After much hype and the typical opening delays that seem to have plagued construction projects around here of late, the High Roller observation wheel at The LINQ finally rotated into business on March 31, and Anthony Curtis was among the first to go check it out. Here's what he wrote in the May issue of Las Vegas Advisor:
"Whether the word’s not out, the price isn’t right, or it’s just that negative perception at work, the public hasn’t exactly been clamoring to ride this wheel and there’s absolutely no issue with long lines. I rode once during the day and once at night and there was no wait for either. If you intend to ride, now’s the time to do it.
"One thing I can understand is sensitivity to price and it’s not cool what’s been done here. Tickets are advertised as $24.95 from noon to 5:50 pm and $34.95 till closing at 2 p.m. But that’s not accurate, because there’s a tacked-on $2 'service charge' that’s about as aggravating as any resort fee you’ll come across. There’s no way to circumvent it. Whether you reserve online, buy from a kiosk, or walk up to the booth and use cash, you pay the fee. So let’s call the prices what they are—$26.95 and $36.95.
"As of now, the only discounts are $5 off for guests staying at the Flamingo or The Quad, and children 12 and under are free for locals who buy an adult ticket (age 3 and under free for all). That’s it. No discount for showing a Total Rewards card (although high-level members will get free-ride offers). None for being local, military, or senior, either.
"When you purchase a ticket you have to use it within 30 minutes. There are 'flex passes' for $46.95 (one day) or $56.95 (three days) that allow you to ride once at any time. There’s also an 'express pass' for $61.95 that allows you to cut the line. With lines as short as they are, there’s no reason to pay for any of these. Finally, there are slight discounts for groups of 10 or more, and cabin buy-outs are also available.
"There are no restrictive rules with regard to weight or height, and wheelchairs and strollers are allowed. You can carry drinks in from the outside as long as they’re in plastic cups, or you can buy them from a bar inside just before you board.
"If there’s a thrill-ride aspect to it, it’s in the boarding process. When you look at the wheel from a distance, it looks like it ticks along, stopping frequently. But in reality, it almost never stops, which means you have to embark and debark while it’s moving. It’s not that tricky and there’s enough time to be comfortable, but it’s possible to miss, which is why a net is stretched below the loading area. It does stop so a small ramp can be put in place for wheelchairs, but it doesn’t stop for strollers and I saw one get in a tangle when a wheel dipped below the platform and the pod. If you’re pushing a stroller, give it a little hop at the pod and you’ll be fine.
"The pods are impressive. There were only five riders on my daytime trip, but 22 at night, and it seemed like it could hold triple that (though 40 is the stated maximum). The ventilation and air conditioning are excellent and it’s not claustrophobic in any way. There’s seating space for 12-16, depending on how tight you want to get, but most stand.
"The pods have video monitors with an actor talking about related facts and making a few jokes. On my busier ride, there was too much noise from the riders to hear the dialogue. Don’t worry, you aren’t missing anything.
"As mentioned, the wheel is almost always moving, but at a speed of only one foot per second. To put that in perspective, it’s like crawling a 1:28-minute mile. It’s barely perceptible that you’re moving, but when you look down it’s obvious, and amazingly, you get all the way around in 30 minutes, almost to the second. Up-tempo music plays and the atmosphere was party-like in the big group I was in. Everyone takes photos, and there’s a cool countdown to the apex.
"Is it the best view in Vegas? I’d say no—you never get a full-on look down the Strip—but it’s certainly one of the best. I recommend springing for the extra ten bucks for the nighttime ride, with the big payoff being seeing the Bellagio fountains in action.
"My overall impression? It’s not a candidate for the Top Ten, but I liked it. It’s a good product and I think you almost have to do it once … and maybe Caesars should lose that $2 charge."
As to the more technical second part to this question, we're not aware of a specific wind speed that might shut the attraction down, but figure that rather it would depend on a number of factors in the prevailing conditions. One of the teams behind the High Roller is Arup, the multidisciplinary engineering and consulting firm that also was involved with both the London Eye and the Singapore Flyer, so they are uniquely experienced when it comes to giant wheels. In this instance, Arup provided the structural, geotechnical, mechanical and electrical engineering design, and acoustics and fire life safety consulting for the project. The components that form the wheel were sourced from all over the world and were built to technical specifications provided by Arup.
In the case of the High Roller project, the engineering team had to overcome many design challenges, among them figuring out how to support the massive structure on such a narrow and highly constrained site, squeezed as it is in the center of the Strip between a bunch of existing buildings (a scenario not dissimilar to that of the London Eye, which is perched on the south bank of the River Thames). The hub of the wheel is held by four inclined support legs and a brace leg that span the adjacent roads and a large storm-water culvert nearby. Considerations for passenger comfort and safety, not only in regard to the kinds of strong winds that are not uncommon in southern Nevada, but also in earthquake conditions, extreme external temperatures, and/or in the event of any mechanical malfunction, were all integrated into the design.
The structure of the wheel carries some 3.5 million pounds of steel and 112 cables, each of which measures approximately 225 feet -- a total of 25,256 feet. Each cable has a breaking force of 550 tons, or about the weight of 185 Hummer H2s. The wheel has a rotating hub, supported by four inclined 275-foot legs with a single transverse brace, and these brace legs have anchor bolts that are secured by base rods sunk 25 feet into the foundation piles. Those foundation piles are in turn secured underground so, to cut a long story short, we figure this beast is capable of handling any wind-speed during which you might even be slightly inclined to ride it.
With a life expectancy of 50 years, or an estimated 650,000 rotations, there was a lot of structural analysis conducted throughout the design and construction process in order to control stress concentrations on the bearings, steelwork, cables, and fittings to guard against fatigue. Plus, each of the four legs has a maintenance ladder that goes right to the top (stretching upwards of 27 storys) and these are OSHA-rated for safety, just in case someone should need rescuing from the apex (those ladders are the only way up).
The engineers weren't just concerned with safety, obviously, but also with passenger comfort, not least bearing in mind the high external temperatures and solar gain this Las Vegas attraction needs to handle. Hence, "computational fluid dynamics" simulations were carried out in order to reach the optimal design for the pods' air-conditioning systems and glazing and the spherical panels are double glazed in order to limit the air-conditioner power demands. Wind-tunnel tests were also carried out to predict the requirements for damping to control wind-induced motion.
Since, short of a hurricane, it sounds as if the High Roller can handle pretty much whatever Mother Nature here might throw at it, we recommend you take Anthony's advice and give it a try!
