SkyWheel reopens, shining bright on Myrtle Beach Boardwalk with new LED light shows
The Myrtle Beach SkyWheel has finally rolled back onto the Grand Strand’s waterfront after months of renovations.
Welcome back, Large Steel Wheel.
The company that owns the iconic Ferris wheel took it down earlier this year and shipped it to Kansas for a face lift and to get outfitted with a new LED system for light shows that will happen every night after dark throughout the year.
“They sandblasted, they painted, they redid the whole structure of the wheel and then all of our gondolas got brand new flooring and brand new seating,” SkyWheel’s marketing manager Rachel Beckerman said. “Our biggest improvement of all is our new light show, which is almost a million LED lights with new patterns and all kinds of effects.
“We’re really ready to light that sky up again,” she said.
On Wednesday, first responders and other “heroes” from around the region got the chance to be the first people to ride the SkyWheel just before it held its inaugural light show.
For the last four months, the only piece of the SkyWheel left in Myrtle Beach was its triangular support structure that is permanently bolted into the ground.
“It was very awkward, especially you’re at the office, you look down and you’re like, ‘OK, something’s missing,’” Beckerman said. “To have it back in the sky, it belongs there. That’s where it’s supposed to be, and we’re happy to have it.”
Thursday is the SkyWheel’s first official day open to the public and Horry County residents are eligible that day for a discounted ticket to ride it. Tickets are $10 in honor of the wheel’s 10th birthday (which is also Thursday) on the beachfront.
For everyone else — tourists, we mean — tickets cost $15 for adults and $10 for children. You can also pay more — $50 and $35 for per adult or child, respectively — for a “VIP Flight” at a designated time and skip the line when you arrive.
