Brookfield Zoo Chicago Celebrates 90th Year with Anniversary Ferris Wheel—Opens March 15
Brookfield, Ill. — Brookfield Zoo Chicago welcomed guests for the first time 90 years ago this year. In celebration, a towering 110-foot Anniversary Ferris Wheel will offer guests unique bird’s-eye views of the park’s gardens, animal habitats, and Chicago skyline beginning March 15 and continuing through Dec. 31, 2024.
The massive 125-ton Ferris wheel, located just east of the Zoo’s newly landscaped Roosevelt Fountain, features 24 gondolas that seat up to six people each. During evening hours and events, it will illuminate brightly with 350,000 multicolored LED lights. A ride on the attraction is between 7 and 8 minutes long.
Riders need to be at least 3 feet tall with a supervised adult or 3½ feet tall with no supervision. The cost is $8 per person (Zoo members pay 6).
The attraction was manufactured in the Netherlands by Lamberink B.V. and was installed by the Kissel Entertainment Company of Okeana, Ohio.
The original Ferris wheel, and engineering marvel for its time, was designed by George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., and was unveiled as the popular centerpiece during the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago’s World Fair. It measured 264 feet high, rotated on a 71-ton, 45½-foot axle, and featured 36 gondolas, with a total capacity of 2,160.
