Ferris wheel
A Ferris wheel (also known as an observation wheel or big wheel) is a nonbuilding structure consisting of a rotating upright wheel with passenger cars (sometimes referred to as gondolas or capsules) attached to the rim in such a way that as the wheel turns, the cars are kept upright, usually by gravity.
Some of the largest and most modern Ferris wheels have cars mounted on the outside of the rim, and electric motors to independently rotate each car to keep it upright. These wheels are sometimes referred to as observation wheels, and their cars referred to as capsules, however these alternative names are also sometimes used for wheels with conventional gravity-oriented cars.
The original Ferris Wheel was designed and constructed by George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr. as a landmark for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The term Ferris wheel later came to be used generically for all such structures.
Since the original 1893 Chicago Ferris Wheel, there have been eight subsequent world's tallest-ever Ferris wheels. The current record holder is the 165-metre (541 ft) Singapore Flyer, which opened to the public in March 2008.
History
Early precursors
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"Pleasure wheels", whose passengers rode in chairs suspended from large wooden rings turned by strong men, may have originated in 17th century Bulgaria.[1][2]
The travels of Peter Mundy in Europe and Asia, 1608-1667 [3] describes and illustrates "severall Sorts of Swinginge used in their Publique rejoyceings att their Feast of Biram" on 17 May 1620 at Philippopolis in the Ottoman Balkans.[2] Among means "lesse dangerous and troublesome" was one:
...like a Craine wheele att Customhowse Key and turned in that Manner, whereon Children sitt on little seats hunge round about in severall parts thereof, And though it turne right upp and downe, and that the Children are sometymes on the upper part of the wheele, and sometymes on the lower, yett they alwaies sitt upright.
Five years earlier, in 1615, Pietro Della Valle, a Roman traveller who sent letters from Constantinople, Persia, and India, attended a Ramadan festival in Constantinople. He describes the fireworks, floats, and great swings, then comments on riding the Great Wheel: [citation needed]
I was delighted to find myself swept upwards and downwards at such speed. But the wheel turned round so rapidly that a Greek who was sitting near me couldn't bear it any longer, and shouted out 'Soni! Soni!' (Enough! Enough!)
Similar wheels also appeared in England in the 17th century, and subsequently elsewhere around the world, including India, Romania, and Siberia.[2]
A Frenchman, Antonio Manguino, introduced the idea to America in 1848, when he constructed a wooden pleasure wheel to attract visitors to his start-up fair in Walton Spring, Georgia. Ferris wheels are now the most common type of carnival ride at state fairs in the USA.[1]
Somers' Wheel
In 1892, William Somers installed three fifty-foot wooden wheels at Asbury Park, New Jersey; Atlantic City, New Jersey; and Coney Island, New York. The following year he was granted the first U.S. patent for a "Roundabout".[4][5] It was Somers' wheel in Atlantic City that George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr. was ordered by the planners of Chicago's World's Columbian Exposition to study, that they could challenge the magnitude of the Eiffel Tower of France's 1889 Paris Exposition.[6][unreliable source?]
The original Ferris Wheel
The original Ferris Wheel, sometimes also referred to as the Chicago Wheel,[7][8][9] opened to the public on June 21, 1893, at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. Intended to rival the 324-metre (1,060 ft) Eiffel Tower, the centerpiece of the 1889 Paris Exposition, it was the Columbian Exposition's largest attraction, with a height of 80.4 metres (264 ft).
It was designed and constructed by George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, bridge-builder. He began his career in the railroad industry and then pursued an interest in bridge building. Ferris understood the growing need for structural steel and founded G.W.G. Ferris & Co. in Pittsburgh, a firm that tested and inspected metals for railroads and bridge builders.
The wheel rotated on a 71-ton, 45.5-foot axle comprising what was at that time the world's largest hollow forging, manufactured in Pittsburgh by the Bethlehem Iron Company and weighing 89,320 pounds, together with two 16-foot-diameter (4.9 m) cast-iron spiders weighing 53,031 pounds.[8]
There were 36 cars, each fitted with 40 revolving chairs and able to accommodate up to 60 people, giving a total capacity of 2,160.[7] The wheel carried some 38,000 passengers daily[1] and took 20 minutes to complete two revolutions, the first involving six stops to allow passengers to exit and enter and the second a nine-minute non-stop rotation, for which the ticket holder paid 50 cents.
The Exposition ended in October 1893, and the wheel closed in April 1894 and was dismantled and stored until the following year. It was then rebuilt on Chicago's North Side, near Lincoln Park, next to an exclusive neighborhood. This prompted William D. Boyce, then a local resident, to file a Circuit Court action against the owners of the wheel to have it removed, but without success. It operated there from October 1895 until 1903, when it was again dismantled, then transported by rail to St. Louis for the 1904 World's Fair and finally destroyed by controlled demolition using dynamite on May 11, 1906.[10]
Antique Ferris wheels
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The Wiener Riesenrad (German for "Viennese Giant Wheel") is a surviving example of nineteenth century Ferris wheels. Erected in 1897 in the Wurstelprater section of Prater public park in the Leopoldstadt district of Vienna, Austria, to celebrate Emperor Franz Josef I's Golden Jubilee, it has a height of 64.75 metres (212 ft)[11] and originally had 30 passenger cars. A demolition permit for the Riesenrad was issued in 1916, but due a lack to funds with which to carry out the destruction, it survived.[12]
Following the demolition of the 100-metre (328 ft) Grande Roue de Paris in 1920,[7] the Riesenrad became the world's tallest extant Ferris wheel. In 1944 it burnt down, but was rebuilt the following year[12] with 15 passenger cars, and remained the world's tallest extant wheel until its 97th year, when the 85-metre (279 ft) Technocosmos was constructed for Expo '85, at Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
Still in operation today, it is one of Vienna's most popular tourist attractions, and over the years has featured in numerous films (including Madame Solange d`Atalide (1914),[12] Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948), The Third Man (1949), The Living Daylights (1987), Before Sunrise (1995)) and novels.
World's tallest Ferris wheels
- 1893: the original Ferris Wheel was 80.4 metres (264 ft) tall. Built for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois, it was moved to St. Louis, Missouri, in 1904 for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, and demolished there in 1906.
- 1895: the Great Wheel was built for the Empire of India Exhibition at Earls Court, London, UK, and was 94 metres (308 ft) tall.[13] Construction began in March 1894[14] and it opened to the public on July 17, 1895.[15] It stayed in service until 1906 and was demolished in 1907, having carried over 2.5 million passengers.[16]
- 1900: the Grande Roue de Paris was built for the Exposition Universelle, a world's fair held in Paris, France. It was demolished in 1920,[7] but its 100-metre (328 ft) height was not surpassed until almost 90 years after its construction.
- 1989: the Cosmo Clock 21 was built for the YES '89 Yokohama Exposition at Minato Mirai 21, Yokohama, Japan. Originally constructed with a height of 107.5 metres (353 ft),[17] it was dismantled in 1997 and then in 1999 relocated onto a taller base which increased its overall height to 112.5 metres (369 ft).[18]
- 1997: the Tempozan Ferris Wheel, in Osaka, Japan, opened to the public on July 12, and is 112.5 metres (369 ft) tall.[19]
- 1999: the Daikanransha at Palette Town in Odaiba, Japan, is 115 metres (377 ft) tall.[20]
- 2000: the London Eye, in London, UK, is 135 metres (443 ft) tall. Although officially opened on December 31, 1999, it did not open to the public until March 2000, because of technical problems. It is still the tallest in Europe, and tallest in the Western Hemisphere.
- 2006: the Star of Nanchang, in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China, opened for business in May and is 160 metres (525 ft) tall.
- 2008: the Singapore Flyer, in Singapore, is 165 metres (541 ft) tall, and currently the world's tallest Ferris wheel. It started rotating on February 11 and officially opened to the public on March 1.
Timeline:
Proposed, delayed, or not yet completed:
- The 208 m (682 ft) Beijing Great Wheel, construction begun 2007 and originally due to open 2008,[37] went into receivership in 2010.[38]
- The 198 m (650 ft) Baghdad Eye was proposed for Al-Zawraa Park in Baghdad, Iraq, in 2008.[39][40]
- The 185 m (607 ft) Great Dubai Wheel proposed for Dubailand, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, was granted planning permission in 2006 and expected to open in 2009.[41]
- The 180 m (591 ft) Voyager[42] has been proposed several times for Las Vegas, Nevada.[43]
- The 176 m (577 ft) Bangkok Eye, to be located near the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok, Thailand, was announced by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration on 13 October 2010, at which time the actual site and means of funding the 30-billion baht project had yet to be determined.[44]
- The 175 m (574 ft) Great Berlin Wheel was originally planned to open in 2008 but the project encountered financial obstacles.[45]
- The 150 m (492 ft) Jeddah Eye proposed for Saudi Arabia is part of a development begun in 2008 and is scheduled to open in 2012.[46]
- The 122 m (400 ft) Great Orlando Wheel was announced in June 2008[47] but then suspended in early 2009 after losing its funding.[45]
- A 120 m (394 ft) wheel for Manchester, England, was proposed by Manchester City Council in 2010 as a replacement for the transportable 60 m (197 ft) Manchester Wheel installation, with Piccadilly Gardens the possible site and completion expected by Christmas 2011.[48]
- A 91.4 m (300 ft) wheel planned for Manchester, England, for 2008 [49] was never constructed.
- The 87 m (285 ft) Pepsi Globe was proposed for the planned Meadowlands shopping mall in New Jersey in February 2008 and originally due to open in 2009, then put on hold until 2010;[50] however it has since been further delayed and construction of the host complex, originally due to be completed in 2007, has been stalled since 2009 due to financing problems.[51]
- A 79.3 m (260 ft) spokeless Ferris wheel was proposed for Chicago's Navy Pier in 2006.[52]
The Shanghai Star, initially planned as a 200-metre (656 ft) tall wheel to be built by 2005, was revised to 170 metres (558 ft), with a completion date set in 2007, but then cancelled in 2006 due to "political incorrectness".[53]
Rus-3000, a 170-metre (558 ft) wheel planned to open in 2004[54] in Moscow,[55] has since been reported cancelled.[56] More recently, an approximately 180-metre (591 ft)[57] wheel has been considered for Gorky Central Park of Culture and Leisure,[58][59] and a 150-metre (492 ft) wheel proposed for location near Sparrow Hills.[60]
Observation wheels
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Observation wheel is an alternative name for Ferris wheel.[63][64] In 1892, when the incorporation papers for the Ferris Wheel Company (constructors of the original 1893 Chicago Ferris Wheel) were filed, the purpose of the company was stated as: [construction and operation of] "...wheels of the Ferris or other types for the purpose of observation or amusement".[7]
Some Ferris wheels are marketed as observation wheels, any distinction between the two names being at the discretion of the operator, however the wheels whose operators reject the term Ferris wheel are often those having most in common with the original 1893 Chicago Ferris Wheel, especially in terms of scale and being an iconic landmark for a city or event.
Wheels with cylindrical or ovoidal passenger cars mounted on the outside of the rim and electric motors to independently rotate each car, as opposed to wheels with cars suspended from the rim and kept upright by gravity, are those most commonly referred to as observation wheels, and their cars are often referred to as capsules. However, these alternative names are also sometimes used for wheels with conventional non-cylindrical gravity-oriented cars.
There are currently only three major Ferris wheels with motorised capsules.
The 165 m (541 ft) Singapore Flyer has cylindrical motorised capsules and is described as an observation wheel by its operators,[65] but credited as "world's largest Ferris wheel" by the media.[66][67]
The 135 m (443 ft) London Eye, typically described as a "giant Ferris wheel" by the media,[68][69] has ovoidal motorised capsules and is the "world's tallest cantilevered observation wheel"[70] according to its operators, who claim: "The London Eye is often mistakenly called a Ferris wheel. This is not the case: first, the passenger capsules are completely enclosed and are climate controlled; secondly, the capsules are positioned on the outside of the wheel structure and are fully motorised; and third, the entire structure is supported by an A-frame on one side only."[70] However, the operators of the Singapore Flyer claim their wheel is the "world's largest observation wheel"[71] despite it not being supported by an A-frame on one side only.
The 120 m (390 ft) Southern Star (which opened 20 December 2008, then closed the following month, and is currently dismantled for major repairs) has ovoidal motorised capsules and is described by its operators as "the only observation wheel in the southern hemisphere",[72] but also as a Ferris wheel by the media.[73][74]
Transportable wheels
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Transportable Ferris wheels are designed to be operated at multiple locations, as opposed to fixed wheels which are usually intended for permanent installation. Small transportable designs may be permanently mounted on trailers, and can be moved intact. Larger transportable wheels are designed to be repeatedly dismantled and rebuilt, some using water ballast instead of the permanent foundations of their fixed counterparts.
The world's tallest transportable wheel today[update] is a 66-metre (217 ft) tall Ronald Bussink series R66 design operated by World Carnival.[35] The record was previously held by the 60-metre (200 ft) Steiger Ferris Wheel, which began operating in 1980.[75]
One of the most famous transportable wheels is the 60-metre (200 ft) tall Roue de Paris, originally installed on the Place de la Concorde in Paris for the 2000 millennium celebrations. Roue de Paris left France in 2002 and in 2003-2004 operated in Birmingham and Manchester, England. In 2005 it visited first Geleen then Amsterdam, Netherlands, before returning to England to operate at Gateshead. In 2006 it was erected at the Suan Lum Night Bazaar in Bangkok, Thailand, and by 2008 had made its way to Antwerp, Belgium.[76]
Roue de Paris is a Ronald Bussink series R60 design using 40,000 litres (8,800 imperial gallons) of water ballast to provide a stable base. The R60 weighs 365 tonnes (402 short tons), and can be erected in 72 hours and dismantled in 60 hours by a specialist team. Transport requires seven 20-foot container lorries, ten open trailer lorries, and one closed trailer lorry. Its 42 passenger cars be loaded either 3 or 6 at a time, and each car can carry 8 people.[77] Bussink R60 wheels have operated in Australia (Brisbane), France (Paris), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur & Malacca), UK (Belfast, Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield), and elsewhere.
Fixed wheels are also sometimes dismantled and relocated. Larger examples include the original Ferris Wheel, which operated at two sites in Chicago, Illinois, and a third in St. Louis, Missouri; Technocosmos/Technostar, which moved to Expoland, Osaka, after Expo '85, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, for which it was built, ended; and Cosmo Clock 21, which added 5 metres (16 ft) onto its original 107.5-metre (353 ft) height when erected for the second time at Minato Mirai 21, Yokohama, in 1999.
Double and triple wheels
Swiss manufacturer Intamin produced a series of rides comprising a vertical column supporting multiple horizontal arms, with each arm supporting a Ferris wheel. Custom designed for the Marriott Corporation, each ride had three main components: the wheels with their passenger cars; a set of supporting arms; and a single central supporting column. Each wheel rotated about the end of its own supporting arm. The arms in turn would either pivot or rotate together as a single unit about the top of the supporting column. The axis about which the rotating arms turned was offset from vertical, so that as the arms rotated, each arm and its corresponding wheel was raised and lowered. This allowed one wheel to be horizontal at ground level, and brought to a standstill for simultaneous loading and unloading of all its passenger cars, while the other wheel(s) continued to rotate vertically at considerable height.
The first such ride was Astrowheel, which had two arms and wheels with 8 passenger cars each, and operated at the former Six Flags Astroworld, Houston, Texas, from 1968 until 1980.[82]
The Giant Wheel was a similar double wheel Intamin design, with examples operating at Hersheypark, Pennsylvania, from 1973 until 2004, and at Kings Island, Ohio, (where it was known as Zodiac) and later relocated to Australia, where it operated until 2004.[citation needed]
Another version, Galaxy, operated at Six Flags Magic Mountain, Valencia, Santa Clarita, California, from 1971 to 1979. Similar to the Zodiac, but on each wheel were four smaller wheels that also rotated, providing a double vertical rotating movement.[citation needed]
Sky Whirl was the world's first triple Ferris wheel, debuting at both Marriott's Great America parks (now Six Flags Great America, Gurnee, Illinois, and California's Great America, Santa Clara) in 1976. Also known as a triple Ferris wheel,[83] Triple Giant Wheel[84], or Triple Tree Wheel, it was 33 metres (108 ft) in height.[85] The Santa Clara ride, renamed Triple Wheel in post-Marriott years, closed on 1 September 1997. The Gurnee ride closed in 2000. [86]
Eccentric wheels
Eccentric wheels (sometimes called sliding wheels)[87] differ from conventional Ferris wheels in that some or all of the passenger cars are not fixed directly to the rim of the wheel, but instead slide on rails between the hub and the rim as the wheel rotates.
The two most famous eccentric wheels are Mickey's Fun Wheel (previously Sun Wheel), at Disney's California Adventure Park, USA, and Wonder Wheel, at Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park, Coney Island. USA.
Mickey's Fun Wheel is 48.8 metres (160 ft) tall[87] and has 24 fully enclosed passenger cars, each able to carry 6 passengers. 16 of the cars slide inward and outward as the wheel rotates, the remainder are fixed to the rim. There are separate boarding queues for sliding and fixed cars, so that passengers may choose between the two.[80] Inspired by Coney Island's 1920 Wonder Wheel, it was designed by Walt Disney Imagineering and Intamin, completed in 2001 as the Sun Wheel, and later refurbished and reopened in 2009 as Mickey's Fun Wheel.[87]
Wonder Wheel was built in 1920, is 45.7 metres (150 ft) tall, and can carry 144 people.[88]
Major designers, manufacturers, & operators
Allan Herschell Company (sold to Chance Morgan in the 1970s) [citation needed]
- Seattle Wheel (debuted 1962): 16 cars, 2 passengers per car [89]
- Sky Wheel (debuted 1939; also manufactured by Chance Morgan): a double wheel, with the wheels rotating about opposite ends of a pair of parallel beams, and the beams rotating about their centres; 8 cars per wheel, 2 passengers per car [90]
- Chance Morgan [91]
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- Astro Wheel (debuted 1967): 16 cars (8 facing one way, 8 the other), 2 passengers per car [92]
- Century Wheel: 20 m (66 ft) tall, 15 cars, 4-6 passengers per car [91]
- Giant Wheel: 27 m (89 ft) tall, 20 cars, 6-8 passengers per car [91]
- Niagara SkyWheel: 53.3 m (175 ft) tall, 42 air-conditioned cars, 8 passengers per car [93]
Eli Bridge [94]
- W.E. Sullivan, owner of Eli Bridge Company, a bridge building business in Illinois, rode the original 1893 Chicago Ferris Wheel at the World's Columbian Exposition. Inspired by this, he collaborated with machinist James H. Clements and their first Big Eli wheel debuted in Central Park, Jacksonville, Illinois, on May 23, 1900. Contemporary models include:
- Signature Series: 16 cars, 3 passengers per car; transportable
- Eagle Series: 16 cars, 3 passengers per car; transportable
- HY-5 Series: 12 cars, 3 passengers per car; transportable
- Aristocrat Series: 16 cars, fixed site
- Standard Series: 12 cars, fixed site
- Lil' Wheel: 6 cars, 3 passengers per car; transportable and fixed site models
- Great Wheel Corporation [95]
- Merged with World Tourist Attractions in 2009 to form Great City Attractions Ltd.[96]
- Singapore Flyer: 165 m (541 ft) tall, completed 2008; currently world's tallest Ferris wheel
- Beijing Great Wheel: 208 m (682 ft) tall, under construction since 2007,[37] now in receivership [38]
- Great Dubai Wheel: 185 m (607 ft) tall, planning permission granted in 2006 [97]
- Great Berlin Wheel: 175 m (574 ft) tall, project delayed [45]
- Great Orlando Wheel: 122 m (400 ft) tall, project suspended [45]
Ronald Bussink Professional Rides [99] (formerly Nauta Bussink)
- R40: 40-metre (130 ft) tall fixed or transportable wheel, 30 cars, 8 passengers per car
- R50: 50-metre (160 ft) tall fixed or transportable wheel, 36 cars, 8 passengers per car
- R60: 60-metre (200 ft) tall transportable wheel, 42 cars, 8 passengers per car [77]
- R66: 66-metre (217 ft) tall transportable wheel, 42 cars; world's tallest transportable wheel, operated by World Carnival [35]
- R80: 80-metre (260 ft) tall fixed wheel, 56 cars, 8 passengers per car
Senyo Kogyo Co, Ltd.
- Cosmo Clock 21: 107.5 m (353 ft) tall, completed 1989; world's tallest Ferris wheel 1989 to 1997;[17] 112.5 m (369 ft) tall when re-erected in 1999 [18]
- Diamond and Flower Ferris Wheel: 117 m (384 ft) tall, completed 2001 [100]
- Tempozan Ferris Wheel: 112.5 m (369 ft) tall, completed 1997; world's tallest Ferris wheel 1997 to 1999 [17]
See also
 Four-car 30 m tall drive-in Ferris wheel at Harbourfront, Toronto, Canada, in 2004 [101] |
 Ferris wheel constructed by the Swedish contingent at the 21st World Scout Jamboree |
 Passenger-powered 2-seat Cyclecide wheel at the 2007 Bumbershoot festival in Seattle |
- Amusement park
- Fair
- Funfair
- Traveling carnival
- List of amusement parks
- List of amusement rides
- List of Ferris wheels
- List of Ferris wheels in Moscow
References
- ^ a b c Still turning - Jacksonville built the world's first portable Ferris Wheel
- ^ a b c Eyes in the sky
- ^ The travels of Peter Mundy in Europe and Asia, 1608-1667
- ^ explorepahistory.com
- ^ a b U.S. Patents for Ferris Wheels
- ^ The Jersey Shore @ National Geographic Magazine
- ^ a b c d e f g Ferris wheels - an illustrated history, Norman D. Anderson
- ^ a b Hyde Park Historical Society: Chicago's Great Ferris Wheel of 1893, Patrick Meehan
- ^ The Kensington Canal, railways and related developments - British History Online
- ^ George Ferris
- ^ Wiener Riesenrad - technical data
- ^ a b c Wiener Riesenrad - history
- ^ a b Great Wheel, Earls Court - English Heritage Images
- ^ The Great Wheel, Earl's Court Exhibition Ground
- ^ The Ferris Wheel's London Rival - The New York Times
- ^ PhotoLondon: National Monuments Record - The Great Wheel, London
- ^ a b c d Senyo Kogyo Co, Ltd. - company profile
- ^ a b Senyo Kogyo Co, Ltd. - Cosmo Clock 21 Template:Ja icon
- ^ KIPPO NEWS Tuesday, June 24, 1997 Template:Ja icon
- ^ a b Palette Town Daikanransha website date page Template:Ja icon
- ^ a b c d e f g h i World’s top 10 tallest Ferris wheels
- ^ The Ferris Wheel to Revolve Hopefully on May Day
- ^ Century pleasure garden ProfileTemplate:Zh icon
- ^ Evergreen marinoa official website Template:Ja icon
- ^ The wheel deal: Amusement park offers lofty view
- ^ Shanghai Jinjiang Amusement Park Introduction
- ^ Space World attractions information
- ^ Nagashima Resort Guide Book
- ^ Mirabilandia - Vivi il Divertimento! Novità 2009 - ISpeed, il nuovo Roller Coaster!
- ^ 劍湖山世界 welcome to janfusun fancyworld
- ^ Mtatsminda Park's new owners
- ^ Hankyu REIT - HEP Five
- ^ Колесо обозрения "Москва 850"
- ^ Miramar美麗華百樂園
- ^ a b c Deaths shut The Eye
- ^ The Bigger Ferris Wheels Get, the More Cash Flows
- ^ a b AFP: Beijing begins construction of world's biggest wheel
- ^ a b Beijing Ferris wheel company in receivership
- ^ Baghdad plans to build giant Ferris wheel
- ^ ad attacks McCain for Baghdad Ferris wheel project being built on land leased by a Democratic Party
- ^ Great Dubai Wheel Gets the Green Light
- ^ Voyager Entertainment International, Inc.
- ^ Voyager Las Vegas
- ^ BMA plans to build 'Bangkok Eye' on Chao Phya bank
- ^ a b c d Planned Great Wheel for I-Drive area of Orlando on hold - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
- ^ Jeddah Eye
- ^ Developer to roll out plans for Great Orlando Wheel attraction
- ^ Manchester 'monster' wheel plans confirmed
- ^ Big wheel returns to city centre
- ^ Opening delayed for Pepsi Globe Ferris wheel at Meadowlands Xanadu
- ^ Panel will advise Gov. Christie on four potential suitors in Xanadu redevelopment
- ^ Forrec Develops Strategic Vision forChicago's Navy Pier
- ^ Asia Times Online - China Business News - China's ill-conceived image projects
- ^ World's Tallest Ferris Wheel Proposed In Moscow - Emporis.com
- ^ Project has Muscovites going 'round and 'round - csmonitor.com
- ^ Moscow Ferris Wheel, Moscow - Emporis.com
- ^ Moscow News - Local - Bringing back the big whee
- ^ Кризис закруглится в ЦПКиО - Мегаполис - GZT.ru
- ^ Lenta.ru - В России - Для Парка Горького выберут новое колесо обозрения
- ^ Чертово колесо - разберут в московском ЦПКиО - BN.ru газет
- ^ FAQs on Private Capsules - Singapore Flyer
- ^ London's Eye in the sky not just a Ferris wheel
- ^ MSN Encarta - Ferris Wheel
- ^ Inventor of the Week - George Ferris
- ^ We don't use the F-word
- ^ Singapore to open world's largest Ferris wheel - Reuters
- ^ Dozens trapped in world's largest ferris wheel as Singapore Flyer judders to a halt - Times Online
- ^ London: 10 Things to Do in 24 Hours - 3. The London Eye - TIME
- ^ Wheel deal: the London Eye turns 10 - Jonathan Glancey - Art and design - guardian.co.uk
- ^ a b Is it a Ferris wheel?
- ^ Home - Singapore Flyer
- ^ Welcome to the Southern Star
- ^ Work to spin Ferris wheel
- ^ Southern Star Observation Wheel profile
- ^ Anker, Jens (4 Nov 2004). "Schausteller verspricht Riesenrad am Container-Bahnhof". Welt Online (in German).
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) - ^ The History of 'La grande Roue de Paris'
- ^ a b Technical Information
- ^ Ocean County NJ History, Seaside
- ^ Wonder Wheel History
- ^ a b Mickey's Fun Wheel - Disney's California Adventure
- ^ Yokohama Accommodation
- ^ SixFlagsHouston.com - Rides - Astrowheel
- ^ Need Six Flags Great America Tickets?
- ^ Theme Park Timelines
- ^ Zoning Board Minutes - 10-25-00
- ^ Sky Whirl at Marriott's Great America parks
- ^ a b c Mickey's Fun Wheel
- ^ The Wonder Wheel
- ^ Allan Herschell Seattle Wheel
- ^ Skywheel (Manufactured by both Allan Herschell and Chance Rides)
- ^ a b c Chance Morgan
- ^ Chance Astro Wheel
- ^ One of a Kind ‘Giant Wheel’ Debuts in Niagara Falls, Canada
- ^ Eli Bridge Company :: Jacksonville, IL :: Ferris Wheels
- ^ The Great Wheel Corporation | Singapore Flyer | Great Wheel Beijing Orlando Berlin Dubai
- ^ World Tourist Attractions, Great Wheel Merge Ahead Of IPO
- ^ Great Dubai Wheel Gets the Green Light
- ^ Intamin - Ride Trade - The Art of Thrill - Giant Wheels
- ^ Ronald Bussink Professional Rides
- ^ Senyo Kogyo Co, Ltd. - Diamond and Flower Ferris Wheel Template:Ja icon
- ^ canadianarchitect.com - Reinventing the Wheel
| External image | |
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 Axle of the original 1893 Chicago Ferris Wheel |
