The Orlando Eye Celebrates the First Full Year of Operation

The Orlando Eye will celebrate its first anniversary with special events through May 8, 2016. The 400-foot observation wheel opened to great fanfare on May 4, 2015, with grand opening events, a pyro show, and world renowned aerialist Nik Wallenda walking on the structure of The Orlando Eye as it continued to rotate.
This year, The Orlando Eye invites guests to come out and celebrate this great milestone event. Plenty of special offerings (and prizes) will be available.

The Orlando Eye will offer special gifts in honor of the anniversary to guests randomly throughout the week, including complimentary tickets, The Orlando Eye merchandise, and VIP packages, gift cards to I-Drive 360 retailers and restaurants and more, all handed out by the Eye Spy Prize Patrol.

Here is a series of screenshots (taken in the past years) showing the construction of The Orlando Eye:

Madame Tussauds and SEA LIFE Aquarium were the first buildings to go vertical at I-Drive 360:





The large, multi-level parking garage was next:









The focus then moved to the terminal of The Orlando Eye:





The large A-frame that supports the wheel itself started going up later on:






The completed A-frame:



The parking lot in front of the wheel's supports was created before the installation of the spokes:




The installation of the wheel's hub can be seen in the video below:



The wheel itself finally started to take shape in September 2014:

The Orlando Eye's capsules started to be installed in January 2015:




The completed wheel officially opened on May 4, 2015:



Here's a video showing Nick Wallenda climbing The Orlando Eye on May 2, 2016:

Before concluding, here's a video of the full on-ride experience:

The Orlando Eye will be lit up in rainbow lighting this evening. Be sure to check it out by heading to I-Drive 360 or by checking out their official Live Camera. For more information on the observation wheel, visit OfficialOrlandoEye.com.

SCREENSHOTS: © 2016 The Orlando Eye. All Rights Reserved.