Beginning today, there’s a new way to explore and experience Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort. We’ve teamed up with location-based web service Gowalla to make ‘checking-in’ to your favorite Disney places a lot more magical.
The fun starts with our new digital Passport Stamps. Hundreds of locations within Disney Parks will feature these exclusive Stamps created by Gowalla – it’s the largest number of custom Stamps ever developed for a brand. The Stamps can be collected and kept as a virtual scrapbook by using Gowalla and checking-in around the parks. Take a look at some of my favorites.
You’ll also be able to view park happenings with custom Disney Passport pages at each park that include maps featuring a check-in stream, a list of popular places and Trips.
Trips are a special “bundle” of attractions by age or interest.
- “For the Little Ones (under 44 inches)” is a dream track fit for pint-sized park-goers to Magic Kingdom in Florida. It includes “Mickey’s PhilharMagic,” Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Peter Pan’s Flight and more.
- “Characters in the Wild” treats Disney’s Animal Kingdom guests to a show track that includes “Festival of the Lion King,” “Finding Nemo-The Musical,” “Flights of Wonder” and more.
- Just in time for the holidays at the Disneyland park, “Santa’s Reindeer Roundup,” “Believe…in Holiday Magic” fireworks and Sleeping Beauty Winter Castle are on the menu for the “Seasons Greetings” Trip.
Of course, there’s more to come. We’ll be highlighting special events in the parks in upcoming months and you’ll be able to secure unique Passport Stamps for checking in at custom events via Gowalla to record your experiences as they happen.
You can start your Disney Parks adventure now by going to Gowalla.com/WaltDisneyWorld, Gowalla.com/Disneyland or Gowalla.com/DisneyParks. You’ll need to join Gowalla via the web or download the free application onto your smartphone.
Oh, and be sure and let us know your favorite stamps or any others you’d love to see.
Comments
I’m pretty bummed. My phone won’t allow me to connect with Gowalla, so I won’t have this option. I wish they’d have wifi available in the parks for those of us who have iPod Touches, but not iPhones. *sigh* It would be so fun to be able to update from my iPod, since I can’t do so from my phone.
Oh well! 🙁
Wi-Fi would be great for those of us that live in the states too. Your battery can die pretty fast if you are using any kind of park app like Mobile Magic to make your way around. I’d even pay a small fee for the day.
It would be nice, if Disney installed Wi-Fi through the parks, so foreigners would also be able to use these features.
I hope there is a Disney Fairytale Wedding stamp!
I’m loving the stamps and ready to play with Gowalla! Can’t wait to get me Disney stamps in a couple of weeks!
I am not very happy; this is why I loved Pal Mickey, as it wasn’t costing anything additional. I also loved the Nintendo testing, as I also didn’t need any data. Data Plans when you are from Out of Country are ridiculously expensive. I think it is fair to say I will sit this one out.
Awesome! Just downloaded Gowalla after seeing this to prepare for my trip for a week at Disney World starting December 6th! Any chance we can get an update on the Mobile Magic for the Droid? It has been a year since the app came out and about a year we’ve been waiting for the Droid compatible version to be released.
I normally use foursquare also… However, it looks like this trip I’ll be using Gowalla and backing it up w/ foursquare for anything that Gowalla doesn’t include. I love the stamps, and the trips seem to be a good selection. Might you guys add trips for the tours you guys offer too? Keep up the great work!
I am not a smart phone owner so I guess I too will be one of those left out :(. But I am sure there will be those out there who also are not owners who will be just so they may participate in this app. I would enjoy it but I felt like I was wasting my money on all those fees for internet on my phone and never using it. It is a cute idea though. bummer.
Thomas, a HUGE score. Thanks for going with Gowalla and NOT Foursquare…the badges are BEAUTIFUL!!!
I am personally glad to see this on Gowalla. I don’t use Gowalla, but I will now. Foursquare’s locations are HORRIBLY inaccurate, and there are like 20 locations for the same thing every time you visit Disneyland. With new additions on my last visit to the Resort including “Nana’s Car” or “Matterhorn Make Out Spot.” Until Foursquare locations can become more accurate and moderated , I will start using Gowalla and drop Foursquare, because it seems all locations are accurate and appropriately placed.
Robert, it takes under a minute to take out your phone and check-in… my bet is you’ll be in line a little longer than that at each attraction. 😉 It’s really not that different than taking out a park map, and checking off what you’ve done. I do agree that folks use their smartphones a little too much, though… and Windows Phone 7 TV advertising seems to agree. 😀
yeah no one uses that app, should of partnered with foursquare!
Hmm. I thought the point of vacation was to spend time with loved ones and not to be playing with your cell phone every 5 minutes. Cute idea, but there is so much more to enjoy at the parks that doesn’t involve the use of your phone!
Just because foursquare is the most popular doesn’t mean it’s the better program. Gowalla incorporates great graphics – as we see above – and I’m thrilled that you’re partnering together!
Regarding Foursquare vs. Gowalla:
Gowalla is about exploring and “going out”, and recording your adventures… not becoming, uh, Mayor or Dictator by checking in a million times. 😉 It’s also a much better designed application and ecosystem… with far greater usability. The exceptional graphic design and unique spot “passport” stamps really make it stand out. But hey… what do I know? 😉
FYI: There are also “items” (>150?) that can be found, swapped, traded… for the folks that like a little bit of “game” as they explore. But it’s completely optional. For this promo, Gowalla has 3 items: a Hitch Hiking Ghost, a Partner Statue and a Mickey Hat. Good luck, folks.
Thor, this is all virtual… if you want to see some of the “passport” stamps you’ll get when you visit/check-in to the attractions via a smartphone. Obviously, this isn’t targeted at folks that don’t carry phones at Disneyland. 🙂
Tried to check this out on the Disney network, but whaddya know!? Disney blocks Gowalla! Figures.
This is confusing. These are stamps that the Cast Members give you at each ride? Or it’s a bar code thing you scan with a machine and a stamp prints out? But then from the comments here it sounds like you are supposed to use your cellular telephone with this? I don’t carry a phone with me at Disneyland, as it’s a place to escape not to drag the world along with me.
Can you get the stamps without a machine? Care to explain this for those who have never heard of “Gowalla”? Gowalla sounds like a new dance craze, like the Watusi, if you ask me. 😉
I disagree with users who say Foursquare would have been a better choice. Foursquare, though home to a larger audience, has such a cold and technical-looking style/design. These beautiful Gowalla stamps is what makes this partnership so rewarding for users. On Foursquare, these graphics would not be nearly as lovely.
I am thrilled to pieces that you partnered with Gowalla. I do not like Foursquare…but I adore Gowalla and think that you made a fantastic choice.
I have loved Disney since birth (I was born in Anaheim…my first job was at Disneyland) and I adore Gowalla. This partnership gets a perfect rating from me.
I’ll be sure to take my family to Disneyland SOON! These stamp images are gorgeous and I have to have them all in my Gowalla Passport.
Great job, Disney!
😀
They should make a remembering VMK pin that you get if you check-in to the former VMK Kiosk in Tomorrowland! That would be cool!
YES! My older daughter has been using Gowalla for awhile. She got me hooked. I’m visiting Disney World in March and this will make it lots of fun. I love the Castle, the Lion King, the Tea Cup, the Starburst Mickey….
I’m going to echo everyone else here and say Gowalla is a shadow of its former self. No one I know still uses it. Foursquare is what you SHOULD have gone with. I still check-in as much I can on that. I’ve held everything from the Haunted Mansion to the Tower of Terror at one point or another.
Space Mountain Pin!…
You guys should have gone with 4square.
@Paul – Go through your Gowalla history and you should see the updated stamps. I even see some of my old check-ins applied to the trips which count towards the special pins!
I think this is a great idea and love it as I check-in with Gowalla and Foursquare on every visit. I just hope that Gowalla takes care of duplicate entries and merges locations accordingly.
I use Four Square, but as you have partnered with Gowalla a will be using it around Disneyland next week when we take out 19 month old. That way all my friends and family back home can see what we are doing. Four Square for home Gowalla for Disney!
As both a Disney fan and foursquare fan, I’m glad to see you’ve seen the value in location-based services. I hope though, that you’ll consider a partnership with foursquare, as well. They have much more reach than Gowalla and legions of passionate fans who’d love to earn badges in your parks.
How fun! I love Gowalla and am thrilled to see that Disney has partnered with Gowalla to provide park visitors with a fun interactive way to earn stamps, pins, and badges. As far as commentor #1 mentioning that not everyone has a smartphone, I think the majority of the people who don’t have a smartphone won’t feel too left out as they probably won’t know about the opportunity. Unless it’s advertised all over the Disney parks.
Awesome, I love that Disney is embracing location-based social networks. Gowalla seems like a great choice because of the additional features like trips, etc.
This is a great idea but should have partnered with Foursquare instead!
Wow, pretty surprised to see this, and also that you went with Gowalla over Foursquare considering the latter’s dominance in the market. Either way, I’m excited to see Disney Parks getting more social!
I have not used Gowalla yet, but with a partnership like this I’m ready to start! What a great idea and a fun, new way to explore the Parks. I’m looking forward to whenever our next visit is to WDW so I can “check-in” to my favorite attractions. 🙂
NCDisneyDad Bob °O°
Oh man, I just returned from two weeks there and used Gowalla to check in at every attraction we visited. I would have earned each of the trips. 🙁 Shame this wasn’t ready sooner. Hopefully I will get to do them again in the future.
It’s a cool idea…but not everyone has a smart phone. Not everyone has a cell phone. Your little extras that need the use of such things just make the have-nots feel more left out.
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