High Roller Observation Wheel Las Vegas, NV

We headed in to the High Roller admissions building at about 4:45 pm on a weeknight in January, and there was almost no line. Employees gave us our own pod, either due to lack of people or from wanting to keep our kids away from other groups. Either way, we appreciated it. This allowed us to get any view or picture we wanted at any time. Getting on and off was smooth. I like that the wheel never comes to a stop. The speakers seemed to be in night mode and mostly attempted to create a party atmosphere by sheer robotic force of will. It would have been nice to switch it to day mode, as I've read it will tell you about the history of Vegas. It did make it clear when we were at the very top. The first notable sight as the pod rose was the Sphere. The Sphere was visible for most of the ride and appeared to shuffle through its whole cycle at least once. We also saw the Bellagio fountains lit up and rising from near the peak. This was great as we no longer had the time or energy to reach and enjoy those attractions on foot. A timer inside the pod marked the full circle at a little over 28 minutes when we stepped out, slightly to the worse side of the oft-mentioned "about 30 minutes" but still feeling like plenty long enough for the experience and the cost. I wonder if they ever change its speed. We decided to play the game of getting a "daytime" ticket and heading in at sunset to still experience the lights at night (and sunset itself). This was made complicated by the site saying daytime tickets ended at 5 pm... and at 6 pm... on the same web page! Night tickets are $11 more each. As sunset changes daily and daytime ticket hours shift over the course of the year, it varies how easy it is to pull off a sunset daytime admission. At $57.30 for two adults purchased online (small kids free), it was decent value for a unique experience on the strip. It would be nice if they abandoned ticketmaster to shake the excessive fees there, which were $11.30 of that.