All sights in category 'Theme Parks'

Google Sightseeing takes you on tour of the world as seen from satellite, using the free Google Earth program, or Google Maps in your web browser. Each weekday your guides James and Alex present new weird and wonderful sights as suggested by readers.

The editors: James & Alex

Six Flags Fiesta Texas, San Antonio

Posted by James Turnbull, Tuesday, 31st May 2005

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Another Theme Park in Texas is Six Flags Fiesta Texas which has a pool shaped like… Texas! Genius.

Fiesta

Thanks: Klobetime & Freddie

Île Sainte-Hélène, Montreal

Posted by James Turnbull, Monday, 30th May 2005

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Île Sainte-Hélène (or St. Helen’s Island) is an island on the Saint Lawrence River and is part of the city of Montreal. Along with Île Notre-Dame. the island hosted Expo 67, for which the island was expanded and a theme park was built.

The theme park, La Ronde, recently became part of the American ‘Six Flags’ chain and now has 36 rides and 7 rollercoasters. The former American Pavilion from Expo 67 has become the Biosphere, an interpretative museum about the Saint Lawrence River. Lastly, follow the road south-west from the Biosphere to see ‘Man‘, a modern sculpture by Alexander Calder.

Thanks: Nebojsa Petrovic

Kennywood Park

Posted by Alex Turnbull, Monday, 16th May 2005

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Kennywood Park is Southwest Pennsylvania’s amusement park, and was known as the “Roller Coaster Capital of the World” in the 1970s for its collection of excellent wooden coasters. Scott Ventura (who seems to know quite a bit about this park!) gives us the guided tour:

Due to Pittsburgh’s hilly terrain, two of the coasters are able to drop into valleys without first ascending a lift chain. When built in the early 1990s, the Steel Phantom had to longest drop in the world at 220 feet, topping out at 80 mph. The drop passed through the supports of another coaster in the same valley: the Thunderbolt. Phantom was reworked a few years ago to remove the inversions and make it a hypercoaster: The Phantom’s Revenge. Phantom (green track) and the T-bolt (white track) are at the northwest end of the park. Notice the shadows for the Phantom’s supports. At the other end of the park, the brownish-red track is the Racer, one of only a handful of “Moebius” racing coasters in the world. Leave the station in the car on the left, return to the station in the car on the right. Just south of it is the Jack Rabbit, featuring a double-dip. The track levels out halfway down the longest hill, providing tremendous airtime.

Our picture is of the Phantom, which looks very cool. Thanks Scott :-)

Kennywood Park

Carowinds theme park

Posted by Alex Turnbull, Thursday, 5th May 2005

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Paramount’s Carowinds theme park is on the border of North and South Carolina. Some of the rides look great from up here – check out the giant rollercoaster at the North-West corner, which looks like it might be the wooden ‘Hurler‘. Apparently rollercoaster junkies say that wooden ‘coasters are the best…

Carowinds

Thanks to Adrian Likins for this one.

Six Flags Over Texas, Arlington

Posted by James Turnbull, Friday, 29th April 2005

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Six Flags Over Texas is part of the ‘Six Flags’ chain of Theme Parks (we’ve many others to post) and they apparently filmed the movie Spy Kids 2 here (albeit replacing some of the rides with ‘more crazy’ CG versions). A little to the north is the Six Flags Hurricane Harbor water park.

To the south west you’ll also find The Ameriquest field, home of the Texas Rangers.

Six Flags Over Texas

Thanks: Willij & Carl