First passengers ride divisive Weymouth beach observation wheel
Mr Harriman said: "I loved it. It gives you views out over the Pavilion, out over towards Greenhill and then over the South Dorset Downs towards Dorchester and Chickerell."It's shiny, it's huge and the Perspex glass is perfectly fine to see through."Another passenger, Dawn, who rode the attraction on her wheelchair in an accessible pod, said: "I thought it was marvellous. Absolutely marvellous."
One of the wheel's operators, Sara Hall, said she was keen to respond to social media concerns about the wheel's safety.She said: "We researched that there's wheels built all over the world on sand. "We had the HSE [Health and Safety Executive] here for a few days and loads of checks on it... Safety is our priority."
In 2019, another observation attraction in Weymouth - Jurassic Skyline - closed due to falling visitor numbers.The 53m-high (174ft) rotating viewing platform opened in June 2012 in time for that summer's Olympic sailing events.Weymouth's latest attraction is slighter smaller than the 30m (98ft) Bournemouth Big Wheel and is dwarfed by the London Eye which stands at 135m (443ft).
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