For guests of Brookfield Zoo Chicago, it will be hard to ignore the towering 130-foot-tall Ferris wheel along the park’s main promenade that will stay in place there through the end of the year.
The attraction provides zoo-goers with the opportunity to get a new perspective on the park and the surrounding area. Over the course of the average ride, about 8 minutes long, the Ferris wheel takes riders up twice, offering the opportunity to gaze out over the wooded banks of the Des Plaines River, the manicured lawn of Riverside-Brookfield High School’s football field and the many buildings on Brookfield Zoo Chicago’s more than 200-acre campus. The ride also offers a direct view of Chicago’s iconic skyline when the weather and sky are clear.
One little girl who had just gotten off the Ferris wheel had only one word to describe it: “Fun!”
The girl, Eirene Jesberger, who rode the Ferris wheel with her family Monday, March 25, gave the attraction a rating of 10 out of 10.
Michael Weldon-Linne, Eirene’s grandfather and a River Forest resident, said the Ferris wheel lived up to his expectations and that it was one of the main reasons he and his family went to the zoo that day.
“I always think it’s not going to be scary,” Weldon-Linne said. “When you’re up there, it’s a little bit scary.”
While the Ferris wheel’s gondolas have locking doors and roofs, they are not fully enclosed like those at Navy Pier’s Ferris wheel. Instead, zoo-goers have access to the open air for the duration of their time on the ride, even at the very top, where things may start to get windy.
Janessa Martinez, who works in guest relations at the zoo, said the Ferris wheel — as well as the zoo’s dolphins, whose shows resumed March 22 after more than a year on pause — seemed to have drawn more guests to the park. While Martinez had not yet ridden the Ferris wheel, she said she had heard good things from her coworkers who got the chance.
“I am hoping to ride it soon, but I have had a lot of coworkers ride it, and they’ve had a pretty good time,” she said. “I’ve [seen] a lot of families that want to go on and are bringing their families. I know I’ve had a few people say they could see certain animals from way up above, and also the Chicago skyline is a really big thing that everyone’s been enjoying, being able to see that from over here.”
Brookfield Zoo Chicago’s Ferris wheel opened March 15 in honor of the park’s 90th anniversary this year. It will remain open for guests to ride until Dec. 31. Each ticket to ride the Ferris wheel costs $8, or $6 for zoo members, on top of the fare to enter the park. Tickets are available for sale on the zoo’s website or in-person at the zoo gate.
