COM: Glenelg Entertainment Complex

[Shuz]

Wow, I actually want to vomit.

[deano91]

It's a bit ummmm.....boring.....and knowing the prices at The BeachHouse, it will be horrendously expensive too...

[Will409]

It is a shame it took 2 years for that 'thing'. I could probably make a 1:1 replica of the London Eye in my back yard in less time and a whole lot cheaper, Paramount Brown's here I come! On the bright side atleast, it is finished and ready to go and just in time for summer too.

[pushbutton]

It looks much better at night than during daylight hours!

[peas_and_corn]

Isn't that a building's version of "she looks better when you're really far away"?

[pushbutton]

Isn't that a building's version of "she looks better when you're really far away"?

Yes! It looks better when it's dark, you can't see it so well!

Although I do honestly think it sort of looks pretty lit up (in a very "small country town travelling funfair" sort of way), but at least you can't really see how ugly the shape and colour of the gondolas is.

[deano91]

Just as a quick little side note, someone from the Advertiser needs to go back to school...

The Adelaide CBD, surrounding suburbs and Mt Lofty Rangers can be viewed from the top of the wheel.

Pretty finnicky to pick that up, I know, but it gave me a good little chuckle

[crawf]

You probably can.

Has anyone been on this thing yet?

[ghs]

The advertiser is !@#$ - I see mistakes all the time in the articles.

[peas_and_corn]

I know, it's crazy. The other day it claimed that it was a newspaper.

[pushbutton]

I hate to say it, but the advertiser is 100x better than some of the newspapers in Britain!

[Ben]

OK.. so last night I decided to check this one out. Mind you me and my mates were the only ones with the same thing in mind. I was surprised at how pathetic it was given all the previously negative press about it. You get one spin on the wheel and it moves about the same speed as the revolving restaurant for anyone that has been up there. You barely even notice it's moving. Considering it was it's second day and at 5pm on a sunday i was the only one on it. I don't feel this has a bright future.

[Xaragmata]

I tried it out today, and like Ben, I was the only one on it. Beachouse looked largely deserted, except for what looked like
a private function on the first floor, & the wheel was locked off about 8 pm. I was happy with the ride, as I was taking pics
of city skyline ... staff were friendly. everything OK, but perspex windows were already scratched ... may end up like
railcar windows if they aren't looked after.

[Ben]

From the Messenger:

Revamp for Glenelg ferris wheel

Local News23 Nov 11 @ 06:21am by Jane Whitford

THE Glenelg ferris wheel will be sped up and revamped in a bid to attract more people, after its operator admitted the $1.8 million attraction failed to meet expectations.

Beachouse manager Peter Rimington said the ride would be sped up from next week to complete one rotation every four minutes as opposed to every nine minutes, as was the case when it first opened three years ago.

The windows on all 16 gondolas will also be replaced with a better quality acrylic plastic to improve views of the sea and hills after the salt air damaged the existing windows.

Mr Rimington said the slow speed of the wheel and murky windows meant passers-by often mistakenly believed the wheel was closed.

“At nine minutes (per rotation) it didn’t look like it was moving unless you held your line of sight for a long time,” Mr Rimington said.

“We then dropped it to six, and now four minutes, and you can certainly notice the difference.

“We’ve had people drive past and think it’s turned off or not operating, but in fact it is moving and they just might not be able to notice it - so we think this will make a significant difference.”

Almost 3000 people rode the 25m-high wheel - the first and only single-armed ferris wheel in Australia - on its opening day three years ago.

But Mr Rimington told the Guardian Messenger last week the wheel, which blew out by about $800,000 and took two years longer than expected to complete, had not lived up to his expectations.

He hoped the new windows and extra speed would once again “spark interest” in the Colley Tce attraction.

“I guess it was far more challenging than we realised to build something that was the first of its kind in Australia,” he said.

“It didn’t meet our expectations but we’ve learnt from that and we hope by doing this it will ignite interest once again. We are hoping, first of all, that people have a better experience and also have positive reports for their friends, which we hope results in higher use.”

The ferris wheel operates on request every day, and until 11pm every Friday and Saturday. Cost: $6 for two rotations.

[[Shuz]]

I'd rather they demolish the ferris wheel. It's an eyesore.