Dream Wheel NJ Observation Wheel Attraction

A three-hundred-foot wheel turning on the roof of the American Dream complex in the New Jersey Meadowlands, high enough that the flat land around it disappears and the view goes straight across the Hudson to Manhattan.

The gondolas are fully enclosed and climate-controlled, with bench seating and glass on every side, so the ride works in January cold and August heat alike. A single slow rotation takes twelve to fifteen minutes — long enough to pick out the Empire State Building, One World Trade, MetLife Stadium and the ridge lines of northern New Jersey.

Late afternoon is the moment to go, when the sun drops behind the city and the skyline turns to silhouette before the lights come on. From up there you can also see the whole scale of the complex below you, which is startling in itself.