Just two weeks after Disney announced ticket-price bumps of as much as 18 percent to its theme parks around the world, Google announced the arrival of all 11 Disney parks to its Street View visual mapping platform. What’s the connection? There isn’t one, but spend some time taking a sunny virtual stroll down Main Street USA and maybe you’ll forget the price hike. Plus, now you can use your Pegman to pinpoint park vendors selling those ginormous turkey legs and plan your vacation accordingly. (Our fave: the little treat cart near the Test Track in Epcot.)
The Disney parks Street View integration includes some immersive new 360-degree images and loads of photos and videos uploaded by Street View and Google Maps users. The platform boasts a robust and growing network of Local Guides, who are rewarded with perks based on the volume and popularity of their submitted images, information, and place reviews. Needless to say, Disney parks are well-represented.
The Disney debut is hardly the first off-street endeavor for Street View; Google’s 360 cameras have already created VR-ready walk-throughs of places as exotic as the Faroe Islands, Japan’s creepy abandoned Hashima Island, Vanuatu’s active Ambrym Volcano, and the International Space Station.
Unfortunately, not one of those places sells turkey legs.
>>Next: European-Style Luxury Bus Travel Is Coming to the U.S.
