Ferris wheel

For other uses, see Ferris wheel (disambiguation).

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.

London Eye, tallest Ferris wheel in the Western Hemisphere

Early history

Early pleasure wheels depicted in 17th century engravings, to the left by Adam Olearius, to the right a Turkish design, apparently for adults

Dancing the hora on Dealul Spirii (Spirii Hill), Bucharest, Romania (1857 lithograph)

"Pleasure wheels", whose passengers rode in chairs suspended from large wooden rings turned by strong men, may have originated in 17th century Bulgaria.

The travels of Peter Mundy in Europe and Asia, 1608-1667 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. 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:

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.

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.

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". 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.

The original Ferris Wheel

Main articles: Ferris Wheel and George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr.

The original Ferris Wheel, sometimes also referred to as the Chicago Wheel, opened to the public on June 21, 1893, at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. Intended to rival the 324-metre (1,063 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).

The original Chicago Ferris Wheel, built for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition

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.

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. The wheel carried some 38,000 passengers daily 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.

Antique Ferris wheels

Wiener Riesenrad, Vienna, built in 1897, originally had 30 passenger cabins but was rebuilt with 15 cabins following a fire in 1944

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) and originally had 30 passenger cars. A demolition permit for the Riesenrad was issued in 1916, but due to a lack to funds with which to carry out the destruction, it survived.

Following the demolition of the 100-metre (328 ft) Grande Roue de Paris in 1920, the Riesenrad became the world's tallest extant Ferris wheel. In 1944 it burnt down, but was rebuilt the following year 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), Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948), The Third Man (1949), The Living Daylights (1987), Before Sunrise (1995)) and novels.

World's tallest Ferris wheels

The 94 m Great Wheel at Earls Court, London, world's tallest Ferris wheel 1895-1900

Chronology of world's tallest-ever 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. Construction began in March 1894 and it opened to the public on July 17, 1895. It stayed in service until 1906 and was demolished in 1907, having carried over 2.5 million passengers.
• 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, 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), 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).
• 1997: the Tempozan Ferris Wheel, in Osaka, Japan, opened to the public on July 12, and is 112.5 metres (369 ft) tall.
• 1999: the Daikanransha at Palette Town in Odaiba, Japan, is 115 metres (377 ft) tall.
• 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 wheel in Europe and 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

Name	Height    m (ft)	Completed	Country	Location	Coordinates	Remarks
Singapore Flyer	165 (541)	2008	Singapore	Marina Centre, Downtown Core	1.289397°N 103.863231°E / 1.289397; 103.863231 (Singapore Flyer)	World's tallest 2008-current
Star of Nanchang	160 (525)	2006	China	Nanchang, Jiangxi	28.659332°N 115.845568°E / 28.659332; 115.845568 (Star of Nanchang)	World's tallest 2006-2008
London Eye	135 (443)	2000	UK	South Bank, Lambeth, London	51.50334°N 0.1197821°W / 51.50334; -0.1197821 (London Eye)	World's tallest 2000-2006
Suzhou Ferris Wheel	120 (394)	2009	China	Suzhou, Jiangsu	31.3162939°N 120.7084501°E / 31.3162939; 120.7084501 (Suzhou Ferris Wheel)
The Southern Star	120 (394)	2008	Australia	Waterfront City, Melbourne	37.8110723°S 144.9368763°E / -37.8110723; 144.9368763 (Southern Star)	Closed January 2009 for repairs
Tianjin Eye	120 (394)	2008	China	Chihai Bridge, Tianjin	39.1533636°N 117.1802616°E / 39.1533636; 117.1802616 (Tianjin Eye)	Tallest built over a bridge
Changsha Ferris Wheel	120 (394)	2004	China	Changsha, Hunan	28.1821772°N 112.9800886°E / 28.1821772; 112.9800886 (Changsha Ferris Wheel)
Zhengzhou Ferris Wheel	120 (394)	2003	China	Century Amusement Park, Henan	34.7645138°N 113.6549377°E / 34.7645138; 113.6549377 (Zhengzhou Ferris Wheel)
Sky Dream Fukuoka	120 (394)	2002	Japan	Evergreen Marinoa, Fukuoka, Kyūshū	33.5956845°N 130.3225279°E / 33.5956845; 130.3225279 (Sky Dream Fukuoka)	Closed September 2009
Diamond and Flower Ferris Wheel	117 (384)	2001	Japan	Kasai Rinkai Park, Tokyo, Honshū	35.6439052°N 139.8572257°E / 35.6439052; 139.8572257 (Diamond and Flower Ferris Wheel)
Star of Lake Tai	115 (377)	2008	China	Lake Tai, Wuxi, Jiangsu	31.5208296°N 120.260945°E / 31.5208296; 120.260945 (Star of Taihu Lake)	Picture
Daikanransha	115 (377)	1999	Japan	Palette Town, Odaiba, Honshū	35.6263915°N 139.7822902°E / 35.6263915; 139.7822902 (Daikanransha)	World's tallest 1999-2000
Cosmo Clock 21 (2nd installation)	112.5 (369)	1999	Japan	Minato Mirai 21, Yokohama, Honshū	35.4553872°N 139.6367347°E / 35.4553872; 139.6367347 (Cosmo Clock 21 (2nd installation))
Tempozan Ferris Wheel	112.5 (369)	1997	Japan	Osaka, Honshū	34.6561657°N 135.431031°E / 34.6561657; 135.431031 (Tempozan Ferris Wheel)	World's tallest 1997-1999
Harbin Ferris Wheel	110 (361)	2003	China	Harbin, Heilongjiang	45.7776481°N 126.6634637°E / 45.7776481; 126.6634637 (Harbin Ferris Wheel)	Picture
Shanghai Ferris Wheel	108 (354)	2002	China	Jinjiang Action Park, Shanghai	31.1401286°N 121.4030752°E / 31.1401286; 121.4030752 (Shanghai Ferris Wheel)	Picture
Cosmo Clock 21 (1st installation)	107.5 (353)	1989	Japan	Minato Mirai 21, Yokohama, Honshū	?	World's tallest 1989-1997
Space Eye	100 (328)	?	Japan	Space World, Kitakyūshū, Kyūshū	33.8716939°N 130.8099014°E / 33.8716939; 130.8099014 (Space Eye)	Picture
Grande Roue de Paris	100 (328)	1900	France	Champ de Mars, Paris	48.852222°N 2.299167°E / 48.852222; 2.299167 (Grande Roue de Paris (demolished 1920))	World's tallest 1900-1920
Great Wheel	094 94 (308)	1895	UK	Earls Court, London	51.48835°N 0.19889°W / 51.48835; -0.19889 (Great Wheel (demolished 1907))	World's tallest 1895-1900
Aurora Wheel	090 90 (295)	?	Japan	Nagashima Spa Land, Mie, Honshū	35.0298207°N 136.7336351°E / 35.0298207; 136.7336351 (Aurora Wheel)	Picture
Eurowheel	090 90 (295)	1999	Italy	Mirabilandia, Ravenna	44.3392161°N 12.2622228°E / 44.3392161; 12.2622228 (Eurowheel)	Tallest extant in Europe 1999
Sky Wheel	088 88 (289)	?	Taiwan	Janfusun Fancyworld, Gukeng	23.6202611°N 120.5763352°E / 23.6202611; 120.5763352 (Sky Wheel)
Technostar Technocosmos	085 85 (279)	1985? 1985	Japan	Expoland, Osaka, Honshū (?-2009) Expo '85, Tsukuba, Honshū (1985-?)	34.803772°N 135.535916°E / 34.803772; 135.535916 (Technostar) 36.061203°N 140.073055°E / 36.061203; 140.073055 (Technocosmos)	World's tallest extant 1985-1989Technocosmos renamed/relocated World's tallest extant 1985-1989
The original Ferris Wheel	080.40 80.4 (264)	1893	USA	Chicago (1893-1903); St.Louis (1904-06)	Ferris Wheel coordinates	World's tallest 1893-1894

Future wheels

Current proposals

• The 167.6 m (550 ft) High Roller, to be built on the Las Vegas Strip, Nevada, was announced in August 2011, with construction scheduled to begin the following month and completion expected in late 2013. Part of Caesars' Project Linq, its 32 gondolas will each be able to carry 40 people.
• The 152.4 m (500 ft) Skyvue Las Vegas Super Wheel, to be built on the Las Vegas Strip, Nevada, was approved by Clark County Commission in March 2011. It was announced at a media event and groundbreaking ceremony in May 2011 by Howard Bulloch of Compass Investments, who stated "We expect it to be up and running in time for New Year's 2012." Its 40 gondolas will each carry 20-25 people.
• The 150 m (492 ft) Jeddah Eye proposed for Saudi Arabia is part of a development begun in 2008 and scheduled to open in 2012.
• 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) Wheel of Manchester installation, with Piccadilly Gardens the possible site and completion expected by Christmas 2011.
• The 88 m (289 ft) Malaysia Eye is to replace the transportable 60 m (197 ft) Eye on Malaysia installation, which was dismantled in October 2010, in Malacca, Malaysia. It will occupy a new site on Malacca Island, and is scheduled to open on December 1, 2011. It will have 54 air-conditioned gondolas, each able to carry six people.

File:Beijing Wheel Low Res.JPG

Artist's impression of the 208 m Beijing Great Wheel, originally due to open in 2008, but now in receivership

Artist's impression of the 175 m Great Berlin Wheel, originally due to open in 2008, but now "on hold"

Incomplete, delayed, or cancelled proposals

Wheels for which no completion date has been announced, or whose original completion date has already passed:

• The 208 m (682 ft) Beijing Great Wheel, construction begun 2007 and originally due to open 2008, went into receivership in 2010.
• The 198 m (650 ft) Baghdad Eye was proposed for Baghdad, Iraq, in August 2008. At that time, three possible locations had been identified, but no estimates of cost or completion date were given. In October 2008, it was reported that Al-Zawraa Park was expected to be the site, and a 60 m (197 ft) wheel was installed there in March 2011.
• 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.
• The 180 m (591 ft) Voyager has been proposed several times for Las Vegas, Nevada.
• 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.
• The 175 m (574 ft) Great Berlin Wheel was originally planned to open in 2008 but the project encountered financial obstacles.
• The 122 m (400 ft) Great Orlando Wheel was announced in June 2008 but then suspended in early 2009 after losing its funding.
• A 91.4 m (300 ft) wheel planned for Manchester, England, for 2008, was never constructed.
• The 87 m (285 ft) Pepsi Globe was proposed for the planned Meadowlands complex in New Jersey in February 2008 and originally due to open in 2009, then put on hold until 2010. 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.

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". An earlier proposal for a 250-metre (820 ft) structure, the Shanghai Kiss, with capsules ascending and descending a pair of towers which met at their peaks instead of a wheel, was deemed too expensive at £100m.

Rus-3000, a 170-metre (558 ft) wheel planned to open in 2004 in Moscow, has since been reported cancelled. More recently, an approximately 180-metre (591 ft) wheel has been considered for Gorky Central Park of Culture and Leisure, and a 150-metre (492 ft) wheel proposed for location near Sparrow Hills.

Observation wheels

The Singapore Flyer, world's tallest Ferris wheel since 2008, has 28 air-conditioned passenger capsules, each able to carry 28 people

The London Eye's 32 ovoidal air-conditioned passenger capsules each weigh 10 tonnes (11 short tons) and can carry 25 people

Observation wheel is an alternative name for Ferris wheel. 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".

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, but credited as "world's largest Ferris wheel" by the media.

The 135 m (443 ft) London Eye, typically described as a "giant Ferris wheel" by the media, has ovoidal motorised capsules and is the "world's tallest cantilevered observation wheel" 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." However, the operators of the Singapore Flyer claim their wheel is the "world's largest observation wheel" despite it not being supported by an A-frame on one side only.

The 120 m (394 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", but also as a Ferris wheel by the media.

Transportable wheels

Roue de Paris, a Ronald Bussink R60 transportable wheel, pictured at Geleen in the Netherlands in 2005

World's tallest transportable Ferris wheel at World Carnival, Hong Kong, in 2007

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.

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.

The world's tallest transportable wheel today is a 66-metre (217 ft) tall Ronald Bussink series R66 design operated by World Carnival.

One of the most famous transportable wheels is the 60-metre (197 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 2003–04 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.

Roue de Paris is a Ronald Bussink series R60 design using 40,000 litres (8,800 imperial gallons; 11,000 US 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 can be loaded either 3 or 6 at a time, and each car can carry 8 people. Bussink R60 wheels have operated in Australia (Brisbane), Canada (Niagara Falls), France (Paris), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur & Malacca), UK (Belfast, Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield), USA (Myrtle Beach), and elsewhere.

Other notable transportable wheels include the 60-metre (197 ft) Steiger Ferris Wheel, which was the world's tallest transportable wheel when it began operating in 1980. It has 42 passenger cars, and weighs 450 tons. On October 11, 2010, it collapsed at the Kramermarkt in Oldenburg, Germany, during deconstruction.

Notable transportable Ferris wheel installations:

Name	Height    m (ft)	Years	Country	Location	Coordinates
Belfast Wheel	60 (197)	2007-2010	UK	Belfast	54°35′48.77″N 5°55′45.06″W
Eye on Malaysia	60 or 62 m	2007-2008 2008-2010	Malaysia Malaysia	Kuala Lumpur Malacca	3°10′39.2″N 101°42′15.68″E 2°11′23.4312″N 102°14′29.0034″E
Royal Windsor Wheel	60 m in 2011	various	UK	Windsor, Berkshire	51.4845°N 0.6119°W / 51.4845; -0.6119 (Royal Windsor Wheel)
Wheel of Birmingham	60 (197)	various	UK	Birmingham	52°28′44.04″N 1°54′32.49″W
Wheel of Brisbane	60 (197)	2008-2012	Australia	Brisbane	27.4751833°S 153.0209333°E / -27.4751833; 153.0209333 (Wheel of Brisbane)
Wheel of Dublin	60 (197)	2010-?	Ireland	North Wall, Dublin	53.34852°N 6.22795°W / 53.34852; -6.22795 (Wheel of Dublin)
Wheel of Manchester	60 (197)	various	UK	Exchange Square, Manchester	53.48433°N 2.24310°W / 53.48433; -2.24310 (Manchester Wheel)
Wheel of Sheffield	60 (197)	2009-2010	UK	Sheffield	53.3810°N 1.4699°W / 53.3810; -1.4699 (Wheel of Sheffield)
Yorkshire Wheel	54 (177)	2006-2008	UK	York	53.96001667°N 1.0956833°W / 53.96001667; -1.0956833 (Yorkshire Wheel)

Double and triple wheels

Sky Whirl, an Intamin triple wheel

Hermann Eccentric Ferris Wheel with sliding cars, from US patent 1354436, 1915; forerunner of the 1920 Wonder Wheel, there is no record of it ever being built

Wonder Wheel, a 45.7-metre (150 ft) tall eccentric wheel at Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park, Coney Island, was built in 1920 by the Eccentric Ferris Wheel Company

Disney's California Adventure Park's Sun Wheel, an eccentric wheel modelled on Wonder Wheel, was built in 2001 and became Mickey's Fun Wheel in 2009

Big O, a 60-metre (197 ft) tall centreless wheel at Tokyo Dome City in Japan

Cosmo Clock 21, world's tallest wheel 1989 to 1997, and world's largest clock

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.

Similar wheels included Giant Wheel (Hersheypark, Hershey, Pennsylvania), Zodiac (Kings Island, Mason, Ohio), and Galaxy (Six Flags Magic Mountain, Valencia, California). All were Intamin designs; all are now defunct.

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, Triple Giant Wheel, or Triple Tree Wheel, it was 33 metres (108 ft) in height. The Santa Clara ride, renamed Triple Wheel in post-Marriott years, closed on 1 September 1997. The Gurnee ride closed in 2000.

Eccentric wheels

Eccentric wheels (sometimes called sliding wheels or coaster wheels) 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 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. 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.

Wonder Wheel was built in 1920, is 45.7 metres (150 ft) tall, and can carry 144 people.

Major designers, manufacturers, & operators

Allan Herschell Company (merged with Chance Morgan in 1970)

• Seattle Wheel (debuted 1962): 16 cars, 2 passengers per car
• 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

Chance Morgan

• Astro Wheel (debuted 1967): 16 cars (8 facing one way, 8 the other), 2 passengers per car
• Century Wheel: 20 m (66 ft) tall, 15 cars, 4-6 passengers per car
• Giant Wheel: 27 m (89 ft) tall, 20 cars, 6-8 passengers per car
• Niagara SkyWheel: 53.3 m (175 ft) tall, 42 air-conditioned cars, 8 passengers per car

Eli Bridge

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 (merged with World Tourist Attractions in 2009 to form Great City Attractions Ltd.)

• 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, now in receivership
• Great Dubai Wheel: 185 m (607 ft) tall, planning permission granted in 2006, was supposed to open in 2009
• Great Berlin Wheel: 175 m (574 ft) tall, was supposed to open in 2008
• Great Orlando Wheel: 122 m (400 ft) tall, project halted in 2009

Intamin

• Mickey's Fun Wheel: an eccentric (sliding) wheel
• Giant Wheel: a double wheel
• Sky Whirl: a triple wheel

Ronald Bussink Professional Rides (formerly Nauta Bussink)

• R40: 40-metre (131 ft) tall fixed or transportable wheel, 30 cars, 8 passengers per car
• R50: 50-metre (164 ft) tall fixed or transportable wheel, 36 cars, 8 passengers per car
• R60: 60-metre (197 ft) tall transportable wheel, 42 cars, 8 passengers per car
• R66: 66-metre (217 ft) tall transportable wheel, 42 cars; world's tallest transportable wheel, operated by World Carnival
• R80: 80-metre (262 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; 112.5 m (369 ft) tall when re-erected in 1999
• Diamond and Flower Ferris Wheel: 117 m (384 ft) tall, world's second tallest Ferris wheel when completed in 2001
• Tempozan Ferris Wheel: 112.5 m (369 ft) tall, completed 1997; world's tallest Ferris wheel 1997 to 1999

See also

Four-car 30 m tall drive-in Ferris wheel at Harbourfront, Toronto, Canada, in 2004

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

Southern Star, Melbourne, Australia, tallest in the Southern Hemisphere

Texas Star, Dallas, tallest in the Americas

Ferris wheel in Ocean City, New Jersey

Ruota dei Pionieri, Minitalia Leolandia Park, Italy, manufactured by Zamperla

A ride similar to a Ferris wheel, but which inverts its cars and passengers