Niagara Falls SkyWheel dwarfed by new observation wheel in Dubai

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Published March 13, 2023 at 12:08 pm

At 175 feel or 53 metres, the Niagara SkyWheel seems pretty high. However, it's not even in the Top-20 observation wheels in the world in terms of height.

Standing at the base of the observation attraction, the Niagara Skywheel, at the base of Clifton Hill in Niagara Falls, it’s hard to imagine something taller.

At 175 feel or 53 metres, the Niagara SkyWheel is the equivalent of 17 storeys high and offers a glorious unimpeded views of the Horseshoe Falls in Canada, as well as the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls in the United States.

Many believe it’s the best way to see Niagara Falls and a popular attraction to get take-home pictures of nature’s most popular attraction in Canada.

Due to their enclosed, climate controlled observation pods, don’t call them ferris wheels but really, how high do these wheels go? You would think they’s need to get much higher.

That’s where you’d be wrong. There are at least 20 observation wheels in the world taller than the Skywheel and the ones at the top of the list are frighteningly gigantic.

While it’s one of the world’s most popular observation wheels, many think when the Niagara Skywheel opened on June 17, 2006 at a cost of $10 million, it kickstarted a worldwide race to climb higher towards the heavens.

In actual fact, the London Eye (originally known as the Millennium Wheel) had already opened in 2000 along the River Thames in London, England already sat at well more than twice the height – 443 feet and 125 meters.

Since then it’s become a little crazy. Due to its popularity as a tourist destination, the High Roller in Las Vegas lead the pack when it opened in 2014 at a staggering 550 feet or 168 metres. That’s the height of a skyscraper that’s over 50 storeys high.

The High Roller laid claim to the title of the world’s largest observation wheel for many years until it was overshadowed by the Ain Dubai in the United Arab Emirates city of Dubai when it opened in 2021.

Buckle up because as the world’s tallest observation wheel, the Ain Dubai is 820 feet or 250 metres high. For many, it is simply too frightening to be that far off the ground. The next time you look at the CN Tower in Toronto, remember this – the wheel climbs up to the halfway point of the tower.

Perhaps in more whimsical measurements, the average giraffe is 18 feet tall. It would 46 giraffes stacked one on top of another to get to the top of Ain Dubai.


The Ain Dubai (Air Dubai) in the United Arab Emirates city is five times higher than the Niagara Skywheel.

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