Wonder Wheel

For other uses, see Wonder Wheel (disambiguation).
Wonder Wheel in 2008
Wonder Wheel in 2010

Wonder Wheel is a 45.7-metre (150 ft) tall eccentric Ferris wheel located at Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park, in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City, US.

Eccentric wheels differ from conventional Ferris wheels in that some 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.

History

Wonder Wheel on the New York Aquarium's south wall

Built in 1920 by the Eccentric Ferris Wheel Company, Wonder Wheel has 24 fully enclosed passenger cars, each able to carry 6 people, giving a total capacity of 144 passengers. 16 of the cars slide inward and outward as the wheel rotates, the remainder are fixed to the rim.[1]

The only time the wheel stopped while not under the control of the operator was during the New York City blackout of 1977 on July 13, 1977. Wonder Wheel operates on electricity, however, the passengers were not stuck on the wheel, as the owners cranked the wheel around to get them off.[1]

Replica

Mickey's Fun Wheel (previously Sun Wheel) is a 48.8-metre (160 ft) tall eccentric Ferris wheel at Disney California Adventure Park.[1]

Coney Island has featured in numerous films, television shows, cartoons, and music videos, some of which show Wonder Wheel.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Wonder Wheel History
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wonder Wheel.

Coordinates: 40°34′26″N 73°58′44″W / 40.574°N 73.97891667°W / 40.574; -73.97891667

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/14/2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.