Where have all the Ferris Wheels gone?

Michigan's Adventure has one too.

Mariner's Landing (the middle pier of Morey's three Piers at Wildwood NJ) has a large Ferris Wheel. It can litterally be seen from "miles away" (inland... not from out at sea).

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"I wasn't always this cynical, but then I started kindergarden..."

Ferris Wheels are still found in "most" of the parks today. Several parks have replaced older wheels with newer ones.

For many years, it had seemed as most parks had operated a 12 or 16 tub Eli Bridge Wheel. (The EB Wheels can be found at Wyandot Lake, Whalom Park, Strickers Grove, Americana, Santa Cruz Boardwalk, Worlds of Fun, Camden Park, or the Stratosphere for example) Severeal of the EB Wheels have been converted to rim driven hydrolics as opposed to the cable driven systems to help wirth operations since these old wheels are difficult to operate and are very picky in terms of balancing.

Well, with increased park attendance, many parks have removed the old Eli wheels and installed a large Gondola Wheel. The gondolas are better since you can load between 3-5 tubs at a time, and can fit 4-8 people per tub. However, some parks have just removed their wheels for maintienance issues or ridership.

Kings Island removed both their wheels both due to mechnical issues, as well as PGA and SFGrAm on mechanical problems. (those Intiman "claw" wheels were just too expensive when a bearing went. Geauga Lake took out their Eli wheel of 20 years, and put in a large gondola in 1999. Kennywood has taken out their gondola due to low ridership.

Nowadays, ferris wheels are still present (usally found in large forms) , but since they are such low capacity, few try to shy away from them. With the modern thrill rides, Ferris Wheels tend to be avioded by teens and thiillseekers, but are still popular with families, the major group marketed towards anyway.

Some parks just don't find it essential to have one, and other believe otherwise.
I don't see them completely disappearing anytime soon.

*** This post was edited by john peck on 10/15/2001. ***

I wonder how many parks do not have Ferris wheels for the same reason that many parks do not have observation towers. One of the theme park "rules" that came about in the 1960's and 1970's was that the park is to put on some kind of show, and an observation tower or Ferris wheel allows park customers to see parts of the park that aren't part of the "show". "Real" amusement parks, of course, don't have this problem, but some of the modern theme parks (the kinds of places that refer to service areas as "backstage" and employees as "cast members") are very particular about this point......!

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Well far as I know SFMM doesn't have one. I don't know if they have a kiddy ferris wheel since I don't go to BBW. Even though I pass right by BBW if you take to the right when you enter I don't remember seeing one.

It seams like a park like SFMM would have a huge beautiful Ferris Wheel, I wonder why they don't?

Also I remember the one that was suppose to be going in LV it was suppose to be 518 feet tall, each capsule was suppose to have it on bar and themed to somthing egyption

*** This post was edited by rob4420 on 10/15/2001. ***

The State Fair of Texas still has the tallest Ferris Wheel in North America and the Western Hemisphere. The Texas Star standing at 212ft, built in 1985 by SDC. It has 44 gondala's that hold 4-6 people per gondala. It's a very nice ride with great views of the midway, the fairgrounds and downtown Dallas. I jsut wish more parks had Ferris Wheels.

http://www.lonestarthrills.com/features/desktop_wallpapers/texas_star/texas_star001_800x600.jpg

http://www.lonestarthrills.com/features/desktop_wallpapers/state_fair_of_texas/sfot_txstar_dusk_800x600.jpg

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Jeremy Murphy
www.lonestarthrills.com

wow...I Hope they consider bringing back some of the rides personally my favorite was the double ferris wheel it gave butterflies in my stomache
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Roller coaster of Love ~ ooi ~ ooi ~ ooi

MrMightyMouse said:
"Yea i notced alot of parks dont have alot of feris wheels unless they already have them.when i went to SFA i was surprised they dident have one,"

Umm, SFA *DOES* have a Ferris Wheel, a themed one at that. It's called "A'wound the World in 80 Days" and the gondolas are themed to hot air balloons.

And DawgByte, both SFGAm and PGAm have removed their Intamin triple-armed Ferris Wheels (though 'technically' neither was a real "Ferris" wheel to begin with..)
lata,
jeremy
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"C.W., an Internet reader, e-mails:
"Killing Osama bin Laden will only create a martyr. Holding him prisoner will inspire his followers to take hostages. What we should do is capture him, fly him to an undisclosed hospital for a sex change and return her to Afghanistan to live as a woman under Taliban rule."

2Hostyl said:
"Both SFGAm and PGAm have removed their Intamin triple-armed Ferris Wheels (though 'technically' neither was a real "Ferris" wheel to begin with..)
"

For what it is worth...
Aside from its "newer" Ferris Wheel in Midway America, Hersheypark also has an Intamin double armed "Ferris Wheel" (similar to the triple armed ones that operated at the Great Americas, though, as stated, its not technically a Ferris Wheel) called "Giant Wheel". Its location in Carrousel Circle in the front of the park. Rumor has it that its days may be numbered (though this has been said for the past few years).

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"I wasn't always this cynical, but then I started kindergarden..."

*** This post was edited by SLFAKE on 10/15/2001. ***

Lagoon has a huge ferris wheel. It sits really close to I-15 and can be seen for miles!

Astroworld used to have an Intamin Giant Wheel like Hersheypark's, but now has none, not even a kiddie model.

In Houston the rodeo always has a large wheel and the Kemah boardwalk has one, in Dallas they've got the largest at the State Fair, and in San Antonio Six Flags Fiesta Texas has a decent sized model.

Kennywood used to have one but got rid of it for the Aero 360. It was a nice sized one also.:(
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Kennywood is my home park!!!

I remember the double ferris wheel at CP from years ago. It was one of those rides that scared me every time I got on it.

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I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead

Hostyl, you are correct, but I think Mr. Mighty Mouse was thinking of a standard size ferris wheel. As we both know, a 120x120ft version is in the masterplan for the park. When will it be built? Who knows.

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Batwing-Bow Down

Hersheypark has a very colorful one.

I agree with RideMan.....I know the "behind the scenes" viewpoint is looked down upon at the happiest place on earth, and that was a big reason for the removal of their Skyride.

I have always loved the Intamin Giant Wheels, but my fav. flat ride of all (besides the Flyers) is the Allan Herschell Skywheel. Thankfully one appears every year at the Ohio State Fair. It's good to see John Peck give us some history on these. He knows too much about wheels. :) Now there's an idea.....a Ferris Wheel site. I haven't seen any out there yet......
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Moxie: Not quite Cola, not quite Root Beer, not quite Asphalt!
Scale model rides: www.angelfire.com/oh4/tk173

Morey's Piers has a GIANT Wheel, over 156ft. tall. They also have a Zamperala 30ft. wheel. So now they have 2. They are doing their part.