Wonder Wheel

The Wonder Wheel is a 150-foot-tall (46 m) eccentric Ferris wheel at Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park at Coney Island in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Completed in 1920, this Coney Island classic is one of the first so-called eccentric Ferris wheels. The observation wheel is 150 feet tall. There are 24 cabins capable of holding up to 6 people at one time resulting in a seating capacity of 144 passengers. The duration of the ride is 10 minutes, resulting in a total capacity of 864 people per hour. The original architect, a Romanian-born engineer named Charles Hermann, designed it as such to capitalize on the popularity of both Ferris wheels and roller coasters. During the course of a rotation, the red and blue cars slide in toward the axle and back out toward the perimeter.

The Wonder Wheel has served more than 30 million passengers in its 100-year lifetime, and the iconic attraction still functions much as it did when it first opened. Except for when it ceased working on July 13, 1977, during the Great New York City Blackout, it operated without any significant incidents. Owner Fred Garms, of the second generation, manually turned the wheel to lower all of the passengers to safety.

Location: Brooklyn, New York
Entrance fees: $28.99 per person per ride