Photo by Werner Weiss, 2002

The big attractions of Paradise Pier

It’s not a Ferris Wheel. It’s the Sun Wheel. The California Sun smiles at you from the center of the 160-foot diameter amusement wheel.

Photo by Chris Bales, 2008

Smiling face

The sun face looks like ornamental art from the 1970s, influenced by Mexican folk art—just really big. The California Sun remains stationary as the ride rotates behind it.

Photo by Chris Bales, 2008

Gondolas slide toward and away from the center as the wheel turns

Before you board the Sun Wheel, you’ll have to decide if you want a tame, conventional Ferris Wheel ride or a thrilling ride in a gondola that moves and swings.

Photo by Allen Huffman, 2002

Portal to the queue

You’ve arrived at the entrance to the Sun Wheel. Don’t worry about the wait time sign. It probably will take much less than 15 minutes.

Photo by Chris Bales, 2008

Wait time and caution

Photo by Allen Huffman, 2007

Convenient motion sickness bags

The wait time may not be real, but the caution notice is. There are even motion sickness bags in the swinging gondolas.

Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2001

Sun Wheel queue

The queue is below sea level—actually below Paradise Pier Lagoon level.

Photo by Allen Huffman, 2007

Board at the bottom

Photo by Allen Huffman, 2002

Enjoy the ride

The official park website describes the ride this way:

Paradise Pier’s Sun Wheel takes Guests on a Ferris wheel-ride high above Disney’s California Adventure™ park. You can play it a bit safer by riding one of the cool stationary gondolas; or for a real thrill, climb into one of the purple-and-orange gondolas, which ride on interior rails so they slide inward and outward with the centrifugal force of the wheel’s rotational movement!

Well, the gondolas actually slide in and out (and swing back and forth) because of gravity, not centrifugal force.

Photo by Allen Huffman, 2007

A view from above of Toy Story Midway Mania under construction

Photo by Allen Huffman, 2007

Spectacular view of the lagoon, Ariel’s Grotto, and the Timon parking lot

Enjoy the view as your gondola makes the full circle. Maybe you can spot your car in the Timon parking lot.

Photo by Chris Bales, 2008

No face on the back of the Sun Wheel

Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2001

With the Maliboomer in sunshine

Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2001

Looks great at dusk

Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2001

Looks even better at night

Although the Sun Wheel is now in Yester California Adventure, for all practical purposes it’s really not gone from Disney California Adventure.

When Disney’s California Adventure (as the park was named until mid-2010) opened on February 8, 2001, the Sun Wheel was one of the original attractions. The giant wheel with its California Sun face was the focal point of the park’s Paradise Pier section—described in Disney’s 2000 annual report as “the ultimate beachfront amusement zone, filled with thrilling attractions and vibrant graphics associated with the heyday of the great seaside amusement park piers.”

California really did have amusement parks up and down the coast in the early 20th century. A few are still around, such as the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and Belmont Park in San Diego. Most are gone, including Playland at the Beach in San Francisco, Venice Amusement Pier in Venice, Ocean Park Pier in Santa Monica, the Pike in Long Beach (not to be confused with today’s Pike at Rainbow Harbor in Long Beach), the Joy Zone in Seal Beach, and many others.

Based on the overall theme of Disney California Adventure, it would be easy to think that the Sun Wheel was based on an actual ride at a California seaside amusement park.

Photo by Rhododendrites, 2021, from WikiMedia Commons under CC-BY-SA-4.0

Wonder Wheel, Coney Island, New York

It turns out that the Sun Wheel was actually a rather faithful copy of the historic Wonder Wheel ride at Deno’s Wonder Wheel Amusement Park at Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. The Wonder Wheel is still operating. It was named an Official New York City Landmark in 1989.

According to the Deno’s Wonder Wheel Amusement Park website in 2022:

Deno’s Wonder Wheel stands out as a NYC Landmark and world famous icon. It is unique in the history of the modern pleasure wheel. Invented by Charles Hermann, and built in 1920 by the Eccentric Ferris Wheel Company using 100% Bethlehem steel forged right on the Coney Island beach. Deno’s Wonder Wheel celebrates the 100th anniversary in 2020.

The Wonder Wheel was initially called the “Dip-the-Dip” by its inventor, who promised to combine the thrill of a scenic railway, Ferris wheel and Chute-the-Chutes. An article in Science and Invention described the new ride as a “real thrill like you have probably never had before—at least not at this great height!”

Just like the Disney version, the original has sixteen swinging gondolas that slide around tracks as the wheel rotates and eight stationary gondolas. The Wonder Wheel has a diameter of 150 feet, while the slightly larger Sun Wheel has a diameter of 160 feet.

There is no sun face on the Wonder Wheel.

And there’s no longer a sun face on the Sun Wheel either, although the wheel itself is still at Disney California Adventure—with two name changes since 2009.

Photo by Chris Bales, 2017

Mickey’s Fun Wheel, not the Fun Wheel

Photo by Allen Huffman, 2017

Updated Paradise Pier, with Mickey’s smiling face

The Sun Wheel closed in mid-October 2008 for a half-year makeover to become Mickey’s Fun Wheel in May 2009—with the smiling face of Mickey Mouse where the sun face had been.

Photo by Chris Bales, 2019

Portal to the queue for Pixar Pal-A-Round

In January 2018, Paradise Pier began its transformation to Pixar Pier. Mickey’s Fun Wheel closed to became Pixar Pal-A-Round in June 2018, with new artwork on the gondolas—but still with the head of Mickey Mouse emblazoned in the center of the wheel.

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Updated September 23, 2022