Colossus is a

Ferris wheel A Ferris wheel (also called a Giant Wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsules ...

located at the

1904 World's Fair The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an World's fair, international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds tota ...

section of

Six Flags St. Louis Six Flags St. Louis, originally known as Six Flags Over Mid-America, is an amusement park featuring characters and rides from many Warner Bros. films and tv shows such as, Looney Tunes, DC Comics, and formerly Scooby-Doo. It is located in Eureka ...

Eureka, Missouri Eureka is a city located in St. Louis County, Missouri, St. Louis County, Missouri, United States, adjacent to the cities of Wildwood, Missouri, Wildwood and Pacific, Missouri, Pacific, along Interstate 44 in Missouri, Interstate 44. It is in ...

. It opened on April 18, 1986, and is in diameter, weighs , and has a maximum capacity of 320 people. The ride debuted at the 1984 New Orleans World's Fair, one of multiple rides at the fair that were operated by

Six Flags Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is an American amusement park corporation, headquartered in Arlington, Texas. It has properties in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Six Flags owns the most theme parks and waterparks combined of any amu ...

. About three years after being at the fair, it was relocated to Six Flags St. Louis.

History

1984 New Orleans World's Fair

Colossus was originally debuted at the 1984 New Orleans World's Fair. It and the other rides there were operated by

, and it cost $2.50 per passenger to ride. It turned at a rate of 1½ revolutions per minute which equates to .

Six Flags St. Louis

Colossus stands where the Pet-A-Pet

petting zoo A petting zoo (also called a children's zoo, children's farm, or petting farm) features a combination of domesticated animals and some wild species that are docile enough to touch and feed. In addition to independent petting zoos, many general ...

used to be. It was removed in 1985 to make room for the addition of Colossus in the 1986 season. In 1988, an animated

Jack-o'-Lantern A jack-o'-lantern (or jack o'lantern) is a carved lantern, most commonly made from a pumpkin or a root vegetable such as a rutabaga or turnip. Jack-o'-lanterns are associated with the Halloween holiday. Its name comes from the reported phenomen ...

face made up of orange lights, nicknamed "Jack", and a corresponding lighting program were installed on Colossus for the very first year of

Fright Nights Fright Nights (previously Halloween Family Fun Nights and Halloween Fright Nights) is a seasonal Halloween event held at Warner Bros. Movie World on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The event began in 2006 as Halloween Family Fun Night a ...

(now Fright Fest) at the park. While the lights stayed on the ride all-year afterwards, they were only used for the Halloween season. The light program returned every year until 2016, when it was removed. In 1992, 2,200 lights were added to the ride for the main season, which displayed a 24-pattern performance with a starburst finale. During the months that the park was closed, they displayed a giant clock face which was visible to those passing on nearby

Interstate 44 Interstate 44 (I-44) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. Although it is nominally an east–west road as it is even-numbered, it follows a more southwest–northeast alignment. Its western terminus is in Wichita Fal ...

Incidents

On June 18, 2009, a power outage at the park stranded some guests on rides, forcing them to have to wait until they were manually released by park officials. Colossus was the most difficult ride to release riders from, because, with no power, it had to be manually cranked to get the passengers to the ground, which took about 75 minutes.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Colossus (Ferris Wheel) Six Flags attractions Six Flags St. Louis Ferris wheels in the United States Amusement rides introduced in 1984 Amusement rides manufactured by Carousel Holland B.V. Buildings and structures in St. Louis County, Missouri 1984 Louisiana World Exposition