Kennywood's ferris wheel

I tried searching for this, but didn't see anything about it. So, sorry if this has been discussed, but does anyone know why Kennywood removed their ferris wheel a few years ago, and didn't get a replacement since it's been gone?

Just odd to see a park that doesn't have some type of ferris wheel, especially an old fashioned nostalgic place like Kennywood.

P.S. My really bad if they do have one now and I totally missed it, but I know they didn't have one when I was there.

Nope, it was removed and replaced by Aero 360 the following year. Reason? Low ridership. I know that the ride showed up at Ocean City's Jolly Roger park the next year, but can't confirm that it still stands at that park.

By chance are there any photo's of this when it was around ? I didn't have my first visit to kennywood untill this last summer. I never knew they had a wheel. I thought it was kinda odd that they didn't have one, infact i think its kinda weird of any park not to have some sort of ferris wheel.

PhantomTails, I think I remember hearing that the Wonder Wheel now resides at the same park that the Laser Loop now resides at. I remember hearing it awhile ago on, I think, the Kennywood Unlimited message boards. I can't comfirm it though, so I may be wrong.

It was simply time for the ride to be retired. Kennywood management decided to add the Aero360 to replace it rather than spend the money refurbishing an aging ride. Hopefully, someday, Kennywood will add a large Ferris wheel back into the park.

Thanks for the info guys. It is really weird that they don't have a wheel. If it was aging, I'd think they could have just bought a new model, a medium sized ferris wheel like a Chance Giant or Century Wheel would be great for the park. A ferris wheel is almost as much of a staple as a carousel.

WE had this discussion over on Kennywood Blvd a while back. It was determined that while a wheel might just be in KW future, don't hold your breath. As far as the Chance wheels are concerned, KPJB said (and I agree) that unless the park wanted to add a couple more mechanics to the staff, it isn't going to happen.

You'd think so, but I'm getting the impression that, with the exception of the behemoths over in Japan, Ferris Wheels seem like a dying breed. When was the last time one was installed stateside?

Kennywood obviously took theirs out. Hershey took out one of their 2. I wouldn't put it past DP or HP to take out the chance one soon and put in something else within the next 5 years.

EDIT: my post was in reply to scraperguy99 saying "A ferris wheel is almost as much of a staple as a carousel. "

*** Edited 1/27/2005 7:26:06 AM UTC by dannerman***

This brings up an interesting question... Who makes the most reliable Giant Wheel?

While I don't have personal experience in handling them, there seems to be a lot of the Dutch built wheels being toured here now. These are in the 40 plus meter range, and the showmen that I've talked to seem to be pleased with them. Portables don't stay around very long if they are a bugger to either transport, erect or maintain. Visually impressive, they all are relatively slow to load.

The "Giant Wheels" that are currently standing at Dorney and Hershey are manufactured by Chance. Are they the most reliable? Well, it's Chance... then again, there's a chance it's not ;)

Most ride mechanics would rather not...............

You make a good point Dannerman, Hersheypark's Ferris Wheel (Chance Giant Wheel) was the most recent instalation I can think of, in I beileve 1997.

I don't see Hershey removing theirs anytime soon since it's still fairly new, and kind of a centerpiece for the Midway America section. Perhaps one of the reasons they got it was because they knew the (Intamin)Giant Wheel's days were numbered.

And, yes this gets a little confusing that Hershey had 2 ferris wheels, one called Giant Wheel by the park, and one that's manufacturer's name is Giant Wheel....lol

Hmm.. perhaps Interactive will try to remedy the Turbulence situation, and put it back there, replacing that one? (I hope not!)

Allthough its not in a park, Las Vegas is going to get a gigantic wheel (bigger then the London Eye) in the near future.

I never knew Kennywood got rid of there wheel, for a park that celebrates turn of the (last) century parks it seems wrong for it not to have one of the two rides (the other being a Merry-go-Round) that started amusment parks.

While Aero 360 is one of my favorite flat rides, it does seem really weird to not have a ferris wheel at Kennywood. It had a decent size to it if I remember correctly, and is one of those more family oriented type of rides in general, but going for the traditional amusement park screams ferris wheel.

Most reliable ferris wheel? That'd be an interesting thing to discuss with a bunch of park maintenance people. All I know is that I've never seen a Vekoma giant wheel not working, and I've seen an awful lot of one at Mariner's Landing in Wildwood.

You're taking a Chance when you buy from Chance.

Anyway, no one rode it. The Aero constantly has a line.

Will we add one in the future? I honestly don't see why. When you add new rides, you want something marketable that'll draw people in. A ferris wheel is simply not something that brings people out.

Compare that to the *********** by *******. That thing's gonna ROCK!

Oh, and Holiday World doesn't have a wheel, either. Or PKI.

*edited for proper use of pronouns.

*** Edited 1/27/2005 9:44:23 PM UTC by kpjb***

There's actually quite a few 'name' parks (and big ones even) that don't have a wheel. Think about it.

PKI had two wheels but they took them out in the 80's.