Wheel of Perth

[Spotty]

"World Tourist Attractions Australia are proud to announce the opening of a new Giant Observation Wheel, located on the Perth Foreshore, with spectacular views of Perth’s vibrant heart and the Swan River. The wheel experience lasts approximately 13 minutes. After a brief introduction to the facilities available, passengers enter one of the 36 capsules and are gently lifted to a height of almost 50 meters for spectacular views of The Swan River and downtown Perth. A luxury VIP capsule with leather seating, flat screen TV, DVD and CD player is also available. Tickets can be purchased in person from the ticket office located at the wheel, advanced booking, at discounted rates, is also available via our online system by clicking on this button (coming soon)." The Wheel opened on the 7th of January 2009 This is an article from ABC: "You may have some childhood memories of the fairground ferris wheel, and now a wheel is on its way to Perth. But, the man bringing it here, Nigel Ward, assures us it's no simple fairground attraction. Ward has been taking wheels all around the globe and, in June, is set to bring Perth one that has been used on the Gold Coast and in Birmingham in the UK. "We do everything from short-term temporary visits of about 3 to six months to longer term contracts [of] three, four, or five years," he explains. "Our wheels are state of the art, a million miles away from the traditional fairground ferris wheel most people might imagine. These are truly stand-alone visitor attractions [with] fully enclosed gondolas [and are] air conditioned, very graceful, multi-million dollar investments designed to fit into a wide range of environments." So, how does such a creation end up in Perth? "We identify some key cities in each country that we're interested in going to and then make approaches to local authorities to see if they'd be interested," Ward outlines. Once here, "we can set up one of these wheels in less than ten days and, come removal, we can usually get them down in five days." The fear some might have is that a wheel in one of the world's windiest cities might come down a lot quicker than that when not intended. But Ward assures "they are engineered to a very high level and can operate in surprisingly high winds. We actually choose to stop operation if winds gust to a certain level which is still well below the maximum wind speed we're permitted to operate on, simply because it becomes a bit more of a thrill ride than most people are comfortable with." The thrills of this ride should be of a different type. "Because of the location on your waterfront, you're going to be able to see for miles and miles," Ward promises. "All of our market research shows that when people have friends and relatives visiting, they have a go, and a repeat visit is very common. Also, because the wheels are open normally from 10 in the morning 'til 10 in the evening, you've two different experiences, a daytime visit and also looking at the city at night from that height is a spectacular thing to do." If it is something spectacular that you don't get time to do in it's initial time in Perth, Ward is hopeful you'll get further chances. "The vast majority of towns and cities we've been in for three to six months, nine times out of 10 we get asked to extend the stay because it has proved so popular," he points out. "If I take York [in the UK] as an example, we had an initial contract for three years we now have an option to extend for a further five at the request of the local organisations." In Perth "we have an initial three month term but, if everything goes well, we hope to be able to extend that," he notes before adding, "we're very excited, we think it's a beautiful city, the views across the waterfront are spectacular and we think it's ideal for a wheel."

[Troy81]

Does anybody else think that this big wheel craze is getting out of hand. Each time a new one goes up they lose their uniqueness. Have Perth not learnt from the Brisbane wheel that they are not as profitable as they would hope. Anytime i've been to southbank there has only been a handful of people on the wheel.

[SuperYoshi]

Is this going to be like the melbourne one, that has just been opened?

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

I am really getting over these god damn giant wheels going up everywhere... sure it has tourist potential - but jeez... it's going to be like the hard rock cafe - one in every major tourist area, and you have to buy a t-shirt from each one to show where you've been... Can't these bozos in city planning come up with a UNIQUE idea?

[SuperYoshi]

The trip will last aprox 13 mins, and they have a TV , DVD and CD Player for the VIP, they must go around more than once otherwise they wont be able to watch their TV show or listen to Britneys o.o new album instead of taking in the view.

Edited January 30, 2009 by Movie_World

[Thrillseeker08]

I myself have been on the Wheel of Perth, Its not bad for a 14min round loop of the swan river and kings park, its way better than the famous bell tower thats slowly loosing customers haha. The views is spectactular,its the only ferris wheel in perth bringing in the tourists to our city apart from the one at the royal show. If you are in perth, the wheel of perth is a must do! The following photos i took from my mobile phone onboard the wheel of perth australia day.

[kyle789666]

I have never ridden a Ferris Wheel before