By Alton Jerome McFarland
The Official DisneyWorld website (located at http://disney.go.com/disneyworld/index2.html
) is a brightly colored mix of information and entertainment. The
site's main purpose is to allow easy access to all materials pertaining
to a visit to DisneyWorld. Along with those materials, though, the
site also offers some recreational tidbits solely for the websurfer's
enjoyment.
The style of the website reflects the whimsical image that Disney
strives to cultivate in all its endeavors. Blinking sparkles adorn
the main page and give the site a certain magical feel. As a websurfer's
mouse moves over graphical links, the sound of tinkling chimes only
adds to the magical theme. Most of those links lead the site's visitors
to areas where they can explore individual parks, purchase tickets,
and find out about park events. Other links lead to games, printable
coloring pages, and other types of entertainment targeted at children.
For location-based entertainment like DisneyWorld it is very important
to be able to disseminate information about their business in a fast
and efficient manner. Since visitors to the parks come from all over
the world, it can be difficult to keep potential customers abreast
of promotions, changes to the park, additions, etc. Through the DisneyWorld
website such information can be easily distributed to anyone who wishes
to receive it. One special feature allows visitors to the site to
see what changes have taken place since the last time they visited.
Information like that would be very difficult to obtain without a
dynamically updateable medium like a webpage. The combination of location
based entertainment with digital advertising/services is a perfect
match. Before making the trip to DisneyWorld, vacationers are now
able to be much better prepared. Park maps, information on resorts,
and travel suggestions are now all available at the click of a mouse.
In the digital world, The Happiest Place on Earth is accessible from
home and arranging a physical visit has never been easier.