The Las Vegas High Roller at The LINQ begins to operate on Monday, March 31, 2014, in Las Vegas. The 550-foot-tall attraction, which opened to the public on Monday, is the highest observation wheel in the world and features 28 cabins that can accommodate up to 40 people each.LAS VEGAS – Tourists began taking in the view Monday from a skyline-changing observation wheel that offers a unique overview of sparkling Las Vegas Strip resorts, wide skies and craggy brown mountains in the distance.
Van Kim, an airline call center employee from Phoenix, declared the experience “unanimously awesome.”
Kim stood in line for six hours to be in the first gondola to complete the 30-minute ride on the 550-foot High Roller. Its height eclipses the 541-foot Singapore Flyer and the nearly 443-foot London Eye, and is expected to be the tallest in the world until planned Ferris-style wheels are completed in coming years in New York and Dubai.
“It’s probably the best view of the Strip,” said Kim, who made mental images on a sunny and blustery day of the iconic Bellagio fountain across Las Vegas Boulevard and the stunningly green Wynn Golf Club a short distance away.
Kim compared what he saw from his spherical pod with the panorama from an observation deck at the 1,148-foot Stratosphere tower, just 2 miles away. He said he liked the view better at the heart of the Strip.