DIGITALLY ENHANCED

It's no longer necessary to actually go to Busch Gardens or Adventure Island to see what it looks like.

Both parks are featured in Street View on Google Maps. The interactive maps include moveable 360-degree scenes from the parks.

"We're thrilled to be among the first theme parks in the world to get the Google Street View treatment," Joe Cauceiro, chief marketing officer for SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, said in a written statement.

Google's popular Street View maps launched in 2007 and typically are put together by driving a car, equipped with cameras, through neighborhoods. More than a dozen countries and more than 100 cities are included.

When the company wanted to expand the Street View option, it asked viewers for suggestions, said Elaine Filadelfo, a spokeswoman for Google.

"We received thousands of submissions for theme parks," Filadelfo said. "When we created Street View, we wanted to give people a better sense of a place. There are so many places, like theme parks, that are not accessible by car."

So Google uses a 250-pound modified tricycle, equipped with cameras and GPS. It takes thousand of photos as it moves through the theme parks. Google software then blends the images and blurs faces in the photographs.

The first theme park featured by Google was Legoland in California. The Legoland Street View debuted a few months ago. Virtual visits also are available to all 10 SeaWorld parks and entertainment locations, including SeaWorld in Orlando.

The idea, Filadelfo said, is that potential visitors will use the site to check out parks and plan their trips.

The views of the parks have been so popular, Filadelfo said, that there are plans to photograph more parks, although she couldn't comment on Disney World. Disneyland Paris, however, already is available on Street View.

To view the parks online, go to www.maps.google.com and search for the park. For example, type "Busch Gardens Tampa Bay." Then drag the orange user icon (found at the top left of the map) for a "walking tour."