The Sun Wheel at California Adventure is one of the most visible landmarks. Towering over Paradise Pier with its brilliant sun shining this attraction can be seen from far away.
There are two different queues for this attraction. With one line for people who want the swinging gondolas, and one for those who want a stationery gondola during the ride. Since the ratio of gondolas is two swinging gondolas to one non-swinging, the line for those who don’t want the swinging gondola moves much more slowly.
Once you finally are loaded into a gondola you will circle around as they load and unload each gondola again. Once this is done you will circle around just once before you again wait; but this time you are waiting to be offloaded.
At the top of the Sun Wheel you can see forever. Or it certainly seems like it! We actually were on a search to see if we could see It’s A Small World over at Disneyland. We were finally able to pick it out. During the day it is hard to see, but I bet at night, especially when lit up for the holidays it can easily be seen. The views are beautiful, and it is worth riding the Sun Wheel for the views alone.
As someone who suffers from severe motion sickness and an incredible fear of heights I decided to give this attraction a try since my son wanted to ride. After a wait that seemed like forever, but in reality was only about 30 minutes, we boarded our non-swinging gondola. While they were in the loading/unloading process you move one space each time until all cars are freshly loaded. This involves a lot of stops and starts. I must say that those about killed me, because even in a non-swinging gondola, it was still moving slightly at each stop and start. While terrified, I also have to admit that with the incredible views I will do this attraction again. But never on earth will you catch me in a swinging gondola. Those ones really do move, so if you decide to be brave and try them, make sure you have the stomach for all of the swinging! And enjoy the view from the top!