Virtual Magic Kingdom is in public beta

Well, Disney's multiplayer virtual theme park, Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom, is now in public beta, and it was made in Macromedia Director (not Flash), which means this sort of application is within reach of smaller development shops, with a little effort. In fact, it was made by the fine folks over at Sulake, makers of the popular Habbo Hotel virtual community.

The game itself appears to be a glorified chat room at first, but there are lots of things that extend it beyond that. Customizable avatars, a game world currency, personalizable rooms, and pickups throughout the theme park are just the start - there's also a framework for delivering multiplayer games, like the excellent pirate ship combat game (particularly interesting since we're working on a similar themed game ourselves).