The Walt Disney World Explorer

Last updated
The Walt Disney World Explorer
The Walt Disney World Explorer - Second Edition box art.jpg
Box art of the 1998 released Second Edition, with Windows CD-ROM label
Developer(s)
Publisher(s) Disney Interactive
Platform(s)
Release
  • Original version:
    • US: September 24, 1996
    [1]
  • Second Edition:
    • US: April 23, 1998
    [2]

The Walt Disney World Explorer is a point and click Windows and Macintosh application developed by Mindsai Productions and Disney Interactive, and published by the latter. The application focuses on the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida. It consists of narrated virtual tours, trivia, and slideshows of the resort's parks, attractions, hotels, and other related topics. Various minigames are also built into the application, such as a quiz that allows users to test their knowledge of the resort, and a game that involves finding Hidden Mickeys.

Contents

Two editions of this program were released; the first edition was released on September 24, 1996, [1] in time for the resort's 25th anniversary a week later. An updated release, The Walt Disney World Explorer – Second Edition, was released on April 23, 1998, [2] with updated information on new attractions such as Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, new resorts such as Disney's Coronado Springs Resort, and Disney's Animal Kingdom, which first opened the day before the Second Edition's release.

Overview

The application is mainly a slideshow viewer that features photographs and images related to the Walt Disney World Resort, accompanied by narration by Hettie Lynne Hurtes and Corey Burton.

Upon launching the application and going through or skipping the opening cutscene, the user is brought to a large, stylized map of the resort filled with clickable hotspots that are visually represented by colorful depictions of what their topics are about. The user has Tinker Bell from Peter Pan (1953) as their pointer. If Tinker Bell is on a clickable hotspot or element, her wand will sparkle with pixie dust. Additionally, on the map, a tooltip appearing as a scroll will appear over the hotspot for (as indicated by a yellow scroll) topics or (as indicated by a blue scroll on the main resort map only) to dive into a separate map focused on a themed land, two themed lands, or an entire theme park. [lower-alpha 1] The user also has access to the "Walt Disney World Compass", a compass in the shape of Mickey Mouse's head on the bottom-left corner of the screen that allows users to ask for help, exit the program, go one step back (up to the resort map), or search for a specific area of interest within the application.

All topics have a slideshow with narrated descriptions of the topic in question. Many topics, usually attractions, have additional "Backstage" and "Trivia" options; "Backstage" features an additional slideshow or video giving a "behind-the-scenes" look at the topic, while "Trivia" features another slideshow with additional trivia about the topic. A few topics also feature either a "More Stuff" option, featuring another slideshow or video relevant to the topic, or an option to view a rectilinear 360° panoramic photograph relating to the topic, also companied by narration. Furthermore, the application features a number of clickable Hidden Mickeys icons hidden in the last photographs of several topics' main slideshow for the user to find, tracked by a counter on the bottom-right of a topic's screen (as well as by a found Hidden Mickey being highlighted); finding ten Hidden Mickeys will play a brief video clip featuring Walt Disney and the song "Congratulations, Mr. Mickey Mouse" before automatically resetting the counter and "re-hiding" the Hidden Mickeys.

There are also a number of "interactivities" found throughout the program:

Reception

In a brief November 1996 review of the application, Steve Daly of Entertainment Weekly gave the application a grade of C, saying at the time that the overworld map was slow to redraw, and it was too easy to click on the wrong option when using the Mickey Mouse head-shaped compass. [3]

Notes

  1. ↑ Specifically, Main Street, U.S.A., Adventureland, Frontierland and Liberty Square together, Fantasyland and Mickey's Toontown Fair together (today all Fantasyland, with the former Toontown Fair now being the Storybook Circus sub-area of Fantasyland), or Tomorrowland in Magic Kingdom; Future World (today World Celebration, World Discovery, and World Nature) or World Showcase in Epcot; or all of Disney Studios Florida (the application's name for what was then actually named Disney-MGM Studios and today named Disney's Hollywood Studios).

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magic Kingdom</span> Theme park at Walt Disney World

Magic Kingdom Park is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, it opened on October 1, 1971, and is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Experiences division, the official park name has changed slightly over the years, from Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom (1971–1994) and The Magic Kingdom (1994–2017), the park was initialized by Walt Disney and designed by WED Enterprises. the park layout and attractions were based on Disneyland in Anaheim, California, and are dedicated to fairy tales and Disney characters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tokyo Disneyland</span> Theme park in Chiba, Japan

Tokyo Disneyland is a 115-acre (47 ha) theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, near Tokyo. Its main gate is directly adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Disney park to be built outside the United States and it opened on April 15, 1983. The park was constructed by WED Enterprises in the same style as Disneyland in California and Magic Kingdom in Florida. It is owned by The Oriental Land Company, which licenses intellectual property from The Walt Disney Company. Tokyo Disneyland and its companion park, Tokyo DisneySea, are the only Disney parks in the world not owned or operated by The Walt Disney Company in any capacity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fantasyland</span> Themed land at Disney theme parks

Fantasyland is one of the "themed lands" at all of the Magic Kingdom-style parks run by The Walt Disney Company around the world. It is themed after Disney's animated fairy tale feature films. Each Fantasyland has a castle, as well as several gentle rides themed after those Disney animated feature films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Autopia</span> Attraction at Disney theme parks

Autopia is a race car track attraction at various Disney theme parks, in which patrons steer specially designed cars through an enclosed track. Versions of Autopia exist at Disneyland at Anaheim, California and Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallée, France. There was also an Autopia at Hong Kong Disneyland on Lantau Island, Hong Kong before it closed on June 11, 2016. Other versions of the attraction can be found at the Magic Kingdom as the Tomorrowland Speedway and formerly at Tokyo Disneyland as the Grand Circuit Raceway. A previous generation of Disneyland's Autopia operated for over a decade at the Walt Disney Hometown Museum in Marceline, Missouri; one of the retired cars is now on display.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walt Disney World Railroad</span> Steam railroad system in Walt Disney World

The Walt Disney World Railroad (WDWRR) is a 3-foot narrow-gauge heritage railroad and attraction located within the Magic Kingdom theme park of Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida, in the United States. Its route is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) in length and encircles most of the park, with train stations in three different park areas. The rail line, constructed by WED Enterprises, operates with four historic steam locomotives originally built by Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It takes about 20 minutes for each train to complete a round trip on the WDWRR's mainline loop. On a typical day, the railroad has two trains in operation; on busy days, it has three trains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mickey's Toontown</span> Themed land at Disney parks

Mickey's Toontown is a themed land at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland, two theme parks operated by Walt Disney Parks & Resorts and The Oriental Land Company respectively. At Tokyo Disneyland, this land is named Toontown. A similar land existed at the Magic Kingdom until 2011 and was named Mickey's Toontown Fair. Walt Disney Studios Park in Disneyland Paris has a related land called Toon Studio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin</span> Disney parks dark ride

Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin is a dark ride located at the Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland theme parks, based on the 1988 Disney/Amblin film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Both versions of the attraction are located in Mickey's Toontown. The Disneyland version opened on January 26, 1994, a year after the Mickey's Toontown area opened, and the Tokyo Disneyland version opened on April 15, 1996. In December 2021, the Disneyland version was updated to include a new plot element of Jessica Rabbit in the role of a detective who is determined to stop a crime wave in Toontown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage</span> Former Dark Ride at the Magic Kingdom Theme Park

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage was an attraction at the Magic Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World from 1971 through 1994. Based on the characters and settings of the 1954 Disney film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which was adapted from Jules Verne's 1870 novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas, it was a re-theming of the Submarine Voyage attraction at Disneyland. The ride involved a 20-minute submarine ride through a lagoon filled with sea life and mermaids.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Barnstormer</span> Roller coaster at Disneys Magic Kingdom

The Barnstormer is a junior roller coaster. It is located in the Storybook Circus section of the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort. The Great Goofini's Barnstormer is the successor to The Barnstormer at Goofy's Wiseacre Farm which closed in February 2011 as part of the Fantasyland expansion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fantasyland Theatre</span> Outdoor theater at Disneyland

Fantasyland Theatre, formerly Videopolis, is the name of a 5,000-square-foot (460 m2) outdoor amphitheater at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Located in Fantasyland, it has 1,800 seats and functions as a venue for various shows. In 1995, the location was renamed to Fantasyland Theater. In 2013, it was renamed to the English-classic spelling, Fantasyland Theatre, with the opening of the venue's show Mickey and the Magical Map.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toon Studio</span> Themed land at Walt Disney Studios Park

Toon Studio is a land at Walt Disney Studios Park in Disneyland Paris, France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disneyland</span> Amusement park in Anaheim, California

Disneyland is a theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, and opened on July 17, 1955.

Mickey's Pirate and Princess Party was a hard-ticketed event held throughout the months of January through June at the Magic Kingdom theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida outside Orlando. A smaller version was also planned for Disneyland Paris Resort in 2011, but was cancelled. This event combined two of The Walt Disney Company's franchises, the Disney Princess line and the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure</span> Dark ride attraction

The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure is a ride attraction based on the 1989 Disney animated film The Little Mermaid, located in Paradise Gardens Park at Disney California Adventure and in Fantasyland at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom Park, where it is titled Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid. The ride opened on June 3, 2011 at Disney California Adventure, and on December 6, 2012 at Magic Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pixie Hollow</span> Meet and greet at Disney theme parks

Pixie Hollow is a character meet and greet attraction at Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland, offering guests the opportunity to meet Tinker Bell and her friends from the Disney Fairies franchise, including Vidia, Terrence, Fawn, Rosetta, Silvermist, Iridessa, and Periwinkle. The attraction is designed to create the illusion of gradually shrinking to Pixie size as the scenic elements in the queue increase in scale as guests approach Tinker Bell's teapot house.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sporcle</span> Trivia quiz website

Sporcle is a trivia and pub quiz website created by trivia enthusiast Matt Ramme. First launched on April 23, 2007, the website allows users to play and make quizzes on a wide range of subjects, with the option to earn badges by completing challenges. The name Sporcle is a portmanteau of sports and oracle.

<i>Fantasia</i> (franchise) American media franchise owned by The Walt Disney Company

Fantasia is an American media franchise owned by The Walt Disney Company that commenced in 1940 with the theatrical release of the film of the same name.

Walt Disney World Inside Out was an American television show that aired on the Disney Channel from 1994 to 1997. Initially airing monthly, it later became a weekly program, and featured footage of attractions at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

<i>Celebrate! Tokyo Disneyland</i> Nighttime show at Tokyo Disneyland

Celebrate! Tokyo Disneyland was a nighttime spectacular at Tokyo Disneyland that premiered on July 10, 2018, alongside Dreaming Up!, Let's Party Gras, and Hello, New York! as part of the 35th anniversary of Tokyo Disney Resort. The show was produced by Walt Disney Creative Entertainment, under Lead Creative Executive of Parades and Spectaculars Steve Davison.

References

  1. ↑ Daly, Steve (November 8, 1996). "CD-ROM Review: 'The Walt Disney World Explorer'". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved March 19, 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.