using DisneyLink, a desktop application.

The information appears to have come from a series of surveys carried out by Microsoft and articles from Jim Hill among others.

From what I’ve read, Disney are still aiming to keep the aura of exclusivity of the park, only allowing a maximum of 2000 visitors at any one time in a similar vein to Seaworld’s Discovery Cove. The difference now being that the park will have four different admission slots, being morning, early afternoon, late afternoon and evening. Probably one of the main reasons that the Night Kingdom moniker had to be dropped. It will be interesting to see how Disney manage to get people to leave the park for each session.

There’s an outline of the questions asked in the survey in this thread. That gives an idea of the entertainment that the park may offer.

Exploring Cambodian ruins
Zipline into Tropical Americas
Observing and feeding river hippos
Observing and feeding bats
Passing through the Lions Canyon
Trek through the Tropical Americas rainforest
Riding a boat into Tropical Americas
Riding a boat out of Africa
Encountering awakening spirits in the Spirit House
Enjoying authentic, live entertainment throughout the Global Village
Taking a break at the Lodge rest area
Passing through the Throne Room over teetering stone columns
Enjoying a range of global cuisine in the Marketplace
Enjoying Mayan temple ruins
Getting up close and personal with penguins and tortoises on the beach
Crossing the tightrope bridge over tigers
Crossing the suspended bridge over crocodiles
Walking with kangaroos through the Australian outback
Walking through the head-high grass in the African Savannah

To commemorate the opening of Toy Story Mania!, a new attraction at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida and Disneyland Resort in California, Disney Parks sent Buzz Lightyear on Space Shuttle Discovery. The action figure will reside on the International Space Station through Fall 2008.

Watch the movie.

So, this is pretty easy to setup. Simply go to earth.google.com and install the Google Earth Application. Then simply search for “disney world”. Hunt out the yellow ears, click on them, and away you go.

Burbank, Calif. (June 5, 2008) – Walt Disney Parks and Resorts is harnessing the power of Google Earth™ to build an interactive, three-dimensional tour of Walt Disney World Resort that brings you one step closer to a true park experience. With direct links to Disney’s online travel-planning tools, Walt Disney World Resort in 3D will re-invent how people plan and book vacations.

Beginning today, Disney guests can use Google Earth, a program which offers a 3D digital model of the world, to virtually tour Walt Disney World’s four theme parks, as well as its 22 hotels and resorts. An overview of Walt Disney World Resort in 3D, along with instructions on how to get started, can be found at www.disneyworld.com/3dparks. Existing 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. “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, will 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 nine out of ten Walt Disney World guests use the internet to plan their vacations and Walt Disney World Resort in 3D provides the latest 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. Disneyworld.com visitors can view videos and other information about viewing Walt Disney World in 3D at www.disneyworld.com/3dparks.

The depth and vivid detail of Walt Disney World Resort in 3D project makes this 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 Mickey Ears to open an info window.
• In the info window, click “Show Disney World in 3D.” Now explore!

“This is the most detailed 3D rendering undertaken within Google Earth to date,” continued Rasulo. “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 Walt Disney World Resort in 3D provides is one of scope and interaction.”

During the project’s first phase, eight photographers worked for 10 days to shoot all the visible surfaces of Walt Disney World, including every building façade. A total 100,000 photos were taken in all; these became the start for some 1,500 3D models that populate the virtual tour. Walt Disney World Resort in 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 350 million users, furthering the Google Earth team’s goal of recreating the world as it really is.

About Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts is where dreams come true and magic comes to life. This segment of The Walt Disney Company encompasses 11 theme parks at five of the world’s leading family vacation destinations – Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World Resort, Tokyo Disney Resort, Disneyland Resort Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland. It also includes: Disney Cruise Line; Disney Vacation Club; Adventures by Disney; Disney Regional Entertainment, which operates the ESPN Zone sports dining and entertainment centers; World of Disney stores in New York, Orlando and Anaheim; and Walt Disney Imagineering, which creates and designs all Disney parks, resorts and attractions. Walt Disney Parks and Resorts had approximately $10 billion in revenues in fiscal 2006. More information about Disney Travel on Demand and all of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts can be found at www.DisneyParks.com.

Google and Google Earth are trademarks of Google Inc.

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Contacts

Caroline Capers
Access Communications for Disney Parks & Resorts
415/844-6246
ccapers@accesspr.com

Beth Gardiner
Access Communications for Disney Parks & Resorts
917/522-3522
bgardiner@accesspr.com

Disney have posted some cute photos of Woody watching Buzz on his launch from Cape Canaveral.

TO INFINITY…AND BEYOND!: Woody, the sheriff from the “Toy Story” films, watches the Space Shuttle Discovery with oversized binoculars as it launches May 31, 2008 from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Aboard Discovery is a 12-inch tall action figure of Woody’s pal from “Toy Story,” Buzz Lightyear. Woody joined thousands of launch-watchers to view the launch in Veterans’ Memorial Park in Titusville, Fla. Disney Parks worked with NASA to include the Buzz Lightyear toy on mission STS-124 to celebrate the opening of a new attraction — called “Toy Story Mania!” — that features Buzz Lightyear and Woody. The toy on the spacecraft will be transferred to the International Space Station where it will spend several months, before being sent back to Florida later this year on a future Space Shuttle mission. A series of educational programs for school children has been planned for the toy’s time in space. (Scott Miller, photographer)