Sky Whirl

File:Sky Whirl 3.jpg

The ride resembled a huge tree topped with three arms; the arms rotated as a unit on an axis canted from vertical. Each arm was tipped with a rotating wheel, or "spider", and each spider carried 12 passenger cages. Due to the off-vertical axis, two wheels spun in the air in a near-vertical plane while the third was on the ground stationary in a horizontal plane, loading and unloading passengers from all the cars on that wheel simultaneously.{{cite news|title=Six Flags Gets Ok For New Roller Coaster|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2000/10/18/six-flags-gets-ok-for-new-roller-coaster/|publisher=Chicago Tribune | first=Craig | last=Peterson | date=October 18, 2000}}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eiwvDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA41 |title=Six Flags Great America |author=Wilson, Steven W. |date=2017 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |location=Charleston, South Carolina |isbn=978-1-4671-1702-9 |page=41 |access-date=22 October 2019}}{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-1ijGtc64RcC&pg=PT228 |title=Remaking the World: Adventures in Engineering |chapter=The Ferris Wheel |author=Petroski, Henry |date=1997 |publisher=Vintage Books |location=New York, New York |isbn=978-0-307-77320-3 |access-date=23 October 2019}}

Intamin marketed the ride as the "Tree Triple Wheel" and advertised a capacity of 2,000 customers per hour.{{cite web |url=https://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=496050 |title=Intamin Product Catalog |date=23 December 2007 |publisher=Intamin Leisure and Transportation World-Wide |access-date=22 October 2019}} The ride had a peak height of {{convert|110|ft}}{{cite web |url=http://www.gurnee.il.us/zoning_board/zba_minutes/10-25-00.html |title=GURNEE ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS |date=October 25, 2000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060312131305/http://www.gurnee.il.us/zoning_board/zba_minutes/10-25-00.html |archive-date=March 12, 2006 }} and required a circular footprint {{convert|54|m}} in diameter.

Sky Whirl was developed from the earlier Giant Wheel, a double wheel design that Intamin had first installed at Hersheypark in 1973. Intamin's Giant Wheel was in turn inspired by an earlier double wheel design patented in 1966{{cite patent |title=Planetary amusement ride |url=http://www.google.com/patents/US3243184 |number=3243184A |country=US |invent1=Thomas Glen Robinson |invent2=Ralph G Robinson |fdate=June 1, 1964 |gdate=March 29, 1966 |status=grant}} to address the slow loading of conventional Ferris wheel designs. That first double wheel debuted with Astroworld as the Astrowheel in 1968.{{cite magazine |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,900135,00.html |title=The City: The Disneyland Effect |date=June 14, 1968 |magazine=Time |access-date=22 October 2019}} The Sky Whirl design was commissioned by Marriott for both of its Great America theme parks. Because these parks (both Great America parks, Hersheypark, and Astroworld) were all designed by the same firm, R. Duell and Associates, some common design elements were carried through each park, including the double/triple-wheel designs.

Both rides debuted with the opening of the Great America parks in 1976. At the time the theme park in Santa Clara opened on March 21, 1976, it was billed as having the world's first triple Ferris wheel.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=DS19760515.2.54 |title=Great America Park Has Something For Everyone |author=Macdonald, Craig |date=May 15, 1976 |newspaper=The Desert Sun |access-date=23 October 2019}}{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=DS19760322.2.35 |title=Marriott Opens New $50 Million Fun Park |agency=UPI |date=March 22, 1976 |newspaper=The Desert Sun |access-date=23 October 2019}} The Gurnee park opened on May 29.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCS19760808.1.18 |title=She's New Visit U.S.A. Ambassador |date=August 8, 1976 |newspaper=Santa Cruz Sentinel |access-date=23 October 2019}}

The Santa Clara ride, which appeared in the 1994 movie Beverly Hills Cop III as "The Spider",{{cite magazine |url=https://ew.com/article/1994/06/10/eddie-murphys-dangerous-ride/ |title=Eddie Murphy's dangerous ride |author=Mannes, George |date=June 10, 1994 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |access-date=22 October 2019}} was later renamed Triple Wheel before it closed in 1997. At Santa Clara, Sky Whirl was replaced by the Invertigo roller coaster.{{cite web |url=https://www.thecoasterkings.com/throwback-thursday-sky-whirl-and-triple-play/ |title=Throwback Thursday–Sky Whirl and Triple Play |date=October 30, 2013 |website=Coaster Kings |access-date=23 October 2019}}{{RCDB|473|Invertigo}} The identical Gurnee ride closed in 2000{{cite web|title=Marriott's Great America|url=http://timelines.home.insightbb.com/sfgam_years.htm|publisher=Theme Park Timelines|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150118163229/http://timelines.home.insightbb.com/sfgam_years.htm|archive-date=2015-01-18}} and was replaced by Déjà Vu for the 2001 season.{{RCDB|746|Déjà Vu}}

Two other triple wheels were produced for Asian clients: Seibu-en (Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan; operated 1985–2004) and Lotte World (Seoul, South Korea; 1989–97). According to Harry Michelson, because relatively few double and triple wheels were built, production was discontinued sometime in the 1990s and parts became scarce, making maintenance of these relatively complicated rides difficult and expensive.{{cite web |url=https://amusementparkives.com/2016/04/14/giant-wheel-1973-2004/ |title=Giant Wheel {{!}} 1973-2004 |author=Michelson, Harry |date=April 14, 2016 |website=The Amusement Parkives [blog] |access-date=22 October 2019}}

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{{Commons category|Sky Whirl (Gurnee, Illinois)|Sky Whirl}}

{{Ferris wheel}}

{{California's Great America}}

{{SFGrAm Coasters}}

{{Intamin}}

Category:Former Ferris wheels

Category:Amusement rides introduced in 1976

Category:Amusement rides that closed in 1997

Category:Amusement rides that closed in 2000

Category:California's Great America

Category:Six Flags attractions

Category:Six Flags Great America