A number of guests at ICON Park Orlando didn’t have the New Year’s Eve they were expecting when they became trapped on the giant Observation Wheel. After being shuttered since, there is now good news as the giant Observation has now officially reopened.
According to a report online, during the closure the wheel has gone through rigorous inspection and testing and many parts have been refurbished or replaced and various systems have been upgraded. This should give guests of ICON Park the reassurance that another incident like the one of New Year’s Eve will not happen again. During this downtime there is has also been work done to prepare for the opening of a new upcoming experience called “The Great Florida Road Trip”. There have not been any further details given about this just yet but we assume this will replace the former controversial Bullseye-Blast.
On New Year’s Eve, it was reported that the wheel suffered a total power loss with 20 out of the 30 cabins loaded with guests. According to News Channel 8, Emergency crews began climbing the observation tower at 6.20PM on New Year’s Eve to evacuate guests. Luckily at one point the power was restored so operators were able to begin manually rotating the wheel to aid in the rescue efforts. By 10pm most of the guests had been successfully evacuated.
Screamscape posted a video which was released of drone footage of rescue workers climbing the giant observation tower.
This video is embedded below and certainly has to be seen to be believed.
A number of guests were shaken but all were unharmed in this incident and were safely evacuated. Did you witness this incident on New Year’s Eve? We would love to hear about your experience. Let us know by leaving us a comment below or on our Facebook page.
