Giant Ferris Wheel in New Jersey

[PcMan]

Giant Ferris Wheel in New Jersey Meadowlands

Merlin plans US growth
New Jersey wheel highlights expansion
09 March, 2008

Merlin Entertainments has announced a high profile expansion in the United States, rolling out five new attractions in the next two years, including a London Eye-style giant Ferris Wheel in New Jersey.

The 287ft Pepsi Globe at the Meadowlands Xanadu entertainment and retail complex close to New York City will become America?s largest observation wheel when it opens in November.



THE London Eye is set to roll into the Big Apple. Merlin Entertainments, the firm behind the Eye, has clinched a deal to operate a giant wheel at a new retail and leisure complex just outside Manhattan.

Merlin, which also owns Madame Tussauds and Legoland, will open the Pepsi Globe in December at the new Meadowlands Xanadu in New Jersey.

The development will be adjacent to the Giants Stadium, home of the New York Giants American football team.

Merlin is also building a Lego-themed indoor attraction, called Legoland Discovery Centre, at the new complex, which will have shops, an indoor skiing centre and a multiplex cinema.

Nick Varney, chief executive of Merlin, which also owns the London Dungeon, said the scale of the Meadowlands project was ?staggering? and predicted the Globe would become an ?iconic? attraction, offering views of the Manhattan skyline as well as into the Giants Stadium.

?It will be like building one next to Wembley or Twicken-ham,? he said. He added that the Globe would be around two-thirds the size of the London Eye but that it would still be the biggest attraction of its kind in North America.

Varney has identified America as a key growth market and is opening a number of attractions there over the next two years.

These include a new Tussauds in Hollywood to complement the existing venues in New York, Washington and Las Vegas. The first American Legoland Discovery Centre will open in Chicago, with the Meadowlands site to follow next year.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/leisure/article3510606.ece

[Millennium Force 44]

interesting...

[Dubya91]

Wow, that should be intresting to see something else besides Swamp!

Thats gonna become a feature in movies based in NY

[Millennium Force 44]

Wow, that should be intresting to see something else besides Swamp!

Thats gonna become a feature in movies based in NY

good point

[Fjask]

Xanadu was also suppose to have a roller coaster, whether or not it is going to be built is a different question.

Link to their site.
I cant wait until it opens up.

[chilled182]

why not go for the gold?  Why wouldnt they just go for the worlds tallest.

[Millennium Force 44]

Xanadu was also suppose to have a roller coaster, whether or not it is going to be built is a different question.

Link to their site.
I cant wait until it opens up.

That would be AWESOME if they built a roller coasters there. It would only be about 20 minutes from my house =)

[rjholla2003]

why not go for the gold?  Why wouldnt they just go for the worlds tallest.

FAA.  The locals are actually annoyed that the FAA let it be that tall to begin with.

[Dubya91]

Xanadu has been a mess, half-job project from day one