High stakes for dueling Vegas observation wheels

Caesars Entertainment Corp.

This artist's rendering shows The Las Vegas High Roller, which at 550 feet will be the tallest observation wheel in the world.

Caesars Entertainment Corp. has raised the stakes in Las Vegas.

The company on Wednesday announced plans for The Linq, a $550 million retail, dining and entertainment project at the heart of the Strip. The highlight will be a giant Ferris-style observation wheel — The Las Vegas High Roller — which at 550 feet will be the tallest in the world.

“Observation wheels have come back in vogue after being out of popularity for many years,” said industry consultant Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services Inc. “They’ve become the icon du jour.”

Or, in Las Vegas’ case, the icons du jour as The Las Vegas High Roller goes head-to-head with Skyvue Las Vegas, a competing project that broke ground in May on an 11-acre site across from Mandalay Bay at the southern end of the Strip. The brainchild of local developer Howard Bulloch, the project will include a 476-foot observation wheel, along with a roller coaster and 200,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment space.

“We expect it to be up and running in time for New Year’s 2012,” Bulloch told msnbc.com.

AP

This artist's rendering provided by Compass Investments on May 23, 2011, shows plans for the Skyvue Las Vegas Super Wheel on the south end of the Las Vegas Strip.

For his part, Bulloch says he isn’t worried about the competition's greater height and mid-Strip location.

“Our project offers views straight up the Strip; the other project is behind hotels,” he said. “People ride observation wheels for the view. Otherwise, it’s like Tom Hanks said in the movie ‘Big:’ ‘What’s fun about that?’”

The Linq, meanwhile, will span more than 200,000 square feet directly facing Caesars Palace and also will bring upgrades to three Caesars Entertainment resorts: Harrah's Las Vegas, Imperial Palace Hotel & Casino and Flamingo Las Vegas. Construction is expected to begin at the end of this year, with an anticipated opening date in 2013.

Regardless of the competing projects’ merits and comparative odds of success, both are up against a third foe: history. In the last 10 years, Las Vegas has seen proposals for at least three other observation wheels, all of which collapsed before they got anywhere close to rolling.

Then again, this is Las Vegas, where bucking the odds is a way of life, which may explain why some independent observers feel an observation wheel could strengthen the city’s hand in the high-stakes game of attracting tourists. Doubling down on a second one, though, could be a bust.

“Vegas has a lot of crazy ideas but I think an observation wheel would fit really well here,” said Anthony Curtis, president of LasVegasAdvisor.com. “Look at the Stratosphere. That observation tower still gets a lot of visitation and I think you’d see a lot of the same people getting on an observation wheel.

“But two of them? I don’t see how that’s going to work.”

More on Overhead Bin

Rob Lovitt is a longtime travel writer who still believes the journey is as important as the destination. Follow him at Twitter.

 

Discuss this post

We have one of the WORST public school systems in the United States, and they cut funding for schools, got rid of the Engineering department at UNLV. Every other house is in foreclosure and we have the highest unemployment rate at 12.4% and climbing. Brilliant idea idiots. I'm a native Las Vegan. Screw this, I'm grabbing my 4 year old son and getting the hell out of here. 

  • 1 vote
Reply#1 - Thu Aug 18, 2011 2:04 AM EDT

Amber, don't look back. Nevada is all about making those with connections richer, not making education better. Sure, this has become the American way, but Nevada has taken it to the max. If it doesn't benefit gaming or mining, it doesn't happen. Even lucrative tax breaks can't lure tech companies because there are few well-educated people to hire who want their kids going to school in Vegas.

  • 1 vote
#1.1 - Thu Aug 18, 2011 1:25 PM EDT

something about a screen door and on the way out

/one less kid in my kid's classroom

    #1.2 - Thu Aug 18, 2011 3:48 PM EDT

    That's what I did several years ago. I lived in Clark County for 51 years beginning in 1941 - it was a great place to live but no longer. I even hate to visit once a year. I'm trying to get the rest of my family to move. Of course they'd have to give their home away - it's not worth what little bit is owed on it. Such a shame.

    • 1 vote
    #1.3 - Thu Aug 18, 2011 6:29 PM EDT
    Reply

    "Skyvue"? They didn't really work too hard on that name, did they?

      Reply#2 - Thu Aug 18, 2011 2:54 AM EDT

      OK explain how Vegas is going to survive if the states use online gambling to balance their budgets? Why in the world would one put up with TSA molestation twice to gamble when by turning on your PC you can go broke a whole lot more comfortably?

      Seems to me this is a last gasp of desperation.

        Reply#3 - Thu Aug 18, 2011 6:43 AM EDT

        That's quite a leap of an assumed situation there. Online gambling in the United States had its wings clipped in 2006 with the U.S. Wire Wager Act, which makes it illegal to place bets online. Prior to 2006, when online gaming wasn't yet regulated, many of the major online gaming sites were constantly in Las Vegas sponsoring anything they could get their hands on - keeping Las Vegas in the eyes of their players anyway. Either way, online gaming is far from the first thing states would use to balance budgets.

        Also factor in the more realistic competition, the very large number of indian casinos throughout the United States, and the fact that entertainment profits surpassed gaming in Las Vegas about 8 years ago.

          #3.1 - Thu Aug 18, 2011 8:55 AM EDT
          Reply

          All this new stuff, but they can't make the strip any wider and traffic just keeps getting worse and worse. And what makes the traffic even worse?...construction on this stupid crap. It's getting to where I pretty much just get a hotel room and stay there (and it's not Caesars or Mandalay Bay either).

          • 1 vote
          Reply#4 - Thu Aug 18, 2011 7:58 AM EDT

          While I think multiple wheels will be an overall eyesore, I disagree with some of the interviews as I don't see why multiple observation wheels couldn't realistically compete in the same tourist-driven area. The strip is approximately 3.5 miles long and the two of these wheels are about equal distance apart, with one being in the middle of The Strip and the other being at the very south end.

          These are novelty "hey, lets jump on that!" businesses, same with the (twice as tall) observation deck at Stratosphere on the opposite end of The Strip, which is covered in rides. "Linq" has foot traffic going for it, where as Skyvue has height and timing on it's side.

          And, to those who mentioned traffic as a concern, how much traffic can you really expect from these things? I mean...Vegas survives 100,000+ person conventions and holidays on a regular basis.

            Reply#5 - Thu Aug 18, 2011 9:11 AM EDT

            I threw out the idea of the Nashville mayor building one of these (Ferris wheel) shaped like a drum downtown as sarcasm. I was really thinking like a genius and didn't know it. Vegas strip will get two.

              Reply#6 - Thu Aug 18, 2011 9:11 AM EDT

              One the worst housing markets in the country yet the strip is constantly under construction.

              That's one screwed up little micro economy Vegas has going on. That's OK, that wheel can house quite a few homeless.

                Reply#7 - Thu Aug 18, 2011 9:38 AM EDT

                That makes as much sense as two mob museums.

                  Reply#8 - Thu Aug 18, 2011 2:34 PM EDT

                  WTF is a 'giant Ferris-style observation wheel?' WTF is an observation wheel in general? Why wouldn't you just call it a Ferris wheel?

                    Reply#9 - Fri Aug 19, 2011 1:08 PM EDT
                    You're in Easy Mode. If you prefer, you can use XHTML Mode instead.
                    As a new user, you may notice a few temporary content restrictions. Click here for more info.