Tuesday, February 15, 2011
The Singapore Flyer
What it is: Observation Wheel
Location: 30 Raffles Avenue Singapore 039803
Operating Hours: Opens daily from 8:30am to 10:30pm (Opening in March 2008)
Ride duration: 30 minutes
Ticket Prices: From $29.50 for one adult ride, to about $1,500 to rent a whole capsule
How to get there: Ride the MRT (North South Line), and get off at Marina Bay Station.
If you're a small island with a reputation for thinking big, every project has got to be bigger than anything else in the world. So it is with the Singapore Flyer, a 540-feet high observation wheel that offers a breathtaking 360-degree view of Singapore's Marina Bay.
Don't make the mistake of calling the Flyer a "Ferris Wheel". The management absolutely refuses to "use the F-word" - the Flyer is more appropriately called an observation wheel, along the lines of the famous London Eye. (It also beats the London Eye in the size department by more than ninety feet!)
The Flyer is mounted with 28 air-conditioned capsules, each one the size of a bus and able to take on up to 28 riders. The Flyer's builders boast that every passenger will experience a vibration-free 30 minute ride, with an incredible unobstructed view of the surrounding island-state, as well as glimpses of neighboring countries Indonesia and Malaysia.
The wheel itself stands atop a three-storey retail terminal that promises over 82,000 square feet of retail space. The terminal will offer parking space for about thirty buses and almost 300 cars. Apart from restaurants and souvenir shops, the terminal will also house a rainforest-like central atrium and a concert space for live events.
To avoid long lines, the Flyer permits ticket-holders to roam throughout the retail terminal, requiring them only to show up at the gate about 30 minutes before the flight time on the ticket.
The Flyer is only a small part of Singapore's ambitious plans for the Marina Bay area. Also under construction are a casino-resort valued at about US$3.65 billion and a F1 racing circuit.
The casino is being built by Las Vegas Sands, and is scheduled to open in 2009 as part of the Marina Sands resort complex. The first F1 races will be held by September 2008, and will be expected to generate about US$66 million a year in ticket sales.
Several soft-launches were initiated on the run-up to the Flyer's official launch in April, including a Valentine's Day ride for couples. On its February 10 inaugural "flight", groups paid Singapore $8,888 for the honor of riding the wheel ("8" is a lucky number in Chinese folklore).
View the original article here
