Wheel of Fortune

Opened: 1972

Closed: 1984

Location: Rivertown, current location of Linus Launcher

Manufacturer: Chance Manufacturing

Model: Trabant

Size: 26 feet, 3 inches in diameter

Vehicles: The wheel had 20 two-person seats

Description: Wheel of Fortune was a classic Trabant ride with a roulette theme. Riders spun in a counterclockwise rotation on the outside of a large disk that tilted 30-degrees upward. The motion of the ride was comparable to a coin spun on its rim.

History: Cincinnati’s Coney Island opened a Chance Trabant known as Cloud Nine in 1966. Cloud Nine did not have a roulette theme and appears to have been a portable model of the ride, whereas Wheel of Fortune was a permanent park installation. Although some sources claim that the rides were the same and Wheel of Fortune was relocated from Cincinnati’s Coney Island, the Cloud Nine ride was replaced by Scrambler in 1969 and does not appear to have been relocated within the old park, based off aerial imagery. It is believed that Wheel of Fortune was built new for Kings Island.

Wheel of Fortune opened with the park in 1972 and last operated in 1984, although it incorrectly remained on Kings Island souvenir poster maps for several additional years. After its removal from the park, it was relocated to Middletown, Ohio amusement park Fantasy Farm. When that park closed, it was then relocated to Bland’s Park (today known as DelGrosso’s Amusement Park) in Tipton, Pennsylvania, where it continues to operate to this day.

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