# Why is there a giant Ferris Wheel in London? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 19, 2009, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-a-giant-ferris-wheel-in-london/503514 "2009-07-19T06:56:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-a-giant-ferris-wheel-in-london/503514/1 "2009-07-19T06:56:36Z")
Title pretty much tells it all… ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-a-giant-ferris-wheel-in-london/503514/2 "2009-07-19T06:58:19Z")
Why not? It’s a great way to see London from up high. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Awesome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Captain\_Awesome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Awesome)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-a-giant-ferris-wheel-in-london/503514/3 "2009-07-19T07:12:01Z")
The design was originally entered into a competition for a new millennium landmark, but since no winner was selected, it eventually found backing through British Airways. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-a-giant-ferris-wheel-in-london/503514/4 "2009-07-19T08:16:03Z")
A few other cities have copied London. Singapore has the Singapore Flyer. ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-a-giant-ferris-wheel-in-london/503514/5 "2009-07-19T08:21:22Z")
It was built to celebrate the year 2000. At that time, it wasn’t clear how long it would remain in place, but Londoners seemed to like it. So it stayed. ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-a-giant-ferris-wheel-in-london/503514/6 "2009-07-19T09:31:15Z")
I like it. Looks like a giant bicycle wheel. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-a-giant-ferris-wheel-in-london/503514/7 "2009-07-19T09:37:15Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > A few other cities have copied London. Singapore has the Singapore Flyer. And Melbourne has the [Southern Star Money Pit-I-Mean-Observation-Wheel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Southern_Star_(observation_wheel)). ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-a-giant-ferris-wheel-in-london/503514/8 "2009-07-19T09:37:52Z")
British Airways no longer owns the wheel (called the London Eye). It’s now fallen into the rather dubious hands of the company that owns Madame Tussauds and Warwick Castle. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-a-giant-ferris-wheel-in-london/503514/9 "2009-07-19T09:44:49Z")
Coney Island still has the best Ferris wheel. It’s a hundred years old and one of these days it will kill a few dozen tourists. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-a-giant-ferris-wheel-in-london/503514/10 "2009-07-19T11:27:16Z")
> [@sandra\_nz](#): > > Why not? It’s a great way to see London from up high. Ditto. Belfast has one in a temporary location in the city centre, given the low rise nature of the city, it’s a great way to have a look around. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-a-giant-ferris-wheel-in-london/503514/11 "2009-07-19T11:45:35Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > And Melbourne has the [Southern Star Money Pit-I-Mean-Observation-Wheel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Southern_Star_(observation_wheel)). As soon as I found out they were building it at Docklands I knew it would fail. But so soon, and for such a basic reason as being built so cheaply and shoddily, I did not anticipate. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Philosopher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@The\_Great\_Philosopher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Philosopher)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-a-giant-ferris-wheel-in-london/503514/12 "2009-07-19T13:55:44Z")
For one reason it (‘the London Eye’) makes a lot of money - it’s the most popular paid tourist attraction in the UK. It’s generally very popular among Londoners as well, much more so than the Millennium Dome was. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-a-giant-ferris-wheel-in-london/503514/13 "2009-07-19T14:55:08Z")
To provide a prop for Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-a-giant-ferris-wheel-in-london/503514/14 "2009-07-19T15:07:20Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > coney island still has the best ferris wheel. It’s a hundred years old and one of these days it will kill a few dozen tourists. Fire at that industrial structure! ---
**Author:** ![ascensions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@ascensions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ascensions)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-a-giant-ferris-wheel-in-london/503514/15 "2009-07-19T16:00:09Z")
The Eye was amazing… it was also expensive, but it’s a must… You can do wine tastings, and they do weddings… Took me a few minutes to get over my fear of heights… and still, I continuously was looking for structural weakness… It doesn’t help that the doors say “Don’t lean” or something another… I could just see someone tripping and falling through the doors… Ouch! ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-a-giant-ferris-wheel-in-london/503514/16 "2009-07-19T18:25:09Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > To provide a prop for Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. And, more appropriately, The Doctor. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-a-giant-ferris-wheel-in-london/503514/17 "2009-07-19T18:45:15Z")
For those who haven’t seen it, the “Eye” is nothing like a Ferris wheel. You’re not confined to a seat, but are in a room-sized transparent “pod” with about a dozen or so other people . . . plenty of room to walk around, and a bench in the middle if you need it. It goes around very slowly, taking about 30 minutes for one revolution, at which point you get off. It’s a lot of fun, and a great way to get an overview of the city. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-a-giant-ferris-wheel-in-london/503514/18 "2009-07-19T18:54:27Z")
Perhaps the London Eye is nothing like the typical carnival-style Ferris wheel, in which you’re strapped into a bench next to another person, but it is quite similar to the original Ferris wheel, in which each cab accommodated sixty people (forty sitting and twenty standing). ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-a-giant-ferris-wheel-in-london/503514/19 "2009-07-19T20:28:54Z")
Wow! So, for about £299.00 (~ $500), you can have your own private [“Cupid’s Capsule”](http://www.londoneye.com/TicketsAndPrices/Capsules/CupidsCapsule/Default.aspx)? How many members of the 1/12[sup]th[/sup]-mile high club are there? ---
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2009, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-a-giant-ferris-wheel-in-london/503514/20 "2009-07-19T21:20:17Z")
> [@PaulParkhead](#): > > It was built to celebrate the year 2000. At that time, it wasn’t clear how long it would remain in place, but Londoners seemed to like it. So it stayed. So in a sense, it’s kinda like the Eiffel Tower–which was built as a temporary structure for the 1889 World’s Fair in Paris. [Although late 19th/early 20th-century Parisians seemed to have taken longer to warm up to the tower than contemporary Londoners have to the Eye–and the tower is still publicly owned by the city of Paris, AFAIK, rather than being privately owned] [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-a-giant-ferris-wheel-in-london/503514.md?page=2)