UK theme parks get some Street View love

Er, this doesn't look like the A37
Er, this doesn't look like the A37

Google has added 360-degree images of some of the UK's biggest theme parks to its Street View service.

The search giants look to have gotten fed up of taking images of suburban life and decided to point its all-seeing eye on the world of rollercoasters, log flumes and Lego.

Alton Towers, Thorpe Park and Chessington World of Adventure are the theme parks which have been added to Street View via an update, while Legoland and the Sea Life in Weymouth have also been popped in there.

Wizard idea

We know what you are thinking: how did they get the Street View car round the narrow inlets of a theme park? Well, essentially they didn't. The images were taken by one man and his three-wheeled bike.

Merlin Entertainment, who owns all of the theme parks listed above, said about the collaboration: "As attractions like theme parks have grown to offer so many more rides and activities, it can be difficult to fit everything in without a bit of planning!

"Street View will add another dimension to the other tools that we offer our visitors to help in this, and we look forward to adding the facility to more of the Merlin attractions in time."

How long will it be before we get Google Rollercoaster View?

Marc Chacksfield

Marc Chacksfield is the Editor In Chief, Shortlist.com at DC Thomson. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.