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Health & Fitness

SkyView Atlanta: A 20 story addition to downtown's skyline

Living in Atlanta you know this city has quite a bit to offer families in the way of fun and now to add to the list of great entertainment we've got our own Ferris wheel! SkyView Atlanta opened its gondola doors back in July and according to their PR person, ridership and interest has far exceeded their initial expectations!

I recently took my first ride on the 200-foot tall wheel that's now a fixture of the Atlanta skyline.

When I first stepped into one of the 42, six passenger gondolas, I was pleasantly surprised to find out each gondola is air-conditioned controlled! And on a usual hot Atlanta summer day, that made the ride up to the top extremely comfortable and enjoyable!

Located in Downtown Atlanta across from Centennial Park, SkyView offers some pretty spectacular views, including a look down onto the Centennial Olympic Park Rings.

SkyView Atlanta goes around for four rotations and is very slow (so that should help ease any jitters if you're afraid of heights). The ride lasts about 15 minutes and is a great stop especially if you want to show out-of-towners the city from above. It's of course nestled near some of the most popular attractions in the city like the Georgia Aquarium, World of Coca-Cola and Children's Museum so definitely is an easy add-on to any plans you have at another venue.

Now if you really want to splurge just a little, you can ride in the one VIP gondola. Price tag? $50 a person!

The only black, glass-bottomed gondola on the wheel features Ferrari leather seats, a TV monitor, champagne bucket and privacy windows. I can only imagine what a ride up to the top in that must be at night!

Don't forget to have your camera ready to snap some pictures while you're up there and also when on the ground because the view looking up at the Ferris wheel is also pretty amazing!

Oh, and because this is always top of mind when parents are out with the kids...if anyone in your party needs to use the restroom before you head up, there are really nice portable potties in the rear of the attraction. And when I say nice, these are the Porsches of the portable potty industry.

Hours of Operation:

SkyView operates from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Wednesday; 10 a.m. to midnight Thursday to Saturday and noon to 10 p.m. on Sundays.

Tickets are:

Adult (Ages 13+) - $13.50 + tax
Senior (Ages 65+) - $12.15 + tax
Military - $12.15 + tax
Child (Ages 3-12) - $8.50 + tax
(Each Gondola must have an Adult riding with the children.)
Children 2 and Under - FREE

Did you know?


SkyView Atlanta tips the scales at 126,000 tons or 252 million pounds. It uses a combination of steel plates and giant water tanks to form the ballast that ensures the wheel is locked in place and will not move.

There are various pieces of weather forecasting equipment built into the SkyView wheel and base. They allow operators to track wind speed and direction, barometric pressure, temperature, and humidity. The operator is able to use his knowledge of the weather conditions to "tune" the wheel and ensure that fliers get as smooth a ride as possible.

SkyView Atlanta is particularly spectacular to see at night. It features the same lighting system used on the Eiffel Tower in Paris. SkyView Atlanta has a million different LED lights that can bathe the wheel in any color you can imagine.

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