Skyliner at Worlds of Fun has been operating since 1991, designed and manufactured by Eli Bridge Company from their Big Eli Wheel Model. Riders sit inside a gondola and rise to see the park. Unfortunately, this is one of the rare duds for Worlds of Fun. This Ferris Wheel offers nothing you would want from a ride like this.
Skyliner at Worlds of Fun Experience
Skyliner sits towards the front of the park in the Americana section, past Spinning Dragons and before Patriot. This ride never attracts a line, and wait times should never be a concern. Riders must be 48 inches to ride alone, but anyone between 36 and 48 can ride if an adult accompanies them. You will be kept safe by a safety belt and a lap bar attached to the door that closes on your gondola. Once the ride attendant has checked all restraints, the ride can begin.
Your gondola will rise 60 feet, barely above the tree line, then return for a few more rotations. It will stop periodically to let more passengers on and off. Once Skyliner comes to a complete stop, you can safely exit the ride.
Skyliner at Worlds of Fun: The Positives
This Ferris Wheel does have a charmingly old-fashioned look to it. It’s in the Americana section, and it feels like a Ferris Wheel you would have seen at a traveling fair at the turn of the century.
Since this one is hard to locate (and maybe because it is underwhelming), the line is never busy. So you can expect this to be a walk-on even on its busiest days.
The Negatives
Worlds of Fun is a very underrated theme park. Every section is charming and well-maintained. There are almost no duds in the rides lineup. Almost because Skyliner sticks out as a pointless experience. The taller a Ferris Wheel, the better. This is by far the smallest one we have ever ridden. The whole point is to get a great look at the park. Here you can barely see above the trees.
The ride doesn’t look unsafe or anything like that. It just looks untouched. Like the park knows this is a dud. This looks like a cheap Ferris Wheel you would see traveling with a fair and not a permanent installation at a major theme park. This type of ride, called a Big Eli, was designed to be a smaller and more easily broken-down model of the Ferris Wheel. So that feeling that this shouldn’t be at a major theme park and should instead be at a mall or traveling fair is a feeling for a good reason.
Final Verdict
Skyliner at Worlds of Fun is the rare dud for this underrated park. It does have a lovely old-time look, and you will never wait in line for it. However, the ride could be more worthwhile. It doesn’t do anything that you would want for a Ferris Wheel. Worlds of Fun should remove it from its current home and move this to the kid section of the park called Planet Snoopy. Because of these reasons, Skyliner gets a two out of Ten.
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