This bit of information will put together all adventure fans happy and thrilled. San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park is getting ready for an impressive 150 ft high Ferris wheel on the occasion of its 150th birthday. Thus, this year, on April 4, the prominent park will roll 150 years old, the day it was launched.
Not only the beautiful park, but the whole town rejoices the day with colorful events and amusing actions. This year is going to be additionally special thanks to the 150 ft high, an illuminated observation wheel that will be observed revolving in the Music Concourse Pavilion, right in the center of the park. The nearby attractions in the park incorporate the California Academy of Sciences and Japanese Tea Garden.
The large-ish Ferris wheel, which will go up to about the stature of the deYoung Museum’s observation tower, was announced this week by Mayor London Breed ahead of the park’s sesquicentennial festivity which is happening on April 4, 2020. It will be the 1st time that the park has a Ferris wheel since the Midwinter International Exposition of 1894 when a 120-foot wheel was put up — as Curbed tells us.
This wheel will rise on one side of the Music Concourse, opposite the bandshell, between the deYoung and the Academy of Sciences. Twelve-minute rides will be free on April 4, but after that, they will cost $18 a pop — $12 for children and seniors. The cabins will be temperature-controlled and hold six passengers. And the wheel will keep revolving all year long (and beyond?) as part of continuing celebrations of the park’s anniversary.
Golden Gate Park was built in the late 1860s and officially opened on April 4, 1870. April 4, 2020, will officially be Community Day in the park, with more events and attractions to be announced. You can learn more about the park’s 150-year celebrations at this website.
As Curbed notes, this Ferris wheel is dwarfed by a proposal for a 700-foot observation wheel on the Embarcadero to rival Las Vegas’s High Roller wheel — currently the world’s largest at 550 feet — and Ain Dubai’s 689-foot wheel that’s currently under construction. The Golden Gate Flyer, if it ever gets built, would spin along SF’s waterfront carrying forty luxury, state-of-the-art cabins that would hold 36 people each, some of which would hold dining tables that seat eight or cocktail bars for private events.
About the impressive Ferris wheel
There will be thirty-six cars in the wheel, and one can have room for six people. These climate-controlled cars will offer fascinating views of the city and will even operate on a densely foggy day or a very sunny day! The entire thing is about views that will extend from the ocean to downtown San Francisco.
History of massive wheels in Golden Gate Park
This is not the 1st time that the Golden Gate Park will feature a giant Ferris wheel as about a 100 years ago, the park played host to a 120 ft Ferris Wheel. It soon became a major tourist attraction during the 1894 Midwinter International Exposition. The fame of the wheel became the main reason for the development of Golden Gate Park, and today, the park stands proudly and firmly. Since then, it has been a main tourist attraction in the city.
Let’s talk about the views
So the full point of the wheel is the views! When the fog cooperates, visitors will get an opportunity to observe the expansive stretch of the Pacific Ocean (west), the mouth of San Francisco Bay (north), downtown San Francisco (east), and top views of the Golden Gate Park.
If one pays concentration, they could also see the gorgeous pyramidal Transamerica building plus the Point Bonita lighthouse. The top of the Golden Gate Bridge peeking over the thick forest can also be observed from here.
Quick Facts
The Ferris wheel will be initiated on April 4, 2020, and will be serviceable till March 1, 2021. One will have to compensate $18 or $12 for seniors and kids below 13 for a twelve-minute ride on this huge wheel. However, the rides will be totally free on April 4.
While remarkable in its own right and very much welcome to the city’s most notable green space—Golden Gate Park could certainly benefit from a few more pompous attractions—the observation wheel’s 150 feet pales in contrast to the 700-foot whopper proposed last year for the town. At seven hundred feet in diameter and 728 feet in total height, the Golden Gate Flyer would have been taller than the 550-foot High Roller (at present the world’s tallest Ferris wheel).
