Google Street View Helps Visualize Cool Summer Attractions

by Chris Owen on
As summer blazes on, travelers are looking for cool places to go. A quick escape from summer heat to a water park, beach or lake might be just what they have in mind too. But how about a look first? Google Street View can give us a panoramic view from positions along many streets in the world, including some major summer attractions.

A little warm where you are today? Click on one of these featured attractions for a taste of coolness and summer fun ahead.

Adventure Island is a water park located northeast of Tampa, Florida, across the street from Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, featuring 30 acres of water rides, dining and other attractions.

Discovery Cove is a theme park in Greater Orlando, Florida. Guests can interact with a variety of marine animals, most notably bottlenose dolphins. The park is located adjacent to sister parks SeaWorld Orlando and Aquatica. In addition to swimming with dolphins, Discovery Cove guests can interact with exotic birds, tropical fish, rays and land mammals.

Santa Monica Pier is a large double-jointed pier located at the foot of Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica, California, and home to Pacific Park and a family amusement park with a large Ferris wheel.

SeaWorld Orlando is a theme park, and marine-life based zoological park, near Orlando, Florida, that when combined with its neighbor Discovery Cove and the Aquatica waterpark, it forms a larger entertainment complex devoted to Earth’s oceans and the array of life that inhabits them.

Google Street View was introduced in the United States but can now be seen in 48 countries around the world.

See more Google summer attractions in the U.S. through Street View imagery, and make plans to cool off today.

[Flickr photo by matheuslotero]

England’s naked roller coaster

by Annie Scott on


Only in England, right? The Green Scream (above) at Adventure Island in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, took an unexpected turn last week: a naked one.

In a stunt to raise money for Southend Hospital Charitable Foundation’s Bosom Pals Appeal, BBC News reports that 102 people showed up at Adventure Island ready to bare all and ride the Green Scream. The dabbling nudists, most of whom have been affected by cancer in some way, came from all over the UK to help the organization purchase new mammography machines and other additions to their breast care unit. The coaster had to go commando three times to accommodate all the naked Brits. Over £22,000 was raised.

“Takes of lot of nerve to take off all your clothes” said Barbara Warner of Bosom Pals, adding that she “would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who was brave enough to bare all and raise such a huge amount of cash — more than £22,000 — for our vitally important cause.”

We get why they took their tops off (breast cancer), but why the bottoms? Let’s all hope everyone carefully wiped the seat with a wet nap or something before sitting down — and after! People riding the coaster an hour later might have had no idea what just happened there. This all sounds like a good reason to travel with hand sanitizer to me.

[via BBC News]