Difference between revisions of "The Walt Disney World Explorer"
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|introduction = '''''The Walt Disney World Explorer''''' is a point and select application about the [[Wikipedia:Walt Disney World|Walt Disney World Resort]] in Florida developed by [[Company:Mindsai Productions|Mindsai Productions]], and co-developed and published by [[Company:Disney Interactive Studios|Disney Interactive]]. This page covers both the original 1996 release and the 1998 ''Second Edition'' release. | |introduction = '''''The Walt Disney World Explorer''''' is a point and select application about the [[Wikipedia:Walt Disney World|Walt Disney World Resort]] in Florida developed by [[Company:Mindsai Productions|Mindsai Productions]], and co-developed and published by [[Company:Disney Interactive Studios|Disney Interactive]]. This page covers both the original 1996 release and the 1998 ''Second Edition'' release. | ||
|release history = The application was first released on September 24, 1996—a week before the 25th anniversary of the resort—for Windows and Macintosh. An updated version with new topics, '''''The Walt Disney World Explorer – Second Edition''''',<!--Bolded because the Second Edition redirects to this page.--> was released on April 23, 1998, the day after the opening of [[Wikipedia:Disney's Animal Kingdom|Disney's Animal Kingdom]]. Because of rapidly evolving technology, increased public access to the internet, and changes to the resort over the years, no further editions were made. The application is no longer sold by Disney as a result. The ''Second Edition'' adds a disclaimer in the credits and manual that reads, "Please note that because of continual improvements, some of the information contained in ''The Walt Disney World Explorer – Second Edition'' may not be current." | |release history = The application was first released on September 24, 1996—a week before the 25th anniversary of the resort—for Windows and Macintosh. An updated version with new topics, '''''The Walt Disney World Explorer – Second Edition''''',<!--Bolded because the Second Edition redirects to this page.--> was released on April 23, 1998, the day after the opening of [[Wikipedia:Disney's Animal Kingdom|Disney's Animal Kingdom]]. Because of rapidly evolving technology, increased public access to the internet, and changes to the resort over the years, no further editions were made. The application is no longer sold by Disney as a result. The ''Second Edition'' adds a disclaimer in the credits and manual that reads, "Please note that because of continual improvements, some of the information contained in ''The Walt Disney World Explorer – Second Edition'' may not be current." | ||
− | |current state = Despite the low resolution, the application runs well on most modern systems, although some [[Windows Compatibility Mode]] settings are required to fully replicate the original experience and improve legibility on high-resolution screens, | + | |current state = Despite the low resolution, the application runs well on most modern systems, although some [[Windows Compatibility Mode]] settings are required to fully replicate the original experience and improve legibility on high-resolution screens. However, Windows 11 has broken usage of the application with Windows Compatibility Mode.{{cn|date=2023-12-18|reason=}} AVI videos may not play within the application; see [[#AVI videos not available|AVI videos not available]] below for a fix. The application in both its original version and the Second Edition version uses a 16-bit installer. A workaround is available (see [[#Installing on 64-bit versions of Windows|Installing on 64-bit versions of Windows]]). |
}} | }} | ||
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|minOS = 3.1, 95 | |minOS = 3.1, 95 | ||
− | |minCPU = '''Original version:''' 486-50MHz or faster processor<br>'''Second | + | |minCPU = '''Original version:''' 486-50MHz or faster processor<br>'''Second Edition:''' 486-66MHz or faster processor |
|minRAM = 8 MB | |minRAM = 8 MB | ||
|minHD = '''Original version:'''<br>14 MB<br>'''Second Edition:'''<br>20 MB for minimum installation on Windows 95<br>30 MB for minimum installation on Windows 3.1 | |minHD = '''Original version:'''<br>14 MB<br>'''Second Edition:'''<br>20 MB for minimum installation on Windows 95<br>30 MB for minimum installation on Windows 3.1 |
Latest revision as of 02:51, 26 June 2024
Developers | |
---|---|
Mindsai Productions | |
Disney Interactive Studios | |
Publishers | |
Disney Interactive Studios | |
Release dates | |
Windows | September 24, 1996* |
Windows | April 23, 1998** |
Mac OS (Classic) | September 24, 1996* |
Mac OS (Classic) | April 23, 1998** |
Taxonomy | |
Modes | Singleplayer, Multiplayer |
Pacing | Relaxed |
Controls | Point and select |
Genres | Educational |
Art styles | Cartoon, Pre-rendered graphics, FMV |
Themes | Contemporary, North America, Amusement park |
Series | Disney Parks |
Disney Parks | |
---|---|
Subseries of Disney | |
Coaster | 1993 |
The Walt Disney World Explorer | 1996 |
The Walt Disney World Explorer - Second Edition | 1998 |
Walt Disney World Quest: Magical Racing Tour | 2000 |
Ultimate Ride | 2001 |
Virtual Magic Kingdom | 2005 |
Disney Magic Kingdoms | 2016 |
Disneyland Adventures | 2017 |
The Walt Disney World Explorer is a point and select application about the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida developed by Mindsai Productions, and co-developed and published by Disney Interactive. This page covers both the original 1996 release and the 1998 Second Edition release.
The application was first released on September 24, 1996—a week before the 25th anniversary of the resort—for Windows and Macintosh. An updated version with new topics, The Walt Disney World Explorer – Second Edition, was released on April 23, 1998, the day after the opening of Disney's Animal Kingdom. Because of rapidly evolving technology, increased public access to the internet, and changes to the resort over the years, no further editions were made. The application is no longer sold by Disney as a result. The Second Edition adds a disclaimer in the credits and manual that reads, "Please note that because of continual improvements, some of the information contained in The Walt Disney World Explorer – Second Edition may not be current."
Despite the low resolution, the application runs well on most modern systems, although some Windows Compatibility Mode settings are required to fully replicate the original experience and improve legibility on high-resolution screens. However, Windows 11 has broken usage of the application with Windows Compatibility Mode.[citation needed] AVI videos may not play within the application; see AVI videos not available below for a fix. The application in both its original version and the Second Edition version uses a 16-bit installer. A workaround is available (see Installing on 64-bit versions of Windows).
General information
- The Walt Disney World Explorer on Fandom's The Disney Wiki, featuring a list of topics in the application.
Availability
Source | DRM | Notes | Keys | OS |
---|---|---|---|---|
Retail |
- This application is not available digitally.
Version differences
- Installing the Second Edition to the same folder as the original version will overwrite it, meaning that if a user wishes to downgrade back to the original version, then the Second Edition would have to be uninstalled first.
- Although the program handbook for the Second Edition states that the original version must be uninstalled first, users can run the installer normally without having to uninstall the original version first. It's also possible to have both versions installed on the same machine if they're installed in separate directories.
Game data
Configuration file(s) location
System | Location |
---|---|
Windows | |
Mac OS (Classic) |
Save game data location
System | Location |
---|---|
Windows | HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Disney Interactive\Walt Disney World Explorer\#.0 [Note 1] |
Mac OS (Classic) |
- The
#.0
in the above Windows Registry path corresponds to the two different editions of this application; i.e.1.0
for the first edition and2.0
for the Second Edition. - The only save data that the application saves are found Hidden Mickeys and the high score for The Walt Disney World Quiz Challenge.
Video
Graphics feature | State | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|
Widescreen resolution | The application runs at 640x480. Any unused space on a monitor is blacked out.
|
||
Multi-monitor | |||
Ultra-widescreen | |||
4K Ultra HD | |||
Field of view (FOV) | |||
Windowed | Always runs at fullscreen. | ||
Borderless fullscreen windowed | See the glossary page for potential workarounds. | ||
Anisotropic filtering (AF) | |||
Anti-aliasing (AA) | |||
Vertical sync (Vsync) | |||
60 FPS | Only for scrolling through the main overworld, viewing 360° panoramas, and dragging the monorail on the Walt Disney World Timeline. None of the animations run at 60 FPS, and the full-motion AVI videos are 15 FPS. | ||
120+ FPS | |||
High dynamic range display (HDR) |
Input
Keyboard and mouse | State | Notes |
---|---|---|
Remapping | See the glossary page for potential workarounds. | |
Mouse acceleration | ||
Mouse sensitivity | ||
Mouse input in menus | Required to use the application. | |
Mouse Y-axis inversion | ||
Controller | ||
Controller support |
Controller types |
---|
Audio
Audio feature | State | Notes |
---|---|---|
Separate volume controls | No in-app settings. | |
Surround sound | Audio is monaural; all Wave audio tracks are in mono and have a sample rate of 22050 Hz. Application mixes all stereo tracks (should one be used in place of one of the application's tracks) down to mono. | |
Subtitles | ||
Closed captions | ||
Mute on focus lost | Without Windows Compatibility Mode, any audio that was last playing when the focus was lost will restart upon returning to the application. With Windows Compatibility Mode, the application will continue running in the background uninterrupted; any slideshows, audio, and animations will continue to play even though the audio is muted from loss of focus. | |
Royalty free audio |
Localizations
Language | UI | Audio | Sub | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
English |
Issues unresolved
- All issues apply to both versions.
App refuses to launch or runs without audio and cannot play AVI videos
- On more recent versions of Windows 11, the application either doesn't launch when trying to open it from its installation folder or it runs completely muted with AVI videos unable to play, bringing up "Cannot find file" errors.
Recent versions of Windows 11 somehow broke Windows Compatibility Mode for this application, thus preventing it from running normally when compatibility mode is turned on. Currently, the only way to fix this problem is to disable Compatibility mode (untick the box that says "Run this program in compatibility mode for:"), which will reintroduce the "one audio file at a time" issue but will allow it to run with sound and working AVI videos nonetheless.
Note that the "Run in 640 x 480 resolution" option does not cause these issues and can be left on.
Issues fixed
- All fixes apply to both versions.
Installing on 64-bit versions of Windows
- Both original and Second Edition disc releases use a 16-bit installer.
Install with a modified 32-bit installer[1] |
---|
|
Installing the application messes with Windows Explorer on startup
- After installing the application on a modern machine and going through the mandatory restart after setup, blank Explorer.exe errors with yellow warning signs appear on startup, and the machine always opens the File Explorer windows that were open when the application was being installed. This is due to the application adding a deprecated string value to the Windows Registry during the setup that was supposed to be deleted upon returning to Windows after the restart.
Fix registry[citation needed] |
---|
|
AVI videos not available
- When playing AVI videos from within the application on a modern computer, the application will only play the audio and show a white box with red diagonal lines, a black border, and a message that says, "Video not available, cannot find 'vids:IV32' decompressor."
Install Indeo 3.2 codec[citation needed] |
---|
|
Sound effects do not play on overworld maps or from Tinker Bell cursor
- While the application runs well on modern machines, it can only play one audio file at a time when running natively on such. This means that sound effects from elements seen in the overworld maps and from clicking with Tinker Bell will not play; only the background music and the narration (which is supposed to play on top of the music, but instead interrupts it).
- You can ignore this fix if you want to hear the overworld narration more clearly or if you find the sound effects distracting.
Use Windows Compatibility Mode[citation needed] |
---|
|
Tinker Bell cursor jumps and sticks to corners in virtual machine
- When running the application on a virtual machine, the Tinker Bell cursor jumps to the corners of the application's screen when moving her, hindering usability. This bug also causes the main Walt Disney World overworld map to scroll too fast.
- This is probably because of how the virtual machine traps the cursor, which causes a problem for the application as it also traps the cursor within its screen.
If you are using VMware Workstation, change the mouse optimization setting to "always." This should fix the issue.
Otherwise, install it on the native OS and follow any of the fixes above if you need to.
Network
Multiplayer types
Type | Native | Players | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Local play | 2 | Versus Walt Disney World Quiz Challenge minigame. |
Other information
API
Executable | PPC | 16-bit | 32-bit | 64-bit | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Windows | |||||
Mac OS (Classic) |
System requirements
Windows | ||
---|---|---|
Minimum | Recommended | |
Operating system (OS) | 3.1, 95 | |
Processor (CPU) | Original version: 486-50MHz or faster processor Second Edition: 486-66MHz or faster processor | |
System memory (RAM) | 8 MB | 16 MB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) | Original version: 14 MB Second Edition: 20 MB for minimum installation on Windows 95 30 MB for minimum installation on Windows 3.1 |
Original version: 27 MB Second Edition: 33 MB for normal installation on Windows 95 38 MB for normal installation on Windows 3.1 |
Sound (audio device) | 8-bit sound card | |
Other | Double-speed (2x) CD-ROM drive 256-color VESA, PCI or other local bus video Microsoft compatible mouse |
- Information is taken from both the original release and the Second Edition.
Mac OS | ||
---|---|---|
Minimum | ||
Operating system (OS) | System 7.1 | |
Processor (CPU) | 68040 or faster processor | |
System memory (RAM) | 8 MB (16 MB for Power Macintosh) | |
Hard disk drive (HDD) | ||
Other | Double-speed (2x) CD-ROM drive 640x480x256 color video display |
- Information is taken from the original release only.
Notes
- ↑ Applications writing to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE
will be redirected to other locations based on various criterias, see the glossary page for more details.