Snap and Disney team up to create an AR Cinderella Castle mural at Disney World – TechCrunch

Snap and Disney announced a new collaboration to create a virtual mural at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom Park using augmented reality.

For the 50th Anniversary of Walt Disney World Resort, visitors can use Snap’s AR technology to add photos to the Cinderella Castle Mural of Memories.

The mural uses customers’ Disney PhotoPass photos, which are taken by designated photographers at the park, or they can choose a photo from a collection of Disney characters and icons. Visitors can then add to the mural using the My Disney Experience app, when they’re in Magic Kingdom Park. Once you’re in the app, select “Mural of Memories” from the home screen and hold your phone up to Cinderella Castle. Through the app, you can see the available sections of the castle and choose where to pin your photo. The app will ask you to choose a portrait-oriented image from Disney PhotoPass or from the in-app gallery.

The app also lets you save and share a video of the mural experience and you can download two high-resolution, watermark-free versions of your photo — one borderless and one with a border featuring your name. Typically, these watermark-free photos would cost $16.95. There are custom borders available for Annual Passholders, Disney Vacation Club Members, and Club 33 Members, as well as Disney cast members (park staff).

Disney says that, over time, it will release additional sections of the castle on which visitors can pin their memories. The photos will be up for at least 3 years, it notes.

Visitors can view the full mural with photos from other guests using the Snap Camera technology built into the My Disney Experience app using Snap’s Camera Kit developer tools.

Snap has been working on helping businesses and brands take better advantage of the company’s AR technology, both through its in-app Lenses and even within their own, branded experiences. The company last fall launched a global studio, Arcadia, to more specifically focus on developing branded AR experiences with launch partners like Verizon, WWE, Shake Shack and P&G Beauty, for example. Snap also works with third-party developers to integrate its technologies into their apps using its Snap Kit tools like Creative Kit, Camera Kit, Story Kit, Bitmoji Kit and others.

Snap, in a blog post, celebrated the launch of the Disney app feature saying it brought “a fresh perspective and new dimension to Disney PhotoPass storytelling in the park.”