Location-Based Mobile Service Gowalla Partners With Disney

When Josh Williams created Gowalla, the location-based mobile service that permits users to "check in" at hot spots and share experiences from the road, he was stimulated by the Disney brand and dreamed of one day partnering with the company.

Two years later, Disney Parks is taking its first foray into location services by teaming up with Gowalla to offer visitors a new way to explore Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

"When we founded Gowalla two years ago we saw Disney as inspiration for us both in terms of design and eminence associated with the brand," said Williams, CEO and co-founder of Gowalla. To connect friends and family across Disney Parks through Gowalla is simply magical."

"The Disney and Gowalla partnership represents a magnificent way to unite social activity online and in the real world," Solis said.

"It also opens the doors to new possibilities to engage social media to share experiences every significant and shareable step of the way. We are at the beginning of a new world where we appeal to the traditional consumer and also the social consumer."