Adding MapControl in xaml results in a "Catastropic failure" - winrt-xaml

Question

I am creating an universal application using Visual Studio Ultimate 2013 Version 12.0.30501.00 Update 2. I am getting Catastrophic failure on adding Map Control in my xaml like this
<Maps:MapControl Visibility="Collapsed"/>.
I have added
xmlns:Maps="using:Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.Maps"
in the page header and added 'location' capability to application manifest file.
Has anyone faced the same issue?
You can test his by creating a sample application and add only MapControl. Please help me to resolve this issue.
The problem is observed in normal Windows Phone 8.1 applications also. Am i missing something here?
The problem is observed when i try to run the application in emulator.
The error does not show any other information just 'catastropic failure', nothing else.
May be i will try to re-install Visual Studio. But one more interesting fact is that i could get it working if i am not hiding the map control in the page.
Can you test it by creating a sample application and just making the map control Visibility='Collapsed'?
<Page
x:Class="TestMaps.MainPage"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:local="using:TestMaps"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
xmlns:Maps="using:Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.Maps"
mc:Ignorable="d"
Background="{ThemeResource ApplicationPageBackgroundThemeBrush}">
<Grid>
<Maps:MapControl Visibility="Collapsed" />
</Grid>
</Page>
And the problem is observed in more than one PC.

Answer 1

I've tested your example and indeed there is such a problem also on my Phone.
As I have checked it is possible to set Collapsed from code - so as a workaround:
<Grid>
<Maps:MapControl Name="myMap" Visibility="Visible" />
</Grid>
In the code behind:
public MainPage()
{
this.InitializeComponent();
this.Loaded += (sender, e) => myMap.Visibility = Visibility.Collapsed;
}

Answer 2

I've come up with a workaround for this. Instead of using visibility you can use the maps height/width properties to hide/show the map. Set them to 0 when you want to hide it, and set it to the parents width/height when you want to show it. Here is a code sample:
<Page
x:Class="WP81App.MainPage"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:local="using:WP81App"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
mc:Ignorable="d"
xmlns:Maps="using:Windows.UI.Xaml.Controls.Maps"
Background="{ThemeResource ApplicationPageBackgroundThemeBrush}">
<Grid>
<Maps:MapControl Name="MyMap" Height="0" Width="0" />
<Button Content="Show Map" Click="ShowMapBtn_Clicked" HorizontalAlignment="Center"/>
</Grid>
</Page>
Button Handler:
private void ShowMapBtn_Clicked(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
var mapContainer = MyMap.Parent as FrameworkElement;
MyMap.Width = mapContainer.ActualWidth;
MyMap.Height = mapContainer.ActualHeight;
//Hide the button
(sender as Button).Visibility = Visibility.Collapsed;
}