Christmas Wonderland opened Thursday at Tropical Park, and the new piece of the skyline is a 230-foot observation wheel named for the country's 250th anniversary.
The fourth edition is scheduled through Sunday, Jan. 3, with holiday lights, rides, games, food, music and Santa, plus a mile of timed lighting and a European-style market. Telemundo 51 reported the gates opened Nov. 12 at 7900 SW 40th St.
A Wheel Named for 250 Years
Organizers describe the America 250 Wheel as 230 feet tall, with 45 gondolas honoring U.S. presidents and views of up to 14 miles, Telemundo reported. A news release from producer Loud And Live bills it as the world's largest portable observation wheel.
Tony Albelo, in comments reported by NBC 6, called it the largest traveling Ferris wheel in the world and put the wheel at Bayside at just under 200 feet. Those are on-the-record descriptions, not an independent survey of every traveling wheel.
Last year's centerpiece was shorter on the page. The Miami Herald described the 2025 Eye in the Sky as a 150-foot Ferris wheel inside an attraction the paper then put at 14 acres, split into six festive sections.
Lights on the Hour
The Tinsel Trail is now billed as a mile long. Every hour on the hour, the Loud And Live release says, the whole trail syncs for a show called Light Up the Night.
The path has stretched. In November 2023 the Herald described Tinsel Trail as roughly half a mile, already with an hourly light show.
Telemundo reported six themed Christmas worlds, light shows and at least five new features this season. The release adds a classic European-style Christmas market making its debut. Local choirs are scheduled for Choir Nights on Dec. 1, 8 and 15.
First Through the Gate
Kiana Latiff and her two sons were among the first visitors Thursday and first in line, NBC 6 reported. She said the energy felt electric, her family was excited, and the tropical South Florida setting made the holiday feel magical.
Ron Liberda and his family were at the carnival for the first time this year. He called the night great and nice.
Rides, Prices and the Fine Print
The ride math does not land in one place. Telemundo, citing organizers, described about 50 mechanical attractions, including three roller coasters. WSVN put the count at 45. The producer release advertises more than 50 carnival rides, unlimited and included with admission. The write-ups do not say how rides were counted.
Published ticket terms split, too. Telemundo listed adult tickets from $39.99 and children's tickets from $29.99 for ages 3 to 12, with ages 2 and under free. WSVN reported regular online tickets at $40 for ages 13 and up and $30 for children through 12, with ages 3 and under free. Those are different prices and a different free-admission cutoff.
How the Park Has Grown
The Herald's 2025 guide described more than 50 rides and a run through Jan. 4, 2026, a day later than this year's scheduled close. That season also added two entrances, at Bird Road and Miller Drive, with a complimentary trolley between them. This year's reporting does not say whether those gates are back.
The 2023 edition already had more than 50 carnival rides, three roller coasters and a wheel the Herald then called North America's largest traveling Ferris wheel. The advertised height has gone from that traveling wheel to a 150-foot Eye in the Sky and now a 230-foot America 250 Wheel. The ride totals have stayed in the same noisy neighborhood.
The Other Christmas Park
WSVN also pointed families toward Ripley's Believe It or Not Christmas Park at Amelia Earhart Park, with more than 100 attractions, including two roller coasters. Admission there includes unlimited rides and access to the Ripley's exhibits, the station reported.
Christmas Wonderland's own calendar is the plainer document: Tropical Park through Jan. 3, an hourly light show on the mile-long trail, and choir nights on Dec. 1, 8 and 15. The wheel is the part visible from a distance. The ticket age cutoff is the part worth checking before anyone pays.
