Ferris Wheel at SFGAm

[forddude1416]

I don't know if this has been discovered before (I tried searching but no results per se). I know their was rumblings and a park map that showed this but heres a photo of the mysterious Ferris Wheel at SFGAm (thanks to negative-g)



Look at Tidal Waves spike and go directly to the right, the wheel is offset by the white building.
Sorry again if this has already been discussed.

[Goku1910]

That's just the Sky Whirl....You know, the one that was replaced with De ja Vu.

[Cole]

^No No No.
Did you listen to his instructions at all?
It may be a kiddie one from the mariott times, looks like theres only 6 stations.

[MForce4ever]

1 is skywhirl, 2 is most likely part of eagle's flight. But hard to be certain from that distance.

[onyxhotel08]

NOW I see it!

[Cole]

Not certain, but that could be Orleans Orbit?

[Galvan]

http://www.greatamericaparks.com/images/displayimage.php?album=17&pos=0

According to the 1981 Park map. (Check at item #12)

There was a "Ferris Wheel" in that section of the park. The map notes the ride as just Ferris Wheel so I dont have a name on the attraction from this map.

[w00dland]

There is a small kiddie Ferris Wheel still at the park today, it is part of the Fright Fest scenery now, but I'm sure it operated at some point...

[mjkzak]

There was a Ferris Wheel at Six Flags Great America between the years of 1980-1984. It stood between the Eagle's Flight station and Fairgrounds Junction, as correctly identified in the photo. It was full size (50 to 60 feet tall) and was simply called Ferris Wheel. It was removed at the end of the 1984 season. Fairgrounds Junction was moved into its footprint to accommodate the addition of Z Force in 1985.

There was also a Ferris Wheel at the Santa Clara park. That was approximately located where Wolf Den Snacks is located in the Gurnee park. I am not sure what years it sat there, but was obviously gone by 1983 when The Edge took over that footprint.

[DejaVu2001]

There is a small kiddie Ferris Wheel still at the park today, it is part of the Fright Fest scenery now, but I'm sure it operated at some point...

The ferris wheel Fright Fest prop never operated. Before Fright Fest, it was used as part of one of the old parade floats. That thing could never possibly have operated as a ride, anyone small enough to fit in those buckets would be too young to be trusted alone on a ride.

[vprlvr456]

camp cartoon network has a flintstone ferris wheel, right?

[sfgam1]

There is a small kiddie Ferris Wheel still at the park today, it is part of the Fright Fest scenery now, but I'm sure it operated at some point...

Wasn't that part of a parade float?

[sfgamguy]

camp cartoon network has a flintstone ferris wheel, right?

yes it does

[FParker185]

to elaborate on what's been said earlier in this thread, it was a Eli Bridge/Big Eli ferris wheel, not exactly sure of the model but it was probably the standard 12 seat model identical to what was at Kiddieland.

Also if you look around on greatamericaparks.com you can find pics of the train station being moved to accomodate Z-Force.

[forddude1416]

I just cant believe so little is known about this... and how close of a proximity to Skywheel there is. I mean sure its just an off the shelf ferris wheel but its kind of a strange sight. We are one of the few major parks without a ferris wheel anyways.

[david]

I would much rather have a ferris wheel over BB. My opinion though.

[Ilovthevu']

I just cant believe so little is known about this... and how close of a proximity to Skywheel there is. I mean sure its just an off the shelf ferris wheel but its kind of a strange sight. We are one of the few major parks without a ferris wheel anyways.

The park still has a Ferris Wheel. It's in Camp Cartoon area as someone already said. So little is known about this because no one cares. It was just an Eli Wheel as FParker just said. It's like people liking the big massive Intamin Triple Wheel (Sky Whirl), or a smaller Ferris Wheel. Of course, they are going to say the gigantic one that overlooks the middle of the park.

You say we are one of the few major parks without a Ferris Wheel. Well, I'll just the say gigantic ones because you are talking about them. Six Flags Over Georgia, 5 Disney parks don't have one (California Adventure has one.), Six Flags Magic Mountain, Six Flags Over Texas, Kings Island, Universal Studios or Islands Adventure in USA don't have one, and Six Flags America is kind of iffy on the Ferris Wheel because they have one, but is that a kiddie one (right on the right side of the entrance)?. That's a bunch of parks that don't have one.

Looking at this list of Six Flags that don't have one, I think it's more of Six Flags that are better attended parks don't have one. Great Adventure is the only Six Flags that I can think of that has one, and high attendance while Kentucky Kingdom and St. Louis are lower attended parks and had one.

Forget about the Sky Whirl for an instance, and think the Ferris Wheel that at's Kentucky Kingdom. This is probably the reason why this topic was created because you want that Ferris Wheel. The ride when I went on it at SFStL which is the same design was a slow loading process. The problem with a Ferris Wheel like that is that if the employees load all the cars up, it would take a ton of time getting people off the ride. Sure, these massive Ferris Wheels hold a ton of people, but it's the loading and unloading process that is going to increase people's wait by a lot compared to a 20 something car smaller Chance Century Wheel that carnivals have or Dorney Park has. So, what happens at SFStL is that they don't load all the cars up which reduces capacity of what the original ride capacity was supposed to be. To me, for these Gigantic Ferris Wheels, I think it would better to have bigger cars, and less vehicles. Could they get a Ferris Wheel to unload 6 at a time? I probably doubt it, but they can try.

I don't know much about many of the Cedar Fair parks though except that Dorney Park, Kings Dominion (from Gaugea Lake), and Cedar Point have one. Six Flags Great Adventure, St. Louis, and Kentucky Kingdom have or had them (Kentucky Kingdom park is gone.) Again, I haven't been to every Six Flags park either (or former Six Flags park) so I can't tell you what Great Escape, Fiesta Texas, La Ronde, Elitch Gardens, Darien Lake, and so on have.

To me, the Sky Whirl, or the Sun Wheel (Is it called Mickey Wheel now?) at California Adventure are the best Ferris Wheels. All the other ones, I rather just go sleep on.

[Absimilliard]

La Ronde got a 150 feet Vekoma wheel. They manage to load 5 cars at a time and if they fill most of the cars up, the line is always short for it.

Great Escape got a Chance Century wheel and a small Zamperla balloon wheel.

I never got to ride Sky Whirl, but I rode the Giant Wheel at Hersheypark and it was amazing. Sadly, I don't think there's any Intamin double or triple wheels left in the world. Lotte World (basically Intamin "showroom" park in South Korea) opened with one back in 1989, but it was removed in 1998 and replaced by the prototype Gyro Drop. The australian Sydney Wonderland had a double wheel, but it was scrapped when that park closed in 2004. Did Kings Island have one too at one point of their existance?

[RobSFGAm]

I do remember a Sky Whirl type ride at Kings Island in the early 80's. It was only the two arm version (Like Hershey Park). I remember it being back by the far end of the park past The Bat and by the big slide ride. Not far from the end of the Racer (Where the racer turns around and starts heading back)

[forddude1416]

This is probably the reason why this topic was created because you want that Ferris Wheel.

Just as a quick foot note, I really don't care about SFKK's ferris wheel. I didn't even know there was any gunnin for it. I solely made the topic because I remember a while ago people talking about the ferris wheel but not knowing where it was. It was probably on greatamericaparks.com but I felt like posting it here none the less.

[Ilovthevu']

^I wouldn't care either way though. It's okay to want the SFKK Ferris Wheel.I just hope they wouldn't take something out good to replace a Ferris Wheel with. How the SFKK thing is going, I think Six Flags isn't going to get nothing out of that park. They signed a written contract, and you have to abide by those rules.

[forddude1416]

^the contract doesnt mean much. if six flags was all like omg heres 100m now take the park, kentucky would be all like zomg we love sf and were sorry to see them go but omgz teh monies!

[tillenterprises]

Back to the topic at hand- I do remember that ferris wheel in the corner of the park, between the train station and the sky ride station (which is now the funnel cake factory). It was in the early 80's, and I think it only lasted 2 seasons. I never rode it, since it was just a typical ferris wheel that you would see at a local carnival, but it was nice to have to improve in the "County Fair" theming. As I remember, it didn't seem to have a line, since most people probably thought like me- why ride something you can ride anywhere else, and take time away from the Demon and Eagle? However, it did look nice there.

[tillenterprises]

To me, the Sky Whirl, or the Sun Wheel (Is it called Mickey Wheel now?) at California Adventure are the best Ferris Wheels. All the other ones, I rather just go sleep on.

I really like the one in St. Louis. The view from the top is awesome!