RIP Sunwheel :( Who else is Sad

[DesertBell]

Can I just say that calling it "Mickey's Fun Wheel" is just Disney lying to us? There is nothing fun about that ride, nothing.

I just keep imagining all the poor, trusting little children that will be clamoring to ride that thing because Mickey's face is on it.

 

[Brady's Mom]

My 4 year old is terribly disappointed that he will not be able to ride it when we go in Dec. He was in line with us to ride it, but had to go to the bathroom. I think he might have enjoyed it more than my 6 yr old who had a death grip on me. I think he was glued to me - with super glue. Thank goodness the fireworks started up while we were on it so he could be distracted.

I personally liked it. I really want to try the stationary gondolas since they go soooo much higher.

 

[avalon451]

We have not gone on it, and I don't intend to, whether there's a sun or a Mickey head or even if they put a likeness of Daniel Craig as James Bond on it... No way. Swinging gondolas of DEATH.

I think I prejudiced myself by watching a Youtube video of it.

 

[biolabetty]

I should have picked up something about the ride while I was in line for it when I saw an adult woman lie down on the pavement and refuse to go on that thing. I hated it, it is absolutely the scariest thing I've ever been on, and I'll never go on it again with or without the sun on it. Just the thought makes me shiver with fear.

 

[Krissy Marissy]

I think it's a good idea that they're re-inventing the theme to make it more "Disney" rather than "Cali".

I feel the crowds may flow towards CA more after ALL the new additions are made... I'm personally excited about that Little Mermaid ride!!


....I've never been on the Sun Wheel. It's a shame I never had the chance to .

I agree. I am happy they are finally putting the money into this park that should have been used when it was first built. Dont get me wrong, I love DCA but I was kinda disappointed. I am excited for the park to be enhanced and am ready to visit in 2012! We are going in April but I think we'll wait until the park improvements are finished before returning again. It will be really nice when it is all finished.


*Also I am one of those who LOVE this ride! It relaxes me...the rocking and all. I just laugh and enjoy the view. I dont think my son will enjoy it though...he is a bit too young.

 

[Disneylvrforever]

WHAT?!? Construction is tomorrow?!? NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I wanted a pic of me and my fam w/ the original (at least as original as it gets) Paradise Pier. I was hopefully going to go this weekend for my b-day (as long as I don't have a rehearsal) and take nice pics. We did do the photopass thing and it looked pretty and all, but I can't save the pics on my computer like I used to and I definately don't want to pay money just to have it. *sigh*

I bet that they'll still use the handstamp that says "Sunwheel."

 

[bluegrizzlies1]

my daughter that is 3 now loves the sun wheel she calls it the round and round and we have to go in the rocking ones.

This is 1 of her favorite rides she will be disappointed when we go in oct.

 

[Hester]

I won't miss it one bit. I welcome the change and re-theming of DCA.

DCA was a travesty to begin with and it's a shame that Disney has to spend this much money to completely rebuild DCA the way Walt would have done the first time.

 

[tania7424]

The swinging gondolas on the Sun Wheel are pure pure terror. ToT have nothing on those evil devils. I have never been so scared in my life while riding that, I was screaming the whole time..

I should have known it was scary. The little girl who came off the swinging gondola right before we boarded puked all over the floor on the loading area....

I am going to miss it for awhile, it does make Paradise Pier pretty...

ITA!! I had to get them to let me off the second time we came around, and the CM running it, was all no, just one more time around. My sister finally yelled at him I was going to be sick. I NEVER get sick on rides, but apparently there's a first for everything. You should have seen how fast he had me off of that. I was on the Maliboomer 15 mins later, no problem.

 

[Sherry E]

I won't miss it one bit. I welcome the change and re-theming of DCA.

DCA was a travesty to begin with and it's a shame that Disney has to spend this much money to completely rebuild DCA the way Walt would have done the first time.

I kind of agree with you, to a degree. Even though there are some things I really like in DCA, it never kind of had the same 'flow' or magic that Disneyland has. Even a nice little ride like the Monsters, Inc. ride is kind of tucked in an unmagical nook of the park that seriously needs Walt Disney's touch! DCA feels like the red-headed stepchild park to me! It has some real 'Disney touches,' and then other parts of it seem very non-Disney and disconnected from the other parts, and so I am hoping the billion dollar refurbishment will kind of connect the dots and bring it all together. I am actually afraid that by 2012 or 2013, it still won't be Disney-fied enough! They need some feng shui experts in there to make it more fluid throughout the park!

I do like the LOOK of the Sun Wheel next to Screamin' and Orange Stinger and all that - it makes the landscape of DCA very pretty - I just don't know how well it fits into the overall magic of Disney. I also cannot wait for them to change the name of the park - that never worked for me, either!

 

[MickyamI]

Maybe with the Mickey Face I'll try and ride it again! There is something about this ride that always gave me the "heebie jeebies" I'll ride the Mailiboomer, California Screamin' , and TOT all day before I'll go back on the Sunwheel... My boys ALWAYS give me a bad time about this!

 

[Monica D]

Ugh...I hate that ride! My family tricked me into thinking I was on the stationary side, then started laughing once we were swinging. The funny part (well, now anyway ) is they weren't laughing for long - after a few minutes they were all turning shades od green and white!

 

[MickyamI]

Ugh...I hate that ride! My family tricked me into thinking I was on the stationary side, then started laughing once we were swinging. The funny part (well, now anyway ) is they weren't laughing for long - after a few minutes they were all turning shades od green and white!

I'm glad I'm not the only one!

 

[CanadaJulie]

Ah darn ! I was kinda looking forward to trying it !

Do you know when it is scheduled to re-open ? I'm going in mid-January

 

[ter-moo]

Maybe with the Mickey Face I'll try and ride it again! There is something about this ride that always gave me the "heebie jeebies" I'll ride the Mailiboomer, California Screamin' , and TOT all day before I'll go back on the Sunwheel... My boys ALWAYS give me a bad time about this!

THEY CAN'T FOOL ME!!!!! Putting a happy Mickey Face on the Sunwheel isn't going to make it any less terrifying.

I'm just relieved that I won't have to ride it during my next trip! (December)

 

[heatherleigh]

My boys loved this ride, but my husband and I were scared out of our minds. I kept my eyes closed most of the time, and I kept telling the boys not to move!

 

[NWPrincess]

I also cannot wait for them to change the name of the park - that never worked for me, either!

Do you know what they are changing the name to?

 

[FanaticadeDisney]

I am going to miss the theme too. As a person that is not from California, I found the theme refreshing and different and I still felt the magic. I only rode the Sun Wheel once but I didn't pay attention. I didn't know that there were 2 different gondolas. Of course I chose the wrong one (swinging one) and I was dizzy but I'll try it again with the non swinging ones when they are ready again. I'm glad that I bought the photopass last year and got all the pictures that I could of the 2 parks.

 

[Sherry E]

Do you know what they are changing the name to?

No. I wish I did! It has been debated on other threads on this board - what it will be called, may be called or should be called, but nobody knows for sure. I remember being excited when I heard that DCA was being contstructed, and one of the things I was looking forward to was the name of the park. So, the DCA name was a little lackluster for me. When I saw the theme of the park, I actually thought a better name for it would have been Disney's Paradise Pier rather than DCA. Sounds a tad more magical. But seeing that they initially wanted this park to rival Six Flags with thrill rides, then the DCA name makes more sense in that vein. However, it has to change now that they are changing the theme of the park to be more Disney-esque. I am looking forward to the changes. As I said earlier, I think DCA has some really great aspects of it, but others fall flat. It needs to be more cohesive, I think. Everything should kind of blend together better. I think it would be great to kind of keep the current Paradise Pier rides there, as part of that land, and then really do up the Disney-fication on all the other lands, but somehow make them all flow seamlessly into one great Disney park. They need to add all the special little details around the attractions and rides like they have in DL. When I saw the area around the Mike and Sully ride and how boring it was, I thought it was in serious need of some Disney touches. That is really what Disney fans want in the long run, I thnk - we can get thrill rides or water park rides from other parks, but if we are in a Disney park, we want that Disney magic!

 

[pixiewings71]

The SunWheel of Death will not be missed by my family. LOL I will ONLY ride the stationary cars. I've ridden twice, no one in our family cares about riding it but we do love the big sun in the center. We went in Dec for DD8's b-day, she wanted to ride it soooooooooooooooo bad in a swinging car. Her big sister (DD19) took her and their sister (DD12) and DD19's DBF. My DBF and I rode in the stationary car, we loaded at the same time (on purposes, their line was so much longer) and they were right behind us. I have NEVER heard my girls scream so loudly, they were soooooooooooo freaked out by the swinging!! lol I was cracking up, they were too until they would swing and then they screamed as loud as they could again. LOL It was too funny!! DD19 had a headache when they got off from the girls screaming.

I like DCA and the pier, it's supposed to be reminiscent of an old boardwalk and it has that feel. I'm very sad they are changing it!