A gyro tower, or panoramic tower, is an evolution of the observation tower with a vertical moving platform. A gyro tower's observation deck is not simply raised to provide its passengers a spectacular view, it is also rotated around the supporting mast, either once in the raised position or while traveling up and down the center mast.

Gyro towers are seldom part of funfair

Funfair

A funfair or simply "fair" is a small to medium sized travelling show primarily composed of stalls and other amusements. Larger fairs such as the permanent fairs of cities and seaside resorts might be called a fairground, although technically this should refer to the land where a fair is...

s but can be found more often in permanent amusement park

Amusement park

thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...

s. A well-known American gyro tower is the Kissing Tower at Hersheypark

Hersheypark

Hersheypark is an amusement park located in Hershey, Pennsylvania, near the Hershey Chocolate Factory.Hersheypark was opened on April 24, 1907 as a leisure park for the employees of the Hershey Chocolate Company, an American confectionery company. Later, the company decided to open the park to the...

.

A special gyro tower is the Space Tower atop the Euromast

Euromast

The Euromast is a tower in Rotterdam constructed between 1958 and 1960, designed by Hugh Maaskant. It was specially built for the 1960 Floriade. It is a concrete building with an internal diameter of and a wall thickness of 30 centimetres . For stability it is built on a concrete block of...

 in Rotterdam. It may be the only gyro tower standing on a roof of a structure and not on the ground.

Notable gyro towers

• Sky Tower, Rhyl
  Rhyl
  Rhyl is a seaside resort town and community situated on the north east coast of Wales, in the county of Denbighshire , at the mouth of the River Clwyd . To the west is the suburb of Kinmel Bay, with the resort of Towyn further west, Prestatyn to the east and Rhuddlan to the south...
  
  , United Kingdom
• Polo Tower, Morecambe
  Morecambe
  Morecambe is a resort town and civil parish within the City of Lancaster in Lancashire, England. As of 2001 it has a resident population of 38,917. It faces into Morecambe Bay...
  
  , United Kingdom (Disused from 1999, passenger car removed in 2008)
• Kissing Tower, Hersheypark
  Hersheypark
  Hersheypark is an amusement park located in Hershey, Pennsylvania, near the Hershey Chocolate Factory.Hersheypark was opened on April 24, 1907 as a leisure park for the employees of the Hershey Chocolate Company, an American confectionery company. Later, the company decided to open the park to the...
  
  , Hershey, PA, USA
• Space Spiral, Cedar Point
  Cedar Point
  Cedar Point is a 364 acre amusement park located in Sandusky, Ohio, United States on a narrow peninsula jutting into Lake Erie. Cedar Point is the only amusement park with four roller coasters that are taller than...
  
  , OH, USA
• Carolina Skytower, Carowinds, NC/SC, USA
• Sky Cabin, Knott's Berry Farm
  Knott's Berry Farm
  Knott's Berry Farm is a theme park in Buena Park, California, now owned by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, and a line of jams, jellies, preserves, and other specialty food, now part of The J. M. Smucker Company based in Placentia, California....
  
  , Buena Park, CA, USA
• Panorama Tower, Heide-Park, Germany
• Astrotower, Astroland
  Astroland
  Astroland was a amusement park in Coney Island first opened in 1962. It was located at 1000 Surf Avenue on the boardwalk...
  
  , NY, USA
• Space Tower, Minnesota State Fair
  Minnesota State Fair
  The Minnesota State Fair is the state fair of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Its slogan is "The Great Minnesota Get-Together." It is the 2nd largest fair in the United States, and the largest state fair in the United States in terms of average daily attendance, though the State Fair of Texas runs...
  
  , Falcon Heights
  Falcon Heights, Minnesota
  As of the census of 2000, there were 5,572 people, 2,103 households, and 1,434 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,487.9 people per square mile . There were 2,136 housing units at an average density of 953.7 per square mile...
  
  , Minnesota, USA
• Space Needle, Daytona Beach Pier, FL, USA (On the beach, beside the pier)
• Infinito, Terra Mitica
  Terra Mítica
  Terra Mítica is a theme park located in Benidorm, Spain. The park is divided into 5 themed zones: Egypt, Greece, Rome, Iberia, and the Islands . The park was opened in 2000.In 2004-2006 the park went through a bankruptcy process...
  
  , Spain
• Panoramic, Plopsaland
  Plopsaland
  Plopsaland can refer to one of the Belgian amusement parks owned by Studio 100:*Plopsaland De Panne, an outdoor amusement park near the Belgian coast*Plopsaland Indoor, an indoor amusement park in Hasselt*Plopsa Coo, an outdoor amusement park in Wallonia...
  
  , Belgium (closed in 2009)
• Menara Taming Sari, Melaka, Malaysia (first gyro tower in Malaysia)
• Panoraama, Linnanmäki
  Linnanmäki
  Linnanmäki is an amusement park in Helsinki, Finland. It was opened on May 27, 1950 and is owned by non-profit Lasten Päivän Säätiö . Linnanmäki has 44 different rides of different sizes...
  
  , Helsinki
  Helsinki
  Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
  
  , Finland
  Finland
  Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
  
  

See also

• Top of the World
  Top of the World (amusement ride)
  Top of the World is the name of a visitor attraction in Geiselwind, Germany.The 95 meter high gyro tower has the claim of being the tallest transportable amusement ride in the world. However, the tower hasn't been moved in recent years, and is now placed permanently in the amusement park...
  
   – once the tallest transportable gyro tower in the world
• Euromast
  Euromast
  The Euromast is a tower in Rotterdam constructed between 1958 and 1960, designed by Hugh Maaskant. It was specially built for the 1960 Floriade. It is a concrete building with an internal diameter of and a wall thickness of 30 centimetres . For stability it is built on a concrete block of...
  
  , Rotterdam – gyro tower running from 101 to 185 metre level
• Astroland
  Astroland
  Astroland was a amusement park in Coney Island first opened in 1962. It was located at 1000 Surf Avenue on the boardwalk...
  
  , Coney Island
  Coney Island
  Coney Island is a peninsula and beach on the Atlantic Ocean in southern Brooklyn, New York, United States. The site was formerly an outer barrier island, but became partially connected to the mainland by landfill....
  
  (New York City)

External links

• http://www.entertainmentdeveloper.com/tower.html
• http://www.cedarpoint.com/public/park/rides/tranquil/space_spiral.cfm