CERTAINLY, the classic Ferris Wheel has proven itself to be the most popular amusement ride in the world since 1893. Engineer Ferris while creating his wheel first of all created an attraction that visitors could ride. At that time, it was an unforgettable experience considering that the roller coasters, the extreme centrifuges and the chain carousels had not yet been invented. The Montgolfier brothers’ exotic thermal balloons were the single possibility to rise above the ground.
For 130 years people tried to use Ferris wheels as products for sightseeing from a bird’s eye view. However even today, at their core, they remain a “Devil’s wheel” as a source of intense emotions.
Indeed, in most Ferris wheels visitors sit opposite each other and are forced to look not in front of themselves but to the side over the shoulder of their neighbor in the booth. In addition, the very structural elements of the wheel interfere with this observation for ½ cycle. There are exceptions to this due to the cabins rolling around the rim of the wheel. This refer to the Ferris wheels installed in Batumi and London.
Classic observation towers with a stationary mast along which capsules moving up and down and rotating around its vertical axis of symmetry have a number of advantages over traditional observation wheels.
This includes:
But all these products have ONE DISADVANTAGE: the desire of their visitors to examine this or that tourist site as closely as possible is in conflict with the UNESCO restrictions that regulate the height of newly installed buildings and structures in such protected areas.
This conflict of interest can only be resolved by observation towers with a rising mast which are planned to be installed as part of the «Invest Vista» project.
