$200 Million Attraction Coming to I-Drive
ORLANDO, Fla. — A giant London Eye-like observation wheel is coming to Orlando.
The 400-foot wheel will fit about 40 people into each capsule on the wheel and offer a bird’s-eye view of the City Beautiful, plus on a clear day a view of 25 miles of the surrounding area.
Official with the Singapore company Great Wheel Corp. are expected to be in Orlando next week to announce details of the attraction. Similar high-tech wheels are already in Dubai, Singapore, Beijing and Berlin. Orlando would be the first North American site for the Great Wheel Corp. Sketches of the project show enclosed glass capsules offering a Ferris wheel-like sightseeing attraction. Details of its exact location are also expected to be released next week, but we have heard that it will be constructed either on the tourist-filled International Drive area between the convention center and SeaWorld on the old site of Race Rock … or failing that at the junction of I-Drive and Westwood. The Great Wheel Corporation plans to start construction next Wednesday. The London Eye (500ft) is one of the tallest structures in Europe and it welcomes an average of 3.5 million customers each year, according to its Web site. Before the Orlando attraction, the Pepsi company announced it planned to create America’s largest Ferris wheel in New Jersey. The attraction would be 287-feet tall, according to a Business Wire report. This will be now dwarved by Orlando’s 400 footer. Currently, the largest observation wheel in the world is the Singapore Flyer. Florida companies are expected to be working on the project. Cost of the project is approx $200 million. I don’t know who is footing that bill, but it is an amazing amount of money available in the current economy … money I am sure could be out better use … just my opinion though.
