I’m trying to steel up my courage to ride the Great Wheel sometime this new year.
I had it on my summer bucket list but managed to avoid it along with Great Wolf Lodge which I hope we never have to go to.
And then I developed an irrational fear of elevators that I desperately need to conquer and a giant glass bubble twirling high in the air above the city is probably the scariest type of elevator I can imagine.
So on my past few visits to the Seattle waterfront, I’ve been staring down my nemesis in preparation for the inevitable.
It’s easy to get a few different views in if you plan your visit right-even if you have some squirrelly 5-year-olds in tow.
I snuck in a few shots from the aquarium just before close.
I love our membership because we pop in for the last 5 minutes of entry and then get an hour to roam around. One of the animal keepers was feeding the hermit crabs and the guys had fun trying to identify hermit crabs for him to feed. (They are a little tricky because some snails ALSO had shells, so this was a perfect science game for my guys.)
The octopus was also putting on a fabulous show.
And then I promised the guys Red Robin because of all the lovely restaurants in Seattle to choose from, this is their fave. (At least the one on the Seattle Waterfront has a killer view.) Of course I managed to get a few shots in along the way too.
On a weekend if you don’t want to wait, I think 5 is the magic time to get to Red Robin. Any later and you’ll likely wait for half an hour because EVERYONE else in Seattle with kids will have the same idea as you. And If you street park by the aquarium (especially on a Sunday because it’s free!) you can catch one last picture on the way back to your van vehicle, so that everyone walks/bounces/leaps off ALL the mud pie energy before bed.
This wheel ride can’t be that bad, right? I haven’t heard any horrific stories of people trapped in the Great Wheel on the news. So if you’ve been, please tell me all the gory details-with or without kids along for the ride. Is anyone else terrified of this thing????
I’ll let you know if I attempt it. And if I survive.
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)