Ferris Wheel Setup + Pulling Rides on the Lot

Pulling all the carnival rides on to the lot and focusing on setting up the Chance Century Wheel, a Ferris wheel built in 1993 for the 100th anniversary of the "first" wheel at the Chicago Worlds Fair.
🎡Check out all our ride setup videos: • Behind the Scenes at a...
I'm fascinated by the way carnival rides are engineered to fold up and stow away for storage and travel and I seem to learn a new trick with each ride.
Thanks to Scott, Jay and the crew from Majestic Midways for giving me the opportunity to document the setup of this classic carnival ride.
#CarnivalRides #GloryDaysAmusements

[@PeteRondeau]

🎡Check out all our ride setup videos: kzbin.info/aero/PL9JRE2uksm9u_RKVzyoFI-KzwAYVgMvPD

[@gallowaylights]

Great idea... thanks 😊

[@Roadhardd]

Thanks for the walkthrough. I’ve always been fascinated by the engineering that goes into a traveling ride.

[@PeteRondeau]

You and me both!

[@TooManyHobbiesJeremy]

Very interesting setup. Great job filming, voice over, & editing.

[@shaynewest8757]

This brings back memories. I used to travel Australia in the late 80s working a Chance Skydiver. Those cars weighed a ton and what people dont realize is every nut and bolt has to be tension checked everyday the rides in operation and every light needs to be checked.

[@PeteRondeau]

back breaking work there.

[@user-un8bf1fl6s]

Awesome to watch these guys. Amazing how quickly they do it over and over.

[@bryanoates9393]

This stuff never gets old. I would really like to see something really huge being put up like a giant wheel or a Top Spin.

[@floyd201149]

I worked at a Amusement park for 26 summers the place is now closed down, now retired and miss the work thanks for the Video.

[@dannyseville2543]

I find these videos fascinating. I discovered the channel last year simply because KZbin autoplay decided I need to see the video that was out at the time (a ferris wheel I think) and I was deciding what to try and design and 3d print next. I'm now halfway though a 3ft ferris wheel that is powered by a small motor and has led lights. Pretty much all the parts are printed and I'm onto assembly before painting.

[@sportsphotos31]

I have always been fascinated by engineering of portable rides. No wasted space whatsoever.

[@Elavator66]

Me too.

[@thehamelsduck1600]

I remember when this wheel came out. It really was a game changer for smaller shows and parks. Awesome video as always Pete.

[@PeteRondeau]

Thanks so much!

[@summerz8867]

Impressive 🎡

[@JSRRADIO]

Thank you so much for filming this video

[@PeteRondeau]

You 're welcome!

[@dihedraldesign7978]

Wow, thanks Pete for the awesome video! Other than the clever design and engineering, what fascinates me is how much manual labor is required to assemble these things. A tough job for sure. I can only imagine what Chance's Giant Wheel must be like!

[@user-un8bf1fl6s]

Guys have one of the hardest jobs but also get to travel the country

[@scottpennington8225]

Thanks for your dedication and work.

[@PeteRondeau]

Thanks for your support!

[@mspikebrennan]

Strong work Pete ! Super fascinating

[@dennisholtby2140]

Amazing engineering - Thanks for the video.

[@dananderson3077]

Always interesting Pete....amazing what goes into a portable versus a park model....

[@gallowaylights]

Love the details 😊

[@PeteRondeau]

Thank you! 😊

[@indyviewproductions120]

Such an outstanding video...again! I'm not normally a financial kind of guy, but while watching, I can't help but wonder about the eye watering total cost of operating a carnival business like this one. Rainy days must be devastating. It'd be fascinating to have an operator open their books one time, though I sure understand why they wouldn't.

[@PeteRondeau]

Yes, you live and die by the weather.

[@OBD01]

Thank you for this, great job all around.

[@PeteRondeau]

Thank you

[@philsowers]

Oh snap! That's just a few miles from us! Cool to see you made it all the way out to Fair Oaks Mall! I remember seeing the bees driving down the road a few times, quite hilarious for the kids and even me! ;) Such huge tools and leverage for those hard working fellas to get all setup but it was quite the sight seeing LOTS of pieces hiding inside a trailer to get big things in place. Crazy!

[@JSRRADIO]

Aaaaahhhhhhhh!!! Thank you so much :)

[@InfernoXXXBloodToure]

A New Year For More Carnival Ride Setups! 🤘I Hope You Will To Do The Rockstar (1001 Naughts/Ali Baba) Setup In The Future!👨‍🎤🎸

[@AlphaFlight]

The century has to be one of the best looking wheels racked and setup

[@reddcube]

I like how symmetrically the wheel spreads are installed.

[@MrSuzukiyamaha]

Awesome video. I had no idea what goes into a setup like this.

[@PeteRondeau]

Glad you liked it!

[@DIYGene]

Great video Pete. Really enjoyed watching it. I like how they help maintain balance by installing the gondolas in different places .

[@PeteRondeau]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@user-fl2wn5zr5z]

setting up a midway is an art

[@anthonyhitchings615]

Awesome video I like this model classic

[@PeteRondeau]

Thanks!

[@beneadesmtb]

We have one in the UK, completely different to the US models. It gets leveled, then the wind braces come out and the wheel goes up section by section, you allow the wheel round as you build it, then add the gondolas, the only extras we have to add are the main steps and railings.

[@timothyhughes6814]

Nice video Pete

[@Dancing_Alone_wRentals]

What business would be harder than this?....I can only think of restaurants. I hope they do well and tHanks to all the hands that make these carnivals work! tHanks for the video

[@PetesPrettyGoodTrains]

I ran the park model version of this ride at Mall of America 25 years ago, was always curious how the portable versions were assembled / dis assembled. This was probably the trickiest ride to run, if the wheel got to far out of balance it would slide through the drive wheels. Hate to think how hard it would be running one outside in the rain!

[@MaryannCrerar]

Love the videos gives you an idea of how it all comes together ❤ my daughter loved her time there she learned so much.

[@PeteRondeau]

Your daughter was working for majestic?

[@MaryannCrerar]

@@PeteRondeau yes she was. She is going back again

[@PeteRondeau]

What is her name?

[@MaryannCrerar]

@@PeteRondeau Claire Crerar she worked with Viva in the cotton candy trailer

[@PeteRondeau]

@@MaryannCrerar I believe I met her. I was in her way while she was setting up the cotton candy stand. She also is in the very end of the swing carousel video riding the swing.

[@RonaldMetze]

I love carnival rides even though I am 33 years old

[@PeteRondeau]

Me too! and I got a few years on that.

[@Joseph-zu5iz]

Nice 👍

[@PeteRondeau]

Thanks

[@davidlessard6794]

Really interesting video. Thank you ! I'm not sure though I would work on the trailer while they are bringing the towers up. A malfunction with the hydraulic cylinders and a little disaster could occur....

[@PeteRondeau]

I have to agree. I would not want to stand there either. In reality a hydraulic failure would most likely be a slow decent with plenty of time to get out of the way, but the possibility exists for it to be bad.

[@TimmyBentz-ii4mx]

Majaskice midway nice ride

[@keithcurley7662]

Great video. Just curious though, how much time did this setup actually take? The engineering of this ride (and all you highlight) is astounding to me. Keep em coming.

[@PeteRondeau]

It was about 6 or 7 hours. There were some gaps where the crew got called off to help on something else so hard to keep track of.

[@Josh-wv8zp]

Nice work bro if possible in the future can you please show us how the ring of fire ride is built

[@MAJUBLOCKS]

Por eso los equipos son tan caros, son verdaderas obras de ingeniería

[@Julesssssss595]

Great video, how long does it take to assemble and how much manpower?

[@GhostRider50918]

I enjoy these videos a lot which ride are you doing next

[@PeteRondeau]

Chance Carousel

[@timhansen3514]

When will we see the video of them taking it down? 👍

[@tjmilford_01]

Next do a video of Vertigo, Pharaohs Fury, Ring of Fire, Rockstar, Freak Out, Zero Gravity, Cliffhanger, Fun Slide, Magic Maze & Wacky Shack setup

[@askjeevescosby2928]

When are you going to set up your ferriswheel. I am excited to see it. Yoy should see if the owner of egal park would let you take the abandond ba schiff wild mouse. Its complete has all its cars lift everything and its the last one in exsistance. That would be a ride worth restoring.

[@justinmijnbuis]

Outstanding Pete, much appreciated. BTW I don't think I saw a torque wrench, you would think this tool would be mandatory?

[@PeteRondeau]

I will have to ask about that. I've seen them use torque wrenches on their other rides, so I know they have them. There is an old service bulletin from Chance about brackets that go on the towers as a guides. They enable you to use a torque wrench with a long extension. This allows you to stand on the deck and torque the nuts.

[@djdef5521]

Great video Pete, mentioning the Chance rides, any chance of a Flying Bobs setup?

[@PeteRondeau]

I'd be happy to if I had access to one. At this point the only operator that has given me such unrestricted access is majestic so i'm limited to equipment they own- and they don't own one of them.

[@JVCOSTA]

Make a video like this but with the "Dream Wheel" from Technical Park model 22MT, in the USA there are 5 of them

[@BubaLabinski223]

Hey Pete, Jeff from Lebanon just want to say happy new year to you to you and your family and may it be a damn site better than the last one hey how many hours did it take them to put this one up approximately

[@PeteRondeau]

Thanks Jeff, about 6 or 7 hours.

[@MaryannCrerar]

Would love to see how they set up the cotton candy it is small but looks just as interesting 😊

[@PeteRondeau]

Maybe this coming season

[@MaryannCrerar]

@@PeteRondeau she is going back this season

[@sebasllaura7254]

I would like to see how they set up a carousel!

[@PeteRondeau]

That is the next setup video I’ll be doing. The footage has already been recorded. Just need to edit and upload it

[@nicholadstoap6944]

How often are the pins replaced

[@SixRoundsStudio]

Wow....thats a great vid Pete. Is it the same crew that sets up the same ride each time? And do they have the steps memorized or does someone direct them? Fascinating!

[@PeteRondeau]

Once a crew is trained on a ride, they will stay with that ride for the season. On the more involved rides like this, other folks will come along and lend a hand when they are finished with their rides. There is always one person who is the lead for a ride. The previous lead for this ride left Majestic this year so they had to get a new person up to speed.

[@SixRoundsStudio]

@@PeteRondeau I can just imagine the buzz of activity going on during a setup (and tear down).

[@timmensch3601]

I love these videos but it would be cool if you could show how it works because why does it have air brakes?

[@RickLaBanca]

Have you don’t any tear down? Yes it’s not as fun as setup but seeing how they pack these back into one unit and not lose any parts would be interesting.

[@PetesShredder]

Im wondering, the people in the video that assemble this ride, do they only work on this wheel, or do they assemble all the rides? Does the same crew do every ride one at a time or does each ride have its own crew? What do these people do during the opening period of the carnival? How do they learn how to assemble these, do the manufactuers do training courses and stuff or is the knowledge just passed down?

[@t3chninja_official]

Can you enable your comment section on the Harbor Freight storage project. Or maybe you had some nasty commenters? Loved that project.

[@PeteRondeau]

Which video are you referring to? I think the only video that comments are turned off on is the very first one where i made the rack to hold the harbor freight parts containers. And the only reason I did that was to try to encourage people to watch the updated version of it. Oh and I think the Halloween animatronic video because people kept arguing in the comments about what it was made from even though I told them countless times.

[@Random_Emergency_Light]

Nice will there be more coming?

[@PeteRondeau]

Yes, I currently have footage of the Chance Carousel. And then we start over next season.

[@Thatocy]

Where can I get such trucks in Africa

[@olivier2553]

Is it the case for every carnival in the USA or is it typical for smaller ones only, but it seems that every one you show are centered around one or two companies only? This differs from Europe where many different companies will install some rides at a carnival.

[@PeteRondeau]

They are primarily like this. The large state fairs are handled by one larger company with more rides. They will have other companies book in with a ride or two but the bulk of the rides will be from the company that has the contract for the event. On the small carnivals we see more of this at the beginning of the season. They own enough rides to do the event entirely by themselves, but they don’t have the labor early in the season. This is also one of the reasons most American rides don’t travel with huge facades or scenery pieces. They aren’t competing for customers. If all the rides are owned by one company, they made their money when you bought your tickets or wristbands at the ticket box they. Now that doesn’t mean they don’t care if you ride or not, they still check the ticket count at the ride, they want to see which rides have the most pull and are getting you to buy tickets.

[@olivier2553]

@@PeteRondeau Thank you for your detailed answer.

[@Elavator66]

Awesome setup videos! could you possibly find a Chance Sea Dragon and show it's setup, that has always been my favorite ride and I'd love to see a setup process of it.

[@bioifyoudont2326]

Is there ring of fire?

[@leetrout337]

I realize a rapid hydraulic failure isn't common but that made me nervous watching that man working under the rear tower lift.

[@PeteRondeau]

Yes, it makes me nervous too. No matter how unlikely, I wouldn't want to stand there.

[@indyviewproductions120]

I was thinking the same thing. Made me wonder how fast it'd drop with a total hose failure. In my experience, it'd be fairly slow, depending on one's perspective. If I'm safe, it's slow...if I'm under it, it's probably lightning fast... Uggg!!

[@user-fl2wn5zr5z]

these guys would be confused setting up the wheel I worked on

[@user-fl2wn5zr5z]

rims I know I worked for a show

[@user-fl2wn5zr5z]

they are called spokes

[@PeteRondeau]

Chance calls them sweeps in the manual.

[@AlphaFlight]

How lucky was the first guy to create a wheel be named Ferris. Now every wheel is a "ferris" wheel.

[@PeteRondeau]

He really wasn't all that lucky. The guy who invented the wheel was named William Somers. He had one up and running in Atlantic City and got a patent for it. George Ferris rode it, stole it, and was a better promoter. But Ferris was sued, admitted he had ridden the original in Atlantic city, declared bankruptcy and died of Typhoid fever within 3 years of the wheels debut at the worlds fair. Somers continued to build wheels but the Ferris name stuck.